100 books like Surprised by Oxford

By Carolyn Weber,

Here are 100 books that Surprised by Oxford fans have personally recommended if you like Surprised by Oxford. 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 A Severe Mercy

Shandi Stevenson Author Of Worldchangers

From my list on Christian biographies to meet lifelong friends.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been a voracious reader and was blessed with parents who filled my home with books, who read to me, and who exposed me to both true and fictional stories that expanded my heart and nourished my imagination. I grew up on Christian biographies, along with devouring history and novels. I was shaped, nourished, and strengthened by the stories of real men and women who lived lives that mattered, and who understood that God never puts His children in times, in places, or in circumstances where He cannot enable them to shine brightly, and where they cannot speak truth and compassion into the darkness.

Shandi's book list on Christian biographies to meet lifelong friends

Shandi Stevenson Why did Shandi love this book?

The sheer, transcendent beauty of the language in this book would have made me love it even had I not found the story engaging, and the powerful, personal truth of the story it tells would have made me love it even if the prose had been awkward and lackluster.

The marriage of the language with the deeply personal story of a young American couple finding their way through love, marriage, and friendship to the love of Christ, and then facing the ultimate test of their young faith, will mark you forever. I will warn you that I finished the book in floods of tears!

By Sheldon Vanauken,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A heart-rending love story described by its author as “the spiritual autobiography of a love rather than of the lovers” about the author’s marriage and search for faith.

 

Vanauken chronicles the birth of a powerful pagan love borne out of the relationship he shares with his wife, Davy, and describes the growth of their relationship and the dreams that they share.


A beloved, profoundly moving account of the author's marriage, the couple's search for faith and friendship with C. S. Lewis, and a spiritual strength that sustained Vanauken after his wife's untimely death. Replete with 18 letters from C.S. Lewis,…


Book cover of William Wilberforce: A Hero for Humanity

Shandi Stevenson Author Of Worldchangers

From my list on Christian biographies to meet lifelong friends.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been a voracious reader and was blessed with parents who filled my home with books, who read to me, and who exposed me to both true and fictional stories that expanded my heart and nourished my imagination. I grew up on Christian biographies, along with devouring history and novels. I was shaped, nourished, and strengthened by the stories of real men and women who lived lives that mattered, and who understood that God never puts His children in times, in places, or in circumstances where He cannot enable them to shine brightly, and where they cannot speak truth and compassion into the darkness.

Shandi's book list on Christian biographies to meet lifelong friends

Shandi Stevenson Why did Shandi love this book?

One of the rare, truly great political heroes of modern history emerges from this engaging biography as a deeply likable character whose pockets were stuffed with books, whose house overflowed with rescued animals, and who was completely aware of what an obnoxious, sarcastic know-it-all he had been as a younger man.

In an age like ours that tends to forget that integrity, conviction, humility, and humor should always go together, meeting William Wilberforce and spending time with an extraordinary leader behind one of the great humanitarian crusades of the last two centuries is a life-changing experience. 

By Kevin Belmonte,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Dramatized in the major motion picture Amazing Grace, the story of William Wilberforce is the remarkable account of how one man's vision, courage, and relentless pursuit of justice brought freedom to thousands and changed the course of history. "That the greatest and most successful reformer in all history is almost unknown today is a crying shame. Kevin Belmonte puts this right with his inspiring study of an inspiring life." -Dr. Os Guinness, author of Unspeakable: Facing Up to the Challenge of Evil "An excellently researched and insightfully written biography ... I applaud its sound scholarship and commend its perceptive insights…


Book cover of Lords of the Earth: An Incredible but True Story from the Stone-Age Hell of Papua's Jungle

Shandi Stevenson Author Of Worldchangers

From my list on Christian biographies to meet lifelong friends.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been a voracious reader and was blessed with parents who filled my home with books, who read to me, and who exposed me to both true and fictional stories that expanded my heart and nourished my imagination. I grew up on Christian biographies, along with devouring history and novels. I was shaped, nourished, and strengthened by the stories of real men and women who lived lives that mattered, and who understood that God never puts His children in times, in places, or in circumstances where He cannot enable them to shine brightly, and where they cannot speak truth and compassion into the darkness.

Shandi's book list on Christian biographies to meet lifelong friends

Shandi Stevenson Why did Shandi love this book?

Follow the parallel stories of an unforgettable, powerfully real, close-knit tribal culture in the wild mountains of New Guinea, and the deeply dedicated, deeply flawed man who would seek them out with the Gospel of Christ.

