100 books like Road Trip

By David Keener,

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

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Book cover of The Ruins of Gorlan

Jaysyn NyCole Author Of A Traitor’s Heart: The Lands of Ala’Mar Saga

From my list on epic fantasy with medieval tones and magic.

Why am I passionate about this?

Ever since I was a child, I’ve enjoyed the idea of knights and dragons, kings and queens, marvelous creatures and magicks. After reading blossomed within me, I read book after book and found that the fantasy world was more than just a fancy—it was home. For over 30 years, I’ve enjoyed the good with the bad and everything in between. My imagination flourishes every time I open the pages and a new journey begins. For this reason, I delved into the realm of writing in hopes that I, too, might share an adventure that readers will find themselves lost in.

Jaysyn's book list on epic fantasy with medieval tones and magic

Jaysyn NyCole Why did Jaysyn love this book?

The Ruins of Gorlan for me was a reminder that you never let anyone tell you, “you can’t”.

Will was a misfit, an orphan. He was too small for battle school and becoming a knight, not adept at being a diplomat, a scholar, nor even a cook. He had no idea what would become of him. It was a fear that permeates down deep. I remember how I felt when I couldn’t go into the army, was unable to go to Devry, and I didn’t want the ordinary.

For Will, it all changes and his fantastic journey begins as he’s chosen to be the ranger’s apprentice. And I cheered inside. I knew it. He didn’t give up. We didn’t give up. And found what our skills were best suited for.

By John Flanagan,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Ruins of Gorlan as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, 12, and 13.

What is this book about?

The Ruins of Gorlan is the first thrilling book in John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series - over eight million sold worldwide.

They have always scared him in the past - the Rangers, with their dark cloaks and shadowy ways. The villagers believe the Rangers practise magic that makes them invisible to ordinary people. And now 15-year-old Will, always small for his age, has been chosen as a Ranger's apprentice.

What he doesn't yet realize is that the Rangers are the protectors of the kingdom. Highly trained in the skills of battle and surveillance, they fight the battles before the battles…


Book cover of Still Falling

S.C. Megale Author Of This Is Not a Love Scene: A Novel

From my list on with some serious ass-kicking.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an author who believes stories must first entertain and thrill if they are ever to instill something powerful and unforgettable. While I would love to sit here and compile books that laud the values I believe in, that’s just not how it works. Action is the best way to convey theme – and these examples celebrate the storytelling techniques I stand by. I love ass-kickers, in literature and in life. And I hope one day to be remembered as one of them. 

S.C.'s book list on with some serious ass-kicking

S.C. Megale Why did S.C. love this book?

Good sweet lawd of mercy, if you want ass-kicking, read Marty Wilsey. Ass-kicking with guns? Yes. Ass-kicking with fists? Yes. Ass-kicking with blades? Yes. Ass-kicking with good writing? You better believe it. This is Wilsey’s debut book, and it opens up his breakneck-paced sci-fi repertoire. High recommended. 

By Martin Wilsey,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

He's a working stiff looking for a good paycheck. When the Ventura and its crew enter orbit for a scheduled planet survey, the ship activates an automated defense system protecting the planet. Although the Ventura is destroyed in the attack, Barcus alone survives the harrowing fall to the remote planet surface. He struggles to remain alive and sane, and to discover why everyone he knew and loved on the Ventura was deliberately murdered.

Swinging between despair and fury, Barcus discovers that for every answer he obtains, there are more questions raised. Barcus is assisted by the Emergency Module, Em, his…


Book cover of Hangfire: An Eddie Holland Novel

S.C. Megale Author Of This Is Not a Love Scene: A Novel

From my list on with some serious ass-kicking.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an author who believes stories must first entertain and thrill if they are ever to instill something powerful and unforgettable. While I would love to sit here and compile books that laud the values I believe in, that’s just not how it works. Action is the best way to convey theme – and these examples celebrate the storytelling techniques I stand by. I love ass-kickers, in literature and in life. And I hope one day to be remembered as one of them. 

S.C.'s book list on with some serious ass-kicking

S.C. Megale Why did S.C. love this book?

What makes Hangire such a great ass-kicking novel is that it’s clear the author knows guns and gunfight strategy. The action is crisp, but aggressively realistic. Tension never ceases—if it’s not shooting up bad guys, it’s with a dash of romance or a smidge of mystery. The writing is confident and action-packed. Even the title, am I right? 

