Fans pick 100 books like The Dark Matter of Natasha

By Matthew R. Davis,

Here are 100 books that The Dark Matter of Natasha fans have personally recommended if you like The Dark Matter of Natasha. 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 The Purpose of Reality: Solar

Eugen Bacon Author Of Secondhand Daylight

From my list on psychedelic speculative fiction from Australia.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an African Australian author of several novels and fiction collections, and a finalist in the 2022 World Fantasy Award. I was announced in the honor list of the 2022 Otherwise Fellowships for ‘doing exciting work in gender and speculative fiction’.  I have a master's degree with distinction in distributed computer systems, a master's degree in creative writing, and a PhD in creative writing. The short story is my sweetest spot. I have a deep passion for the literary speculative, and I write across genres and forms, with award-winning genre-bending works. I am especially curious about stories of culture, diversity, climate change, writing the other and betwixt.

Eugen's book list on psychedelic speculative fiction from Australia

Eugen Bacon Why did Eugen love this book?

Few short stories collection come with a pairing in illustrated poetry. Aussie Steve Simpson’s The Purpose of Reality: Solar has a poetic cousin in The Purpose of Reality: Lunar, both illustrated with his own evolutionary art, full of pattern, texture, and a dreamy luminescence. The stories are phantastic and philosophical in their metaphor and silhouette that perfectly weds with the illustrations. The blurring of reality and reverie in The Purpose of Reality: Solar is almost psychedelic and metafictional, gliding into slipstream fiction that makes it a rare work for the inquisitive reader. 

By Steve Simpson,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Steve Simpson's mesmerizing collection of short fiction and illustrations is surreal and wildly imaginative, with touches of playfulness throughout. Here is a selection of the beings within:At Claire's school, the walls were cardboard, and her chain-smoking math teacher never allowed numbers to be mentioned. He used a drawing of a press to flatten slices of air into tissue paper for kites, and he was Claire's favorite, because all the other teachers were ghosts. One day, with a little pasta and a little mambo, everything changed.The negentropy wars didn't end the world, there were survivors, and in Santarém, the gringo electrician…


Book cover of A Primer to Kaaron Warren

Eugen Bacon Author Of Secondhand Daylight

From my list on psychedelic speculative fiction from Australia.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an African Australian author of several novels and fiction collections, and a finalist in the 2022 World Fantasy Award. I was announced in the honor list of the 2022 Otherwise Fellowships for ‘doing exciting work in gender and speculative fiction’.  I have a master's degree with distinction in distributed computer systems, a master's degree in creative writing, and a PhD in creative writing. The short story is my sweetest spot. I have a deep passion for the literary speculative, and I write across genres and forms, with award-winning genre-bending works. I am especially curious about stories of culture, diversity, climate change, writing the other and betwixt.

Eugen's book list on psychedelic speculative fiction from Australia

Eugen Bacon Why did Eugen love this book?

No easy way describes Kaaron Warren’s darkest mind full of mischief and intensity. She’s a global legend, no worries, with her distinctive Australian tongue. Find wicked excitement in Warren’s horror, disturbing in its nature, leaving nothing untouched. Even babies are not safe. This primer is a quick introduction to ominous storytelling, that may pave way to curiosity into award-winning works, including Tide of Stone or Into Bones Like Oil. Starting here, with illustrations and an exegetical analysis by Michael Arnzen, is perhaps the soundest way to dip a toe into the humour, surreally, and darkness of this author’s alluring text. 

By Kaaron Warren, Eric J. Guignard (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Primer to Kaaron Warren as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Australian author Kaaron Warren is widely recognized as one of the leading writers today of speculative and dark short fiction. She’s published four novels, multiple novellas, and well over one hundred heart-rending tales of horror, science fiction, and beautiful fantasy, and is the first author ever to simultaneously win all three of Australia’s top speculative fiction writing awards (Ditmar, Shadows, and Aurealis awards for The Grief Hole).

Dark Moon Books and editor Eric J. Guignard bring you this introduction to her work, the second in a series of primers exploring modern masters of literary dark short fiction. Herein is a…


Book cover of The Tree of Ecstasy & Unbearable Sadness

Eugen Bacon Author Of Secondhand Daylight

From my list on psychedelic speculative fiction from Australia.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an African Australian author of several novels and fiction collections, and a finalist in the 2022 World Fantasy Award. I was announced in the honor list of the 2022 Otherwise Fellowships for ‘doing exciting work in gender and speculative fiction’.  I have a master's degree with distinction in distributed computer systems, a master's degree in creative writing, and a PhD in creative writing. The short story is my sweetest spot. I have a deep passion for the literary speculative, and I write across genres and forms, with award-winning genre-bending works. I am especially curious about stories of culture, diversity, climate change, writing the other and betwixt.