The collision of two cultures and two quests brings tragedy—but does not end in tragedy. Encountering this story as a teenager changed me forever and made the gospel a living thing to me. 

By Don Richardson,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Engulfed in the darkness of Irian Jaya's Snow Mountains live the Yali, naked cannibals who call themselves lords of the earth. Yet, in spite of their boldness, they live in terror and bondage to the women-hating, child-despising gods they serve. Missionary Stan Dale dared to enter their domain and be an instrument to change their future. Peace Child author, Don Richardson, tells the story of Dale, his wife, his companions, and thousands of Yali tribesmen in Lords of the Earth. This unforgettable tale of faithful determination and zeal against overwhelming odds brings unlikely characters together in a swirl of agony…


Book cover of To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson

Shandi Stevenson Author Of Worldchangers

From my list on Christian biographies to meet lifelong friends.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been a voracious reader and was blessed with parents who filled my home with books, who read to me, and who exposed me to both true and fictional stories that expanded my heart and nourished my imagination. I grew up on Christian biographies, along with devouring history and novels. I was shaped, nourished, and strengthened by the stories of real men and women who lived lives that mattered, and who understood that God never puts His children in times, in places, or in circumstances where He cannot enable them to shine brightly, and where they cannot speak truth and compassion into the darkness.

Shandi's book list on Christian biographies to meet lifelong friends

Shandi Stevenson Why did Shandi love this book?

The story of a brilliant, driven young scholar who seeks both to rebel against and to please his demanding father, of a leading intellectual skeptic who becomes a Christian, and of a missionary who faces unimaginable adventure, hardship, and triumph in the mysterious country of Burma (modern Myanmar) is an unforgettable tale of tragedy, loss, heartbreak, faith, and victory, complete with the interwoven stories of the three very different but equally extraordinary women who would share Adoniram Judson’s life.

Meeting four such remarkable people in the pages of one book is an extraordinary experience, and seeing God at work through some of the darkest events of history to seek out a people for Himself will give you hope for the darkest days. 

By Courtney Anderson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked To the Golden Shore as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On February 12, 1812, Ann and Adoniram Judson sailed from Salem aboard the brig Caravan as two of the first missionaries to go out from North America. Watching the shoreline disappear from view, they could not have foreseen the impact of their journey on the future of the Christian world mission or on the thousands of men and women who would follow in their footsteps. After a short stay in India, they carried the Good News of Jesus Christ to the golden shore of Burma.

Drawing on letters and church records, Courtney Anderson paints a poignant portrait of Judson’s early…


Book cover of Hidden

T.K. Eldridge Author Of Dead & Buried

From my list on mysteries to get your blood pumping.

Why am I passionate about this?

After spending nearly two decades working in technology and Intelligence—working with law enforcement from all different agenciesI developed an appreciation and understanding of the worst that humans can do to each other. My specialty was domestic counterterrorism and foreign policyand I did everything from developing software for chem/bio work to White House briefings. I have studied profiling and analysis in academic and real world settings – I have two Masters degrees Strategic Intelligence & Criminal Justice from American Military University, both with a minor in Terrorism Studies. While the academic background is great, the real-life experiences are what taught me the most – and find their way into my stories.

T.K.'s book list on mysteries to get your blood pumping

T.K. Eldridge Why did T.K. love this book?

When Lacey Campbell escapes a serial killer as a co-ed, she helped send him to prison for life. Years later, she’s a forensic scientist, working for the Medical Examiner and the case comes back to haunt her. 

Elliot’s skill with writing chilling suspense and steamy romance – combined with a knowledge of forensics – leaves the reader always wanting more. Luckily, there are five books in the Bone Secrets series, so there’s a lot more to enjoy. 

What drew me to Kendra Elliot’s work was a review someone else wrote where they said her accuracy and penchant for realism were so good that they (a forensic scientist in real life) didn’t get pulled out of the story by any errors. 

That reviewer was right. The accuracy, combined with the twists and turns in the stories, have you reading with the lights on. (My favorite kind of book!)

By Kendra Elliot,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Hidden is the first book in Bone Secrets, the multimillion-copy bestselling series.

Eleven years ago, the Co-ed Slayer murdered nine female students on the Oregon State University campus. Lacey Campbell barely escaped his attack, but lost her best friend whose remains were never found. As the sole surviving victim, Lacey helped send the sadistic serial killer to prison for life.

Now a forensic odontologist examining teeth and bones for the state Medical Examiner, Lacey is devastated when she arrives at a crime scene and identifies the skeletal remains as her college friend's.

