100 books like Prince of Cats

By Ronald Wimberly,

Here are 100 books that Prince of Cats fans have personally recommended if you like Prince of Cats. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Gemma Bovery

R. Sikoryak Author Of Terms and Conditions

From my list on graphics that adapt classic texts into comics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been reading and making comics since I was a young kid. I’m very interested in the history of comics, and I love to see new combinations of content and form. My own graphic novels, such as Constitution Illustrated and Masterpiece Comics, use parody and pastiche to comment on and reinterpret historical and contemporary texts. I’m charmed by the earnest retelling of literature in old comic book series like Classics Illustrated, but I’m much more excited to see graphic novels that dig deep into texts and reinvent them in idiosyncratic ways.

R.'s book list on graphics that adapt classic texts into comics

R. Sikoryak Why did R. love this book?

This satiric, beautifully drawn update of Gustave Flaubert’s novel Madame Bovary brings the story to the 1990s. Simmonds’ writing is witty and well-observed, with blocks of prose interspersed among the flowing panel sequences. It’s a rich, layered reading experience, deeper than those graphic novels which only emphasize the visuals. Simmonds writes as elegantly as she draws, with subtlety and style. 

By Posy Simmonds,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Gemma Bovery as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Gemma is the bored, pretty second wife of Charlie Bovery, the reluctant stepmother of his children and the bete-noire of his ex-wife. Gemma's sudden windfall and distaste for London take them across the Channel to Normandy, where the charms of French country living soon wear off. Is it a coincidence that Gemma Bovery has a name rather like Flaubert's notorious heroine? Is it by chance that, like Madame Bovary, Gemma is bored, adulterous, and a bad credit risk? is she inevitably doomed? These questions consume Gemma's neighbour, the intellectual baker, Joubert. Denying voyeurism, but nevertheless noting every change in the…


Book cover of Jimbo in Purgatory

R. Sikoryak Author Of Terms and Conditions

From my list on graphics that adapt classic texts into comics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been reading and making comics since I was a young kid. I’m very interested in the history of comics, and I love to see new combinations of content and form. My own graphic novels, such as Constitution Illustrated and Masterpiece Comics, use parody and pastiche to comment on and reinterpret historical and contemporary texts. I’m charmed by the earnest retelling of literature in old comic book series like Classics Illustrated, but I’m much more excited to see graphic novels that dig deep into texts and reinvent them in idiosyncratic ways.

R.'s book list on graphics that adapt classic texts into comics

R. Sikoryak Why did R. love this book?

A wild reimagining of Dante’s Purgartorio featuring Gary Panter’s character Jimbo, a punk everyman he created in the 1970s. Panter is known for drawings that are organic, energetic, and intense, and here his oversized page designs are especially concentrated, decorative, and hypnotic. His commitment and obsession are palpable, and there’s a lot to unpack and explore. While following the outlines of Dante’s story, Panter mixes in literary and pop culture references (from Aristophanes to Frank Zappa) to immerse you in his world. 

By Gary Panter,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Jimbo in Purgatory as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this spectacular graphic novel, Panter has transformed his protean punk hero Jimbo into the protagonist of a reinterpretation of Dante's Purgatorio. After years of comparing Dante and Boccaccio to find commonalities between the two, Panter developed a narrative of his own that includes literary and pop references regularly injected throughout the captions of the reinterpreted cantos.


Book cover of Zhuangzi Speaks: The Music of Nature

R. Sikoryak Author Of Terms and Conditions

From my list on graphics that adapt classic texts into comics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been reading and making comics since I was a young kid. I’m very interested in the history of comics, and I love to see new combinations of content and form. My own graphic novels, such as Constitution Illustrated and Masterpiece Comics, use parody and pastiche to comment on and reinterpret historical and contemporary texts. I’m charmed by the earnest retelling of literature in old comic book series like Classics Illustrated, but I’m much more excited to see graphic novels that dig deep into texts and reinvent them in idiosyncratic ways.

R.'s book list on graphics that adapt classic texts into comics

R. Sikoryak Why did R. love this book?

This is a great introduction to the Taoist philosophy of Zhuangzi, as rendered by Taiwanese cartoonist Tsai. These short comic strips are instantly inviting, and rendered in an animated, funny style that feels effortless. Tsai emphasizes the humor and subversive qualities of the original text, but his approach is reverent, too, as he lays out Zhuangzi’s deep lessons on each page.

