Books like The Bromance Book Club: 100 fan favorites

By Lyssa Kay Adams,

Here are 100 books that The Bromance Book Club fans have personally recommended if you like The Bromance Book Club. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Daisy Jones & The Six

Sarah Seltzer Author Of The Singer Sisters

From my list on bold and beautiful female musicians.

Why am I passionate about this?

From Taylor Swift to Lauryn Hill, from Joan Baez to Beyonce, I find that the lyrics, performances, and melodies of women making music inspire my own creativity every day. I am not a musician; I am a writer, editor, and novelist! But I find music to be so accessible, so deeply meaningful, in a way that other art forms, even my own, are not. So naturally, I adore novels about music! 

Sarah's book list on bold and beautiful female musicians

Sarah Seltzer Why did Sarah love this book?

This one was just so fun to dip into and get lost in! An imaginary oral history of a 70s band that somehow manages to be a page-turner, a chaste love affair whose heat is all contained in the songs, lyrics, and performances. It’s a contemporary classic for a reason! Don’t miss it!

By Taylor Jenkins Reid,

Why should I read it?

15 authors picked Daisy Jones & The Six as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

SOON TO BE AN AMAZON PRIME TV SERIES STARRING SAM CLAFLIN, RILEY KEOUGH AND CAMILA MORRONE

THE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From the author of THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO and the bestselling MALIBU RISING

'I LOVE it . . . I can't remember the last time I read a book that was so fun' DOLLY ALDERTON

Everybody knows Daisy Jones and the Six.

From the moment Daisy walked barefoot on to the stage at the Whisky, she and the band were a sensation.

Their sound defined an era. Their albums were on every turntable. They…


Book cover of The Mother Road

Michelle Angelle Author Of Dear Pink: A Romantic Comedy

From my list on best stage-stealing sidekicks.

Why are we passionate about this?

A sidekick is someone who knows you better than you know yourself. Someone who will travel 750 miles on your wedding day, and then help you escape out of a window before you make a huge mistake. A sidekick is someone who will have your back, even when you’re making some of the most ridiculous decisions of your life. We're best friends, writing partners, and each other’s sidekicks. We write books that reward every struggle with a happy ending because life is not always kind. We create characters who inspire us to keep laughing and encourage readers to laugh with us. Here’s hoping everyone has a humorous sidekick in his or her life.

Michelle's book list on best stage-stealing sidekicks

Michelle Angelle Why did Michelle love this book?

Not going to lie, we’re in a fit of giggles just thinking about these hilariously raunchy sidekicks. This book is three-fourths slapstick-middle school boy humor with one-fourth romance thrown in. The love connection wouldn’t even happen if not for the hijinks of the sidekicks. When the family unit travels in an RV across the country in search of great hotdogs, it reunites the spark between old childhood sweethearts. Who wouldn’t want a road trip with a dad who cusses presidents' names, and a goofy brother who makes inexcusable references to whale sperm? Love is simply inevitable.

By Meghan Quinn,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Never in a million years would I have pictured myself as an axe-wielding, dragon lady, chopping up multi-colored flannel shirts into my very own plaid mulch. But here I am, chopping away my frustrations.

It all started when my brother, Paul, convinced me to go on one last family road trip across the Mother Road with him and my dad.. Just like old times, right? Wrong. What Paul fails to mention is his best man, Porter, will be joining us, who just so happens to be my childhood crush and the man who broke my heart four years ago.

What…


Book cover of You Had Me at Hello

Michelle Angelle Author Of Dear Pink: A Romantic Comedy

From my list on best stage-stealing sidekicks.

Why are we passionate about this?

A sidekick is someone who knows you better than you know yourself. Someone who will travel 750 miles on your wedding day, and then help you escape out of a window before you make a huge mistake. A sidekick is someone who will have your back, even when you’re making some of the most ridiculous decisions of your life. We're best friends, writing partners, and each other’s sidekicks. We write books that reward every struggle with a happy ending because life is not always kind. We create characters who inspire us to keep laughing and encourage readers to laugh with us. Here’s hoping everyone has a humorous sidekick in his or her life.