The remains are discovered on the land of…


Book cover of The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal

Evan I. Schwartz Author Of The Last Lone Inventor: A Tale of Genius, Deceit, and the Birth of Television

From my list on cautionary tales about world-changing technology.

Why am I passionate about this?

Starting college in 1982, just as the personal computer became TIME’s first non-human “person of the year,” I got fascinated by how such a powerful technology could change the world and what other marvels might be next. After all, whenever a new thing arrives, humans make choices of how to use it, and those choices alter life on planet Earth in unforeseen ways. I majored in computer science and became a tech journalist, writing for BusinessWeek, WIRED, and MIT Technology Review. I set out to write the little-known story of how a prior screen, television, was born, wondering whether it would turn into a cautionary tale.

Evan's book list on cautionary tales about world-changing technology

Evan I. Schwartz Why did Evan love this book?

As with the creation of 2001, this 2009 book was written simultaneously with a screenplay, by Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network. As author Ben Mezrich admits up front, entire scenes and stretches of dialog are made up, making this account of Mark Zuckerberg’s real experiences conjuring Facebook as a student at Harvard more like a work of fiction. While the book is wildly entertaining, it falls way short as a cautionary tale about the social media platform that would end up doing damage to our democracy as a petri dish of misinformation and manipulation. Only at the very end of the 2010 movie do we receive notes of alarm, thanks to the film’s closing song. “Now that you know who you are,” the Beatles sing in "Baby You’re a Rich Man", “what do you want to be?” It suggests that Facebook’s business plan…

By Ben Mezrich,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The New York Times bestseller and inspiration for the Oscar-winning movie, The Social Network

Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg - an awkward maths prodigy and a painfully shy computer genius - were never going to fit in at elite, polished Harvard. Yet that all changed when master-hacker Mark crashed the university's entire computer system by creating a rateable database of female students. Narrowly escaping expulsion, the two misfits refocused the site into something less controversial - 'The Facebook' - and watched as it spread like wildfire across campuses around the country, and their popularity exploded in the process.

Yet amidst…


Book cover of Imogen, Obviously

Diane Billas Author Of Does Love Always Win?

From my list on young adult fiction sapphic romance novels.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m passionate about young adult sapphic romance books because this is something I wished I would have read in high school. If I had novels similar to these when I was growing up I might have realized that I identify as queer sooner and it could have helped me understand more about myself. Because of this, I’ve been an avid reader, and writer, of sapphic young adult romances. If it’s sapphic, send it my way. I hope you enjoy these sapphic novels as much as I have!

Diane's book list on young adult fiction sapphic romance novels

Diane Billas Why did Diane love this book?

Imogen, Obviously was such a fantastic read that I really could relate to.

Imogen was a lot like me in high school, a people pleaser who thought she was straight. She considered herself an ally, but then sometimes would have thoughts about girls, but passed them off as wanting to be their friend and looking back, I had the same thing happen to me. I really wished this book was available to me in high school because it would have helped me understand a lot more about myself.

This book has a memorable cast of characters including Imogen’s love interest Tessa and I’m going to be thinking about this book for a long time. 

By Becky Albertalli,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Imogen, Obviously 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 New York Times and Indie bestseller!

With humor and insight, #1 New York Times bestseller Becky Albertalli explores the nuances of sexuality, identity, and friendship in this timely new novel.

Imogen Scott may be hopelessly heterosexual, but she’s got the World’s Greatest Ally title locked down.

She's never missed a Pride Alliance meeting. She knows more about queer media discourse than her very queer little sister. She even has two queer best friends. There's Gretchen, a fellow high school senior, who helps keep Imogen's biases in check. And then there's Lili—newly out and newly thriving with a cool new…


Book cover of The Bell Jar

Jennifer Cody Epstein Author Of The Madwomen of Paris

From my list on badass madwomen.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been fascinated by books that explore the slow, painful unraveling of the human psyche. In part, I think because it’s something so many more of us either fear or experience (at least to some degree) than anyone really wants to admit—but it’s also just such rich material for literary unpacking. I also love books with strong, angry female protagonists who fight back against oppression in all of its forms, so books about pissed-off madwomen are a natural go-to for me. Extra points if they teach me something I didn’t know before-which is almost always the case with historical novels in this genre. 

Jennifer's book list on badass madwomen

Jennifer Cody Epstein Why did Jennifer love this book?

I love this because, in many ways, it is a kind of modern take on Sargasso Sea, with a liberal dash of Catcher in the Rye thrown into the soup: an exploration of what happens when you apply the same kinds of patriarchal oppression and expectations Antoinette suffered in the 19th century to a young 20th-century woman living in what is supposedly a more “progressive” and “modern” era.