By Tsai Chih Chung, Brian Bruya (translator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Zhuangzi Speaks as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

During a period of political and social upheaval in China, the unconventional insights of the great Daoist Zhuangzi (369?-286? B.C.) pointed to a way of living naturally. Inspired by his fascination with the wisdom of this sage, the immensely popular Taiwanese cartoonist Tsai Chih Chung created a bestselling Chinese comic book. Tsai had his cartoon characters enact the key parables of Zhuangzi (pronounced jwawngdz), and he rendered Zhuangzi's most enlightening sayings into modern Chinese. Through Tsai's enthusiasm and skill, the earliest and core parts of the Zhuangzi were thus made accessible to millions of Chinese-speaking people with no other real…


Book cover of Home to Stay!

R. Sikoryak Author Of Terms and Conditions

From my list on graphics that adapt classic texts into comics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been reading and making comics since I was a young kid. I’m very interested in the history of comics, and I love to see new combinations of content and form. My own graphic novels, such as Constitution Illustrated and Masterpiece Comics, use parody and pastiche to comment on and reinterpret historical and contemporary texts. I’m charmed by the earnest retelling of literature in old comic book series like Classics Illustrated, but I’m much more excited to see graphic novels that dig deep into texts and reinvent them in idiosyncratic ways.

R.'s book list on graphics that adapt classic texts into comics

R. Sikoryak Why did R. love this book?

This hefty collection of Ray Bradbury adaptations is also a great representation of a beloved era of American comic books. These 1950’s stories were first published by EC comics in their titles Tales from the Crypt, Weird Science, and more, which featured short (6-8 page) stories illustrated by some of the best cartoonists of the day: Wallace Wood, Jack Davis, B. Krigstein, among others. Many were written by Al Feldstein, who also adapted the Bradbury fantasy and science fiction stories reprinted here. They’re well-crafted stories with ornate art; you can see the loving care invested by the creators. The comic books were originally printed in garish color (which has its charms), but the black and white reproductions in this volume show off the meticulous brushwork and unique styles of the artists. 

By Ray Bradbury,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Home to Stay! as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Between 1951 and 1954, EC Comics adapted 28 classic Ray Bradbury stories into comics form, scripted by Al Feldstein and interpreted and illustrated by all of EC's top artists: Johnny Craig, Reed Crandall, Jack Davis, Will Elder, George Evans, Frank Frazetta, Graham Ingels, Jack Kamen, Bernard Krigstein, Joe Orlando, John Severin, Angelo Torres, Al Williamson, and Wallace Wood. This special companion collection to our EC Comics Library series features all 28 stories with stunning art reproduced in generously oversized coffee table dimensions!Highlights in this singular volume include: "Home to Stay"— a clever combination of two Bradbury science fiction stories that…


Book cover of Shakespeare in Love: A Screenplay

Jessica Barksdale Inclan Author Of The Play's the Thing

From my list on to help you love William Shakespeare even more.

Why am I passionate about this?

While I taught Shakespeare’s plays all my teaching career, I stayed in my lanes: Hamlet, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, King Lear. As a poetry teacher, I used his sonnets as examples of metaphor and form, but never did I consider myself an expert. However, when the idea for my novel popped into my head, I realized I had some serious reading to do. Not only did I study the facts, I delved into the fiction. While some of these books came out during my writing and others after, I didn’t lose my interest, picking up whatever new Shakespeare book appeared. These are some of my favorites.

Jessica's book list on to help you love William Shakespeare even more

Jessica Barksdale Inclan Why did Jessica love this book?

This is the screenplay of the movie that caught all our hearts. Until this film was made, most people imagined William Shakespeare as a balding, portly man who wrote plays that no one could understand then or now.

But in this film, Shakespeare is a (handsome) man, questing for love as well as a writer whose words speak to everyone’s heart. Plus there’s mistaken identities, subplots, intrigue, and Queen Elizabeth. What’s not to love?

By Marc Norman, Tom Stoppard,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Shakespeare in Love as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The screenplay to the critically acclaimed film which New York Newsday called one of the funniest, most enchanting, most romantic, and best written tales ever spun from the vast legend of Shakespeare. Marc Norman and renowned dramatist, Tom Stoppard have created the best screenplay of the year according to the Golden Globes and the New York Film Critics Circle.