Michelle's book list on best stage-stealing sidekicks

Michelle Angelle Why did Michelle love this book?

We are total suckers for British humor. Give us a smashing bloke or a cheeky heroine, and we are all in. Mhairi McFarlane weaves together a friends-to-lovers trope with a second-chance love story. In this novel, readers explore the fantasy of the one who got away along with the complex problems that happen in real life, such as failing marriages and self-doubt. You’ll fall in love with the main character, Rachel, but it is through her friend relationships and inner monologues that you see her development. She isn’t a damsel in distress. No, she is a strong female character with a tight group of friends who you quickly fancy. It doesn’t hurt that there is a leading man sure to make you swoon. 

By Mhairi McFarlane,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked You Had Me at Hello as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What happens when the one that got away comes back? Find out in this sparkling comedy from #1 bestseller Mhairi McFarlane

'Think of the great duos of history. We're just like them.'

'You mean like Kylie and Jason? Torvill and Dean? Sonny and Cher?'

'I think you've missed the point, Rachel.'

Rachel and Ben. Ben and Rachel. It was them against the world. Until it all fell apart. It's been a decade since they last spoke, but when Rachel bumps into Ben one rainy day, the years melt away.

They'd been partners in crime and the best of friends. But…


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Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest by Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route up…

Book cover of My Favorite Half-Night Stand

Michelle Angelle Author Of Dear Pink: A Romantic Comedy

From my list on best stage-stealing sidekicks.

Why are we passionate about this?

A sidekick is someone who knows you better than you know yourself. Someone who will travel 750 miles on your wedding day, and then help you escape out of a window before you make a huge mistake. A sidekick is someone who will have your back, even when you’re making some of the most ridiculous decisions of your life. We're best friends, writing partners, and each other’s sidekicks. We write books that reward every struggle with a happy ending because life is not always kind. We create characters who inspire us to keep laughing and encourage readers to laugh with us. Here’s hoping everyone has a humorous sidekick in his or her life.

Michelle's book list on best stage-stealing sidekicks

Michelle Angelle Why did Michelle love this book?

A friends-to-lovers romance like this one by Christina Lauren never gets old, but sometimes the rules of “romance novels” can restrain the two main characters and make their love story feel a little dated and monotonous. Well-written sidekicks, however, are free agents. They can have outrageous backstories and hilarious quirks that inject much-appreciated chaos into the story. This is the case with Reid and Millie’s funny group of fellow academics, Chris, Ed, and Alex. The fact that they are more interesting than the two main characters is no downside. This unabashed friend group is so interesting that it is a welcome addition to the main story plot. This romantic comedy lets you have your sidekick cake and eat it too, and isn’t that what we want in any good romcom? Let us all eat cake!

By Christina Lauren,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked My Favorite Half-Night Stand as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

By the New York Times bestselling author who “hilariously depicts modern dating” (Us Weekly), My Favorite Half-Night Stand is a laugh-out-loud romp through online dating and its many, many fails.

Millie Morris has always been one of the guys. A UC Santa Barbara professor, she’s a female-serial-killer expert who’s quick with a deflection joke and terrible at getting personal. And she, just like her four best guy friends and fellow professors, is perma-single.

So when a routine university function turns into a black tie gala, Mille and her circle make a pact that they’ll join an online dating service to…


Book cover of The Teammates: A Portrait of Friendship

Dan Largent Author Of Before We Ever Spoke

From my list on baseball is part of the theme.

Why am I passionate about this?

