42 books like The Amazing Book Is Not on Fire

The whimsy and humor of this book make it an easy choice to round out an otherwise serious list! An engrossing story lurks behind the comedy, which is no doubt why this book has transcended generations and cultures to persist as a worldwide fan favorite.

The truth is that we have no idea what humanity’s first encounter with aliens will look like, even if Arthur Dent’s experience with the bureaucratic Vogons is a little more tongue-in-cheek than those in our more “serious” picks.

“Bittersweet” is the best word I can use to describe Finding Audrey. The story is about a fourteen-year-old girl whose life is disrupted by an anxiety disorder. What I like so much about this book is that it’s not depressing. The story brings to light a serious problem with a lot of levity and charm. I can really empathize with Audrey during her trip back to sanity after being bullied out of school. I laughed a lot, teared up a little, and smiled as Audrey is set on a new path, thanks in part to a pretty sweet romantic connection. The romance was totally unexpected and unfolds very naturally. The author’s light tone on this serious subject reminds me of the sage advice from the wise and wonderful Mary Poppins: a spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down. 

This book makes me snort-laugh every time I read it.

The ridiculous, rudimentary illustrations perfectly capture the absurdity and weirdness of life, and the writing—about everything from dogs to depression—is smart, witty, and accurate. This book is a little crazy and since I often think I’m a little crazy, it’s perfect for me.

The book’s small slices of life (and cake, with which the author is obsessed) are the perfect antidote for any day that I feel the world has gone mad. So pretty much every day.

I was hooked after the first sentence. The story starts with Colin, the main character, having just been dumped for the 19th time by a girl named Katherine, because he only dates girls with that name. To me, the premise is so funny, and so are Colin’s explanations of each relationship. As Colin embarks on a road trip with his best friend, he hilariously recounts his time with each Katherine, referring to them by their numbers such as Katherine V, Katherine X, and the most current, Katherine XIX, who he hopes will be different. But come on Colin, haven’t the first 18 Katherines taught you anything? I love that Colin is such an oddly adorable insecure teen. I loved following him through this story as he learns a little more about life and a lot more about love.

Those Who Write for Immortality is, simply put, a remarkable book. It’s an in-depth study of British writers whose work was written with the goal of surviving what Horace called “the teeth of time.” It confronts the literary careers of authors who managed to be remembered after their deaths to the failed attempts of gifted, but ultimately unsuccessful rivals. This study illuminates both the romantic period and the quest for literary fame in our own time. A must-read for anyone interested in Austen, Keats, Blake, and Lord Biron, it is also indispensable for readers willing to explore the theoretical issues associated with the goal of writing for those who are yet to be born, people whose values and aesthetic preferences might very well become completely different from our own.

Antoine Lilti’s ground-breaking study about celebrity demonstrates that a phenomenon we generally associate with modern culture and cinema has much older roots: roots that go back to eighteenth-century Europe. Thanks to the rise of the press and the development of new advertising techniques, such figures as Voltaire, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Marie-Antoinette, or Napoléon saw their private lives on public display and learned to navigate the privileges and pitfalls of a new form of social prestige. Elegantly written and accessible to non-specialists, this book is particularly useful to differentiate between forms of public recognition that are connected but ultimately distinct, such as glory, reputation, celebrity, and posterity. The work of a major historian of eighteenth-century France, The Invention of Celebrity explains why the age of Enlightenment was a laboratory in which our modern sense of self was invented, while also uncovering the origins of our longing… show more.

I admire Wendy’s sense of intimacy and ability to enter people’s private lives through their interiors. I find her sense of style timeless. I love the intimacy level she connects with a room and its owners. I think she can see life and excitement at every level.

I know her personally and am very fond of her love for interiors, of original and unique living space as well as the way she has to find them.

This is a star-filled book where each celebrity shares what they are most thankful for. Among others, you can find stories by Alicia Keys, Jeff Bridges, Sheryl Crow, B.B. King, Francis Ford Coppola, Dave Grohl, Stan Lee, Forest Whitaker, Ringo Star, and many many more. I have found this reading very profound as you can see the humble side of these celebrities and how they are thankful for all the gifts they received along the way. Every story is different and some are really intriguing but the common point is they do not forget to be grateful and that is the main message they leave in the heart of readers.

Each of the mostly very short stories in this collection features at least one animal and at least one real person—from Madonna to Thomas Edison and from David Hasselhoff’s dogwalker to Nicola Tesla. It’s funny, sad, and textured, uniting my interest in scientists with my love of animals. Often funny and often sad, each story is a gem of craft, sentence by sentence. As a writer, I admire the audacity of the project and the exuberant skill with which is carried out. This is not a book I could write, and I love it for showing me such a radically different approach to lying to tell the truth.

This is a gorgeously written book about two best friends doing nothing in particular. Isa and Gala arrive in New York City intertwined and allied.

They whirl through all the requisite stops of the party girl layabout lifestyle. I was fascinated by the friendship’s closeness; Isa and Gala know each other’s quirks and fears in staggering intimacy. They function as a unit, as a “we.” Isa’s aimlessly wandering through life, but she isn’t in it alone, and that’s comforting to me.

Together, Isa and Gala turn aimlessness into freedom. It’s a detail-packed, slow-burning portrait of how we build identity together, intertwining ourselves and pushing each other forward.