By John H. Matthews,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Eddie Holland is back. The former FBI agent turned private detective in Austin, Texas, returns for another fast paced mystery. Following on the heels of The South Coast and Ballyvaughan, Hangfire keeps you guessing until the very end. Clem Akins has gone missing, but not before sending a cryptic text message to Eddie. With little to go on, Eddie and Gus go looking for him, only to find the trail leads them to uncover a group of former Army soldiers on the run or in hiding, afraid of their treasonous pasts catching up to them.HANGFIRE is the third novel in…


Book cover of The Ballad of Dani and Eli

S.C. Megale Author Of This Is Not a Love Scene: A Novel

From my list on with some serious ass-kicking.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an author who believes stories must first entertain and thrill if they are ever to instill something powerful and unforgettable. While I would love to sit here and compile books that laud the values I believe in, that’s just not how it works. Action is the best way to convey theme – and these examples celebrate the storytelling techniques I stand by. I love ass-kickers, in literature and in life. And I hope one day to be remembered as one of them. 

S.C.'s book list on with some serious ass-kicking

S.C. Megale Why did S.C. love this book?

This author has a talent for using just a hint of magic to flirt with the reader in an otherwise rural, modern, realistic environment. Okay, okay, there may not be machine guns of ass-kicking in this novel, but there is an ass-kicking female lead who renders an Oscar-worthy performance of compelling the story forward. If you want a feisty book with a little less guts spilled (maybe…), this is my recommendation. Although I read this book long ago, I’m always drawn back into it the second I reopen to page one, like a tsunami of nostalgia wrapped in a sheet of music. Maybe on a pillow of bear fur. (Seriously, just read it).

By Nicholas Bruner,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Ballad of Dani and Eli as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Dani’s met two new friends this summer: bad boy Eli, and a big black bear. She doesn’t know which one is more dangerous….

Dani Moser is a fifteen-year-old girl who dreams of being a blues guitarist and singer like her hero, Janis Joplin. When her dad takes Dani and her annoying little brother to his hometown for the summer—a tiny little town in the Arkansas Ozarks—she thinks she’s in for the most boring summer of her life.


She didn’t expect she would meet a small-town bad boy named Eli, and join his bluegrass band. She didn’t expect she’d get in…


Book cover of Shielding Sierra

Mignon Mykel Author Of Butterfly Save

From my list on to get lost in a romance series binge.

Why am I passionate about this?

I hate saying goodbye. Picking up a book and being introduced to an entire group of people—family, friends, teammates—and knowing you get to continue to watch these relationships bloom over a course of books is part of the reason I pick up a book in the first place. I want to see these characters pop in twenty books down the road. I absolutely love cameos of old characters! Because of this, I write in a singular world as well. My Prescotts may be the base of the world at the moment, but it’s also their friends at O’Gallaghers and their teammates with the Enforcers hockey team that keep the world growing—and it’s not ending anytime soon.

Mignon's book list on to get lost in a romance series binge

Mignon Mykel Why did Mignon love this book?

Stoker is the queen of military/former-military “families.” You pick up a book and instantly fall in love with that team of men. Shielding Sierra is her latest (as of January 2022) and it happens to be at the end of a series. Stoker writes in a single universe, so while we know this team, we also see previous teams she’s written, and the family unit that they all build with one another really shines in Sierra, when one of their own purposely becomes a POW in order to save the heroine.

By Susan Stoker,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

As a civilian contractor, Sierra Clarkson thought she’d found the perfect way to serve her country, short of joining the military…until she was kidnapped from a base in Afghanistan. Turns out terrorists don’t care if you’re a soldier or not; everyone bleeds the same. Even worse, no one knows she’s been taken. Her missing belongings point to desertion—which means no one is looking for her, either

But someone is.