Before he became a bestselling author with his debut novel, Before We Ever Spoke, Dan Largent spent the better part of two decades as a high school baseball coach. In 2010, he guided Olmsted Falls High School to its first-ever State Final Four and was subsequently named Greater Cleveland Division I Coach of the Year. Dan stepped away from his duties as a baseball coach in 2017 to spend more time with his wife, April, and their three children Brooke, Grace, and Luke. He has, however, remained close to the game he loves by turning doubles into singles as a member of Cleveland’s finest 35 and over baseball league.

Dan's book list on baseball is part of the theme

Dan Largent Why did Dan love this book?

Ted Williams is my favorite baseball player of all time, so naturally, I have read almost every book ever written about him. This book, however, isn’t just about the “Splendid Splinter”. 

The Teammates takes place in the fall of 2001, as Ted Williams is dying and right around one of the most challenging times our country has endured. It revolves around the life-long friendship of 4 aging Red Sox teammates: Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, and Bobby Doerr.

This is a book about four friends and teammates at the end of their time on this planet, and well-aware of that fact, who demonstrate that they will be there for each other all the way to the end. This is a short book and a fast read at only 218 pages (with pictures), but it is impactful far beyond its word count.

By David Halberstam,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

More than 6 years after his death David Halberstam remains one of this country's most respected journalists and revered authorities on American life and history in the years since WWII. A Pulitzer Prize-winner for his ground-breaking reporting on the Vietnam War, Halberstam wrote more than 20 books, almost all of them bestsellers. His work has stood the test of time and has become the standard by which all journalists measure themselves.

The Teammates is the profoundly moving story of four great baseball players who have made the passage from sports icons--when they were young and seemingly indestructible--to men dealing with…


Book cover of Bang the Drum Slowly

Carl Deuker Author Of Golden Arm

From my list on sports books about more than sports.

Why am I passionate about this?

For 20 years, I tried to write politically relevant, “important” novels. I teach. One day I told my students that to succeed as a writer, they needed to write about things they knew and loved. Honesty was the key. That night, I resumed work on a novel set in Prague involving Cold War intrigue, capitalism, communism, and some other "isms" I’ve forgotten. I wrote a paragraph and then stopped. My advice was good. Write about things you know and love. So why not follow it myself? What section of the newspaper did I read first? The sports page. Did I live and die with my favorite sports teams? Yes. I put my hopeless Prague novel aside and started On the Devil’s Court. For better or worse, a sportswriter is who I am.

Carl's book list on sports books about more than sports

Carl Deuker Why did Carl love this book?

Okay, two books--but they’re really one. The Southpaw is about Henry Wiggen the baseball player finding his way in the major leagues.  A sports book by and large.  And then the fastball to the heart--Bang the Drum Slowly. The vagaries and tragedies of life intrude on the pristine baseball field, and Wiggen and the rest have to deal with reality:  boys grow into men; men sicken, men die. These books inspired me when I decided to become a writer of sports novels. They showed me that not only could I write a sports book about more than sports, but also that I needed to write a sports book about more than sports. Why bother otherwise? 

By Mark Harris,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Henry Wiggen, hero of The Southpaw and the best-known fictional baseball player in America, is back again, throwing a baseball "with his arm and his brain and his memory and his bluff for the sake of his pocket and his family." More than a novel about baseball, Bang the Drum Slowly is about the friendship and the lives of a group of men as they each learn that a teammate is dying of cancer. Bang the Drum Slowly was chosen as one of the top one hundred sports books of all time by Sports Illustrated and appears on numerous other…


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Book cover of Hayley and the Hot Flashes

Hayley and the Hot Flashes by Jayne Jaudon Ferrer,

Country music diva Hayley Swift has fallen off the charts and into a funk. Desperate to regain her place in the limelight, she agrees to a low-budget tour of Southern venues, starting with her 35th high school reunion.