Book cover of William Shakespeare: The Complete Works

Sylvia Vetta Author Of Sculpting the Elephant

From my list on mixed relationships.

Why am I passionate about this?

I married Indian born Atam Vetta when mixed relationships were rare and viewed with hostility not just in the UK. In 1966, they were illegal in South Africa and in most Southern States of the USA (until Loving v Virginia). In India they are not illegal but many upper-caste Indians do not approve of marriage outside of caste. In the UK attitudes have revolutionised. Mixed relationships are no longer rare and it is predicted that by 2075 the majority of the population will be of mixed ancestry. There are mixed relationships in all three of my novels. My aim was to explore what we have in common whilst being honest about the challenges. The ultimate prize is an enhanced understanding and the creativity that comes with crossing cultures.

Sylvia's book list on mixed relationships

Sylvia Vetta Why did Sylvia love this book?

Shakespeare’s tragedies resonate in most cultures because they address the human condition. That is why Romeo and Juliet have spawned West Side Story, many films, and Russian ballets. I personally organised the Joe and Zara workshop with a mixed group of teenagers working on a modern take on the story. The young people in this ten-minute video from the workshop are impressive. 

Othello too is tragic. Othello describes how Desdemona would come again ‘greedy –to hear tales of adventure sorrow and suffering. ‘She loved me for the dangers I had passed and I loved her that she did pity them.’ I relate to that.

By William Shakespeare,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked William Shakespeare as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The second Oxford edition of Shakespeare's Complete Works reconsiders every detail of their text and presentation in the light of modern scholarship. The nature and authority of the early documents are re-examined, and the canon and chronological order of composition freshly established. Spelling and punctuation are modernized, and there is a brief introduction to each work, as well as an illuminating and informative General Introduction. Included here for the first
time is the play The Reign of King Edward the Third as well as the full text of Sir Thomas More. This new edition also features an essay on Shakespeare's…


Book cover of Ghost Bird

D.P. Vaughan Author Of Ethereal Malignance

From my list on complex identities.

Why am I passionate about this?

From a young age, I've been engrossed by the complexities of identity, a theme I explore as an Australian speculative fiction writer. My own identity comes with its quirks—I hold a Bachelor of Music in Composition, spent a decade in admin roles, and the better part of another decade teaching English to adult migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. This eclectic background enriches my narratives, which blend supernatural elements with grounded realism and diverse representation. Whether it's exploring loneliness or delving into the lives of victims of bullying, my unique lens makes me well-suited to recommend books that tackle intricate themes of identity.

D.P.'s book list on complex identities

D.P. Vaughan Why did D.P. love this book?

Ghost Bird by Aboriginal Australian author Lisa Fuller is a YA horror/mystery with a compelling narrative that delves into the internal conflict of identity on multiple fronts—scientific rationality versus traditional beliefs, being an Aboriginal person in a colonised land, and the weight of being the 'responsible' sibling to your more reckless twin.

The book's atmosphere is eerie, and I found the mystery compelling. It had me guessing as to what was really going on (a kidnapping or something supernatural?) until right before the climax. The descriptions of the unfairness and difficulties of attending high school resonated strongly with me (even though I have never been an Aboriginal woman, the school experiences were so realistic that they spoke to me and my memory of school).

By Lisa Fuller,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ghost Bird as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

A thrilling, multi award-winning, teen ghost story, from a First Nations Australian author, drawing on the culture and beliefs of her close-knit community.
Stacey and Laney are twins and mirror images of each other but as different as the sun and the moon. Stacey wants to go places, do things and be someone different while Laney just wants to skip school and sneak out of the house to meet her boyfriend Troy. When Laney doesn't come home one night, the town assumes she's just doing her normal run-off but Stacey's gut tells her different.
Stacey knows her twin isn't dead…


Book cover of The Love Poems of John Donne

Patrick Cave Author Of Dying of Exposure: Oli

From my list on teenagers in love and lust.

Why am I passionate about this?