Fred “Grover” Groves never forgot the redheaded spitfire working the chow line on a base in the Afghani desert. He’d felt an instant attraction to the petite woman, a connection deep…


Book cover of The Lightless Sky: A Twelve-Year-Old Refugee's Extraordinary Journey Across Half the World

Jasmin O'Hara Author Of Asylum Speakers: Stories of Migration From the Humans Behind the Headlines

From my list on migration and displacement from first-hand perspectives.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been working to amplify voices of refugees and asylum seekers since 2015, when a 12-year-old boy named Mez joined my family as the first of four foster brothers I now have from Eritrea, Sudan, Libya and Afghanistan. Their stories led me to the Calais Jungle in an attempt to challenge the negative media portrayal of those experiencing displacement. I’ve since worked in refugee camps across the world from France to Bangladesh, sharing food, stories, laughter, and tears, asking questions and learning from those I meet. My book is a compilation of the stories that have impacted me most (Mez being the first), and a testament to those who shared them with me. 

Jasmin's book list on migration and displacement from first-hand perspectives

Jasmin O'Hara Why did Jasmin love this book?

I read this book when my own family was in the process of welcoming a new foster brother from Afghanistan.

Reading Gulwali’s very personal journey from Afghanistan to the UK as an unaccompanied child helped us to understand what my own brother had been through and the journey he had taken. It gave us context as to the Afghanistan he experienced and left behind, and we passed the book around the whole family and devoured it eagerly.

Gulwali’s story is raw and real and is the most powerful account of a child refugee I have ever read. 

By Gulwali Passarlay,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Lightless Sky as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A gripping, inspiring, and eye-opening memoir of fortitude and survival—of a twelve-year-old boy’s traumatic flight from Afghanistan to the West—that puts a face to one of the most shocking and devastating humanitarian crises of our time.

“To risk my life had to mean something. Otherwise what was it all for?”

In 2006, after his father was killed, Gulwali Passarlay was caught between the Taliban who wanted to recruit him, and the Americans who wanted to use him. To protect her son, Gulwali’s mother sent him away. The search for safety would lead the twelve-year-old across eight countries, from the mountains…


Book cover of The Sewing Circles of Herat: A Personal Voyage Through Afghanistan

Grant Lock Author Of Shoot Me First: A Cattleman in Taliban Country. Twenty-Four Years in the Hotspots of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

From my list on Afghanistan and life in the land of the Taliban.

Why am I passionate about this?

To stop us from reopening a school for girls, a mob of angry and well-armed Pashtun men threatened to shoot my workers. I surprised myself. “If you are going to shoot my workmen, you will have to shoot me first!” My wife, Janna, and I bred cattle in outback Australia. On the weekends we played tennis. Yet, in 1984 we began a twenty-four-year adventure battling corruption, injustice, and disadvantage in the deserts, mountains, and cities of Pakistan and Afghanistan. I dug wells, built schools, and helped restore the eyesight of thousands of Afghans; until I myself became blind.

Grant's book list on Afghanistan and life in the land of the Taliban

Grant Lock Why did Grant love this book?

The three Pashtun virtues are hospitality, honor, and revenge. Pashtun hospitality epitomizes human warmth and generosity but Pashtun honor and revenge make a chilling and toxic cocktail. Christina Lamb gives a human face to the destruction wrought by the then unknown ultraconservative political and religious faction led by the one-eyed cleric, Mohammad Omar. Lamb was there before and after the tragedy. A great read. Will history repeat itself?

By Christina Lamb,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Sewing Circles of Herat as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“Lamb’s long experience as a journalist is a solid stage upon which to build the story of her voyage through Afghanistan, told with a deep, loving honesty.” — Montreal Gazette (Canada)

A brilliant British war correspondent who has spent ten years in Afghanistan gives a first hand report on the war and its genesis.

Award-winning journalist Christina Lamb chronicles the human stories behind the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Lamb spent the last phase of the Soviet War in Pakistan, relying on her friendship with exiled Afghans to smuggle her in and out of Jalalabad. Many of these friends…


Book cover of The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan

Jane Harvey-Berrick Author Of Troll: My Life in Bomb Disposal

From my list on first-hand accounts of warzones.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have no expertise in the military – I wish I did. But I have incredible respect for their work. I remember reading about the death of Oz Schmid, a bomb disposal officer who was killed in Afghanistan. It was the bravery of his widow, Christina, discussing the appalling lack of equipment and her quiet dignity that touched me profoundly. I asked myself, what can I do to help? Being a writer, I decided to write about it. I quickly realised that I needed an insider’s insight, and found Troll through Felix Fund, the bomb disposal charity. Troll and I wrote the play Later, After, seeing it performed was the proudest moment of my career. 