There, in an unexpected but fortuitous reconnection, The Girls Next Door —who…

Book cover of When Nietzsche Wept

Dean-David Schillinger MD Author Of Telltale Hearts: A Public Health Doctor, His Patients, and the Power of Story

From my list on books by or about doctors that focus on our shared humanity.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a primary care doctor who is fascinated by my patient’s stories and what they reveal about their lives, their illnesses, and their pathways to recovery. I have always been a lover of literature related to the human condition and “the big questions,” having majored in Russian Language and Literature as an undergraduate. All the books I have chosen were written by physicians who were accomplished not only in the sciences but in the arts. I hope you enjoy this hybridization of disciplines as much as I have!

Dean-David's book list on books by or about doctors that focus on our shared humanity

Dean-David Schillinger MD Why did Dean-David love this book?

I love how this unique work of fiction brings together Viennese-age psychoanalysis, a love story, a profound friendship, and the treatment of the soul, all in one neat package. I enjoyed how the plot takes advantage of historical truths to provide context.

The most entertaining piece of historical fiction I have ever read.

By Irvin D. Yalom,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

From the acclaimed author of Love's Executioner and Schopenhauer’s Couch, comes a “fascinating…shrewd intellectual thriller” (Los Angeles Times Book Review) about pioneering Viennese psychoanalyst Josef Breuer and his intriguing patient—Friedrich Nietzsche

In nineteenth-century Vienna, a drama of love, fate, and will is played out amid the intellectual ferment that defined the era. Josef Breuer, one of the founding fathers of psychoanalysis, is at the height of his career. Friedrich Nietzsche, Europe's greatest philosopher, is on the brink of suicidal despair, unable to find a cure for the headaches and other ailments that plague him.

When he agrees to treat Nietzsche…


Book cover of The Nickel Boys

Ginger Pinholster Author Of Snakes of St. Augustine

From my list on featuring Florida in a big way.

Why am I passionate about this?

My second novel, Snakes of St. Augustine, describes an unconventional love story served up with a large side of Florida weirdness. My first novel, City in a Forest, received a Gold Royal Palm Literary Award from the Florida Writers Association in 2020. My short fiction and essays have appeared in Pangyrus, Eckerd Review, Northern Virginia Review, Atticus Review, and elsewhere. I earned my bachelor’s degree in English from Eckerd College and the M.F.A. in Fiction from Queens University of Charlotte. Currently, I’m a writer for a university in Daytona Beach, Florida. A resident of Ponce Inlet, I began volunteering with the Volusia-Flagler Sea Turtle Patrol in 2018.

Ginger's book list on featuring Florida in a big way

Ginger Pinholster Why did Ginger love this book?

The devastating story of two boys unjustly sentenced to serve time in a nightmarish juvenile reform school, The Nickel Boys won a Pulitzer Prize and became a New York Times bestseller.

It is a must-read for anyone sampling literary works featuring Florida. The boys in the story, Elwood and Turner, endure and witness hellish abuse at the Nickel Academy. The boys’ haunting story, exquisitely told by Colson Whitehead, is based on Florida’s real-life Dozier school where thousands of children were tortured, raped, and murdered for more than a century.

Whitehead’s unflinching descriptions of terror and abuse can be tough to take, but they serve an important purpose, by forcing the reader to confront the hellish reality that was America under Jim Crow laws. Long after the last page is turned, if ever, this novel won’t leave you.

By Colson Whitehead,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Nickel Boys as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this Pulitzer Prize-winning follow-up to The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys unjustly sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida.
 
When Elwood Curtis, a black boy growing up in 1960s Tallahassee, is unfairly sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, he finds himself trapped in a grotesque chamber of horrors. Elwood’s only salvation is his friendship with fellow “delinquent” Turner, which deepens despite Turner’s conviction that Elwood is hopelessly naive, that the world is crooked, and that the only way…


Book cover of Full Dark House

Diane M. Dickson Author Of Body in the Canal

From my list on when you want to dabble in crime with no risk.

Why am I passionate about this?