Like all of you reading this, I am an infinite multi-dimensional being of incredible beauty and light with my own unique connection to Source! The answer to the question ‘who am I?’ (for anyone) is not to be found in all the constructs of identity we get encouraged to build, covering our brightness with ego and opinion and beliefs and values and supposed fragility where we are not in fact fragile at all. My book subject choice for this list, though, is all about our first steps into that weird and wonderful world of ‘relationships,’ fuelled by exploding hormones, romantic dreams, social programming and, somewhere underneath (underneath the inadequacy), a perfect connection with other.

Patrick's book list on teenagers in love and lust

Patrick Cave Why did Patrick love this book?

At one point I was going to go for Romeo and Juliet as it is such a great study of young teens being in love with the idea of being in love, choosing the forbidden, and living in the moment/living without thinking (you decide!) no matter the cost. But then I decided to go for the Donne instead.

Donne would have started writing his love/sex poems when he was a teen himself and in an age when it was deemed normal that young people’s thoughts turned to these matters during puberty. Perhaps more than any other writer he can encapsulate in only a few lines everything from the most ‘out there’ and ridiculous persuasion used by a young man trying to get his would-be girlfriend to ‘do it’ with him (as in "The Flea") to a kind of ideal for love that seems as perfect as it can get, as…

By John Donne,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Love Poems of John Donne as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is a collection of the love poems of John Donne (1571-1631) who is regarded as one of the greatest of the English metaphysical poets. The son of a merchant, he studied at both at Oxford and Cambridge, and later at Lincoln's Inn. He secretly married Ann More and took holy orders in 1615.


Book cover of Don't, Mr. Disraeli!

David Quantick Author Of All My Colors

From my list on expanding the mind through pleasure and strangeness.

Why am I passionate about this?

Like most people, I read lots of different kinds of books, but I am often drawn to novels with unusual themes, structure, or all those things. As a comedy writer, I have always loved surreal writing – the Goon Shows on the radio, or the plays of NF Simpson – and this applies to my taste in literature as well. The unreal, the slightly detuned, anything that suggests this world is not entirely what it seems, or if it is what it seems, then it is an idiot.

David's book list on expanding the mind through pleasure and strangeness

David Quantick Why did David love this book?

A comic novel from 1940, ostensibly a reworking of Romeo and Juliet set in the 19th century. Don’t Mister Disraeli is in fact a wild rampage through Victorian fiction and history. The only book I know of that’s influenced by both the Marx Brothers and JW Dunne’s An Experiment In Time, this is Alice In Wonderland as a history lesson and it’s brilliant.

By Caryl Brahms, S.J. Simon,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Don't, Mr. Disraeli! as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Between Perfect and Real

S.M. Stevens Author Of Bit Players, Has-Been Actors and Other Posers

From my list on for tweens, teens and young adults who love theater.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a teenager, I didn’t have the lack of inhibition or abundant self-confidence to excel in high school drama. Like Sadie in Bit Players, I finally wowed the directors at my senior year audition, only to learn the lead was promised in advance to someone else. I recovered and stayed involved in theater: cast, crew, and front-of-house jobs for a summer theater program; the box office for Cornell’s MFA program; and supporting my kids’ drama activities. Performing in a show is different from any other experience. If you’ve been in a show, you know this. If you haven’t, read on to enter the magical world of theatre.

S.M.'s book list on for tweens, teens and young adults who love theater

S.M. Stevens Why did S.M. love this book?

A high school production of Romeo and Juliet isn’t the focus of this plot, but the book still makes my shortlist. The concept of a trans guy acknowledging his gender identity after having been cast as a girl playing the boy Romeo is profound. Dean questions his gender as rehearsals progress. By showtime, he decides to use the production’s program to publicly announce he is trans. Friend and parental issues arise, so there’s plenty of drama on and off the stage in this one.

Theater Quotient: Medium. Gender identity is the focus, but rehearsals and performances figure prominently.

By Ray Stoeve,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Between Perfect and Real as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

A moving YA debut about a trans boy finding his voice--and himself

Dean Foster knows he's a trans guy. He's watched enough YouTube videos and done enough questioning to be sure. But everyone at his high school thinks he's a lesbian--including his girlfriend Zoe, and his theater director, who just cast him as a "nontraditional" Romeo. He wonders if maybe it would be easier to wait until college to come out. But as he plays Romeo every day in rehearsals, Dean realizes he wants everyone to see him as he really is now--not just on the stage, but everywhere in…


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