Jane's book list on first-hand accounts of warzones

Jane Harvey-Berrick Why did Jane love this book?

Troll told me that he read this book in preparation for his own deployment to Afghanistan. Winston Churchill said about campaigns in Afghanistan, “Financially it is ruinous. Morally it is wicked. Militarily it is an open question, and politically it is a blunder.”

It doesn’t feel like much has changed. 

By Lester W. Grau,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Bear Went Over the Mountain as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This rare 10th anniversary edition (published in 2007) contains a new introduction by expert Soviet historian David M. Glantz. In addition all maps and graphics have been enhanced from the 1996 edition. "When the Soviet Union decided to invade Afghanistan, they evaluated their chances for success upon their experiences in East Germany, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Unfortunately for their soldiers, as well as the people of Afghanistan, they ignored not only the experiences of the British in the same region, but also their own experience with the Basmachi resistance fighters in Central Asia from 1918-1933. Consequently, in Afghanistan the Soviet army…


Book cover of Craig & Fred: A Marine, a Stray Dog, and How They Rescued Each Other

Teresa J. Rhyne Author Of Poppy in the Wild: A Lost Dog, Fifteen Hundred Acres of Wilderness, and the Dogged Determination that Brought Her Home

From my list on rescue dogs.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been passionate about dogs and rescue dogs in particular since I got my first little rescue pup for Christmas when I was six years old. Tippy, a perfect blend of poodle and cocker spaniel, lived until my second year of law school. I’ve volunteered with several rescue organizations, transported dogs, fostered dogs, adopted dogs, and, oh, I also wrote three books about rescue dogs. Dogs are my passion, and books are a very close second, so naturally, dog books are kind of my thing. I hope you love these books as much as I do.

Teresa's book list on rescue dogs

Teresa J. Rhyne Why did Teresa love this book?

This may be the ultimate stray dog rescue story. Craig (the human) rescues Fred (the dog) from a war zone in a remote part of Afghanistan. What Craig goes through to bring this dog home to the US is astounding. And Fred is one of those instantly lovable, charming dogs whose personality shines through in Craig’s writing. In many ways, this book crosses genres—dog book, memoir, adventure, military, and thriller (I held my breath while reading several times!).

By Craig Grossi,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Craig & Fred as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

A heartwarming story of a stray dog and a U.S. Marine who met under the unlikeliest circumstances in Afghanistan—and who changed each other’s lives forever.

As part of an elite team of Marines, Craig Grossi was sent on his most dangerous assignment to the Sangin District of Afghanistan. He expected to face harsh conditions and violence from Taliban fighters.

What he didn’t expect was to meet a stray dog, with a big goofy head and little legs—a dog all on his own, filthy and covered in bugs, in a bomb-ridden district, but who carried himself with confidence. And even though…


Book cover of How to Catch a Prince

Toni Shiloh Author Of In Search of a Prince

From my list on for a royal happy ever after.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by fictional royal stories ever since I was a little kid watching them unfold in children’s movies. Once I became a reader, I quickly became a fan of the genre. There’s such an escapism that comes with reading books about royals. And since America has no monarch, the books offer a fantasy and fairy-tale aspect to the reading. I read these books to relax, to fall in love with love, and to cheer for the ordinary person finding something extraordinary in their world—real or fictional.

Toni's book list on for a royal happy ever after

Toni Shiloh Why did Toni love this book?

I feel like Rachel Hauck is the queen of royal fiction in the Christian romance genre. She was the first author I read in the genre to have royals which made me a huge fan. There’s such elegance in her writing but also humor, a swoony hero, and a heroine to cheer for. Not to mention her covers are all awesome for her Royal Wedding series. I couldn’t make a royal recommendation list without her on it.

By Rachel Hauck,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked How to Catch a Prince as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An American heiress and a crown prince thought their secret marriage was annulled years ago-but now they must come face to face with their past. The third volume in the captivating Royal Wedding series from New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hauck.

Corina Del Rey is happy with her life in Melbourne, Florida. She spends her days engrossed in her career as a journalist and has her sights set on climbing the corporate ladder, partly to distract herself from her dissolving family.

Prince Stephen of Brighton Kingdom came to America to escape responsibility, but what he found complicates his life…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Afghanistan, military desertion, and road trips?

Afghanistan 91 books
Road Trips 28 books