My fascination with crime fiction has come from reading about it. I have no idea how many novels I have read focused on baddies and the catching of them, but it’s numbering now in the many hundreds. I think the fact that a crime novel can incorporate elements of all other genres – horror, history, romance, the supernatural, etc. are what make them so appealing and add to the joy of writing them. Untangling the threads that make up a crime novel is very satisfying. Maybe in another reality, I would be a detective – I love that idea, but for now, in this bit of the multiverse, I’ll just carry on making them up.  

Diane's book list on when you want to dabble in crime with no risk

Diane M. Dickson Why did Diane love this book?

Another series. I really enjoy getting to know characters and look forward to watching them develop over the time that I read about them. Bryant and May are so very unusual. Quirky, and a little bit mad, it has to be said, as are the whole of the Peculiar Crime Unit. The back stories are expertly woven into the narrative and the detail and relating of little-known facts about London are absolutely fascinating. Again I have read the whole series, though as these two elderly detectives grow older and more frail I found them harder to read, but this book – the first in the series was a delight. 

By Christopher Fowler,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Full Dark House as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When a bomb devastates the office of London's most unusual police unit and claims the life of its oldest detective, Arthur Bryant, his surviving partner John May searches for clues to the bomber's identity. His search takes him back to the day the detectives first met as young men in 1940.

In Blitz-ravaged London, a beautiful dancer rehearsing for a sexy, sinister production of 'Orpheus In The Underworld' is found without her feet. Bryant & May's investigation plunges them into a bizarre gothic mystery, where a faceless man stalks terrified actors and death strikes in darkness. Tracking their quarry through…


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Book cover of Return to Hope Creek

Return to Hope Creek by Alyssa J. Montgomery,

Return to Hope Creek is a second-chance rural romance set in Australia.

Stella Simpson's career and engagement are over. She returns to the rural community of Hope Creek to heal, unaware her high school and college sweetheart, Mitchell Scott, has also moved back to town to do some healing of…

Book cover of The Grace of Kings

Prashanth Srivatsa Author Of The Spice Gate: A Fantasy

From my list on fantasy novels with quests and crafty gods.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am instantly drawn to stories with voyages, spices, and trade. But as much as these, I love meddlesome and crafty gods. I’m not a religious person, but I love to understand how people behave around religion, how it influences their choices, and how our world’s history can be chronologized as a series of fanatical events and conquests. Fantasy gives me the option to explore characters and worlds where gods are not only inherently intrusive but also cast a long shadow on people’s nature, giving birth to folklore, myths, and, of course, great stories to tell. They drive destinies, but more importantly, they drive the resistance against being puppeteered.

Prashanth's book list on fantasy novels with quests and crafty gods

Prashanth Srivatsa Why did Prashanth love this book?

This was one meaty book! Ken Liu has thrown away all the rules of writing and has yet written an absolute masterpiece of fantasy fiction.

I don’t remember being this thrilled, terrified, angry, and chuffed with scene after scene, battle after battle. I am a sucker for sprawling epic fantasies. Give me intricate maps, dozens of characters, multiple POVs, betrayals, puppeteering gods, and a complex plot that ties them all together.

The Grace of Kings is all that and more in its rich and silken reimagining of the Han dynasty and the Chu Han Contention. Imagine my delight when I found out there are three more books to this saga, each meatier than the previous.

By Ken Liu,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Grace of Kings as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Emperor Mapidere was the first to unite the island kingdoms of Dara under a single banner. But now the emperor is on his deathbed, his people are exhausted by his vast, conscriptive engineering projects and his counsellors conspire only for their own gain.

Even the gods themselves are restless.

A wily, charismatic bandit and the vengeance-sworn son of a deposed duke cross paths as they each lead their own rebellion against the emperor's brutal regime. Together, they will journey to the heart of the empire; witnessing the clash of armies, fleets of silk-draped airships, magical books and shapeshifting gods. Their…


Book cover of Daisy Jones & The Six
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