Esther Greenwood’s unraveling is both brutally relatable and unexpectedly humorous at points, and there are images from it that are so starkly drawn that they stay embedded in your mind like glass shards after an explosion. It’s a modern classic for a reason. 

By Sylvia Plath,

Why should I read it?

14 authors picked The Bell Jar as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

I was supposed to be having the time of my life.

When Esther Greenwood wins an internship on a New York fashion magazine in 1953, she is elated, believing she will finally realise her dream to become a writer. But in between the cocktail parties and piles of manuscripts, Esther's life begins to slide out of control. She finds herself spiralling into depression and eventually a suicide attempt, as she grapples with difficult relationships and a society which refuses to take women's aspirations seriously.

The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath's only novel, was originally published in 1963 under the pseudonym Victoria…


Book cover of Rush

Jana Mathews Author Of The Benefits of Friends: Inside the Complicated World of Today's Sororities and Fraternities

From my list on making you wish you joined a sorority or fraternity.

Why am I passionate about this?

In 2011, I was a newly minted college professor who was trying to support my students’ interests (Greek life) in hopes that they would return the favor and support mine (medieval literature). Never in a million years would I have guessed that accepting an invitation to attend a Greek event on campus would snowball into receiving a bid to join a National Panhellenic Conference sorority and serve as its faculty advisor. Somewhere along the way, I realized that my perspective uniquely positioned me to shed new light on the longstanding controversies plaguing these organizations and provide a new lens through which to view their impact not only on campus culture but society at large. 

Jana's book list on making you wish you joined a sorority or fraternity

Jana Mathews Why did Jana love this book?

The ‘sorority girl’ is a stock character in most novels set on American college campuses, and you’ll be hard pressed to find one who isn’t portrayed as beautiful but vapid and one misstep away from the twin horrors of having a bad hair day and witnessing their ex leave a party with their best friend.

Patton’s novel self-consciously leans into the stereotypes of white Greek culture at a big southern university, which makes its critique of that culture and its broader cast of characters both funny in their exaggeration and horrifying in their appeal.

This is exactly the kind of sorority-themed novel you would expect from the genre but also, because of a couple of unexpected twists, the one you never saw coming.

By Lisa Patton,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Bestselling author Lisa Patton digs into exciting new territory with Rush, a story about mothers and daughters, sisterhood, tradition, and doing the right thing, now in trade paperback with a new epilogue!

Experience the phenomenon from a front row seat...

It’s move-in day for college freshmen on the Ole Miss campus. Nobody wants to fit in more than Cali, a bright, small town girl with family secrets too scandalous for the well-to-do to imagine. Sorority rush is weeks away and without a pedigree, Cali doesn’t have much of a chance at membership. Her dorm room alone is as plain as…


Book cover of Wait for You

K.B. Andrews Author Of Shattered

From my list on beautiful romances that bloomed from trauma or grief.

Why am I passionate about this?

So many people want perfection. There are so many books out there where boy meets girl, they fall in love, get married, and have a happily ever after. But the books on my list show you that not everything is perfect. Life isn’t perfect. Things aren’t always good or happy. I like when something beautiful is born from something ugly, and every book on this list is exactly that. Perfect with imperfections.

K.B.'s book list on beautiful romances that bloomed from trauma or grief

K.B. Andrews Why did K.B. love this book?

Wait for You by Jennifer L. Armentrout was a book I read long ago, and it's one that still sticks with me to this day. It's a book I've read and reread.

I love how the main character, Avery, is flawed–making her feel real. And I love Cam and how patient he is with her. Avery is a character who's had some trauma, and she's running. Little does she know she's running right into the arms of the man she's supposed to be with. These characters felt so real.

The writing was good, but not over the top to where I had to stop and think, "Who talks like this?" And it was paced perfectly–the couple grew to be closer over a longer amount of time rather than to meet, fall in love, and overcome everything in a matter of days or weeks. It's another example of something beautiful coming…

By Jennifer L Armentrout,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

#1 New York Times and USA Today Bestseller

“J. Lynn creates a wonderful cast of characters that will make you laugh, swoon, and cry. Cam stole my heart.”

—Cora Carmack, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Losing It

Some things are worth waiting for...

Traveling thousands of miles from home to enter college is the only way nineteen-year-old Avery Morgansten can escape what happened at the Halloween party five years ago--an event that forever changed her life. All she needs to do is make it to her classes on time, make sure the bracelet on her left…


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