Eugen's book list on psychedelic speculative fiction from Australia

Eugen Bacon Why did Eugen love this book?

The quality and production of this phenomenal hardcover of imposing size are mesmeric. Its metaphoric text on mental illness and accompanying artwork are visually appealing and poignantly immersive. Transformative text transports the reader, any reader—child, young adult, adult—to beauty and hurt, evolution and transformation. The perfect book for anyone living with psychosis or other illness, and for everyone else to understand the fragility of debilitating conditions.  

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Book cover of What You Made Me Do

What You Made Me Do By Barbara Gayle Austin,

Willem and Jurriaan have a miserable childhood thanks to their cruel, controlling mother—Louisa Veldkamp, a world-renowned pianist. Dad turns a blind eye. One day, Louisa vanishes without a trace during a family vacation.

Adoptee Anneliese Bakker survives a toxic childhood and leaves home, vowing never to return. While searching for…

Book cover of The Forest of Dead Children

Eugen Bacon Author Of Secondhand Daylight

From my list on psychedelic speculative fiction from Australia.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an African Australian author of several novels and fiction collections, and a finalist in the 2022 World Fantasy Award. I was announced in the honor list of the 2022 Otherwise Fellowships for ‘doing exciting work in gender and speculative fiction’.  I have a master's degree with distinction in distributed computer systems, a master's degree in creative writing, and a PhD in creative writing. The short story is my sweetest spot. I have a deep passion for the literary speculative, and I write across genres and forms, with award-winning genre-bending works. I am especially curious about stories of culture, diversity, climate change, writing the other and betwixt.

Eugen's book list on psychedelic speculative fiction from Australia

Eugen Bacon Why did Eugen love this book?

Slipstream fiction doesn’t get more uncanny than this collection of short stories featuring dead children and sometimes parents behind those deaths. The Forest of Dead Children is a startling book, absolutely alarming, in its suspense and incongruity pertaining to matters of little ones, especially if you’re a parent. The allure of European slipstream author Andrew Hook’s collection is in its darkness and revelation of the potency and frailty of parenthood, right there on the balance, and what, what, could possibly go wrong? Wholly unconventional and disturbingly captivating. 

By Andrew Hook,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Black Shuck Shadows presents a collectable series of micro-collections, intended as a sampler to introduce readers to the best in classic and modern horror.
In The Forest of Dead Children, Hook offers five tales of children in peril.


Book cover of Dark Matter and Dark Energy: The Hidden 95% of the Universe

Don Lincoln Author Of Understanding The Universe: From Quarks To The Cosmos

From my list on to learn about the universe.

Why am I passionate about this?

Don Lincoln is both a research scientist and a masterful science communicator. On the science side, he participated in the discovery of both the top quark and the Higgs boson. On the communicator side, he has written books, made hundreds of YouTube videos, and written for such visible venues as Scientific American and CNN. He has both the scientific chops and writer expertise to tell an exciting story about why the universe is the way it is.

Don's book list on to learn about the universe

Don Lincoln Why did Don love this book?

While scientists know a great deal about the matter around us, it turns out that ordinary matter is a mere 5% of the matter and energy of the universe. A full 95% is of an unknown type. A substance called dark matter makes up 25% of the energy budget of the universe, while dark energy makes up the remaining 70%. This book focuses on the unknown 95% of the universe. No person will understand the rules that govern the universe, without a thorough understanding of these as-yet-undiscovered substances.

By Brian Clegg,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'Clear and compact ... It's hard to fault as a brief, easily digestible introduction to some of the biggest questions in the Universe' Giles Sparrow, BBC Four's The Sky at Night, Best astronomy and space books of 2019: 5/5

All the matter and light we can see in the universe makes up a trivial 5 per cent of everything. The rest is hidden. This could be the biggest puzzle that science has ever faced.

Since the 1970s, astronomers have been aware that galaxies have far too little matter in them to account for the way they spin around: they should…


Book cover of Poster Girl

Kim McMahill Author Of Refuge from the World

From my list on surviving post-apocalyptic alternate universe.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in a small community surrounded by mountains and vast public land. I learned to ride a horse before riding a bike, and my dad taught me about recreating in remote areas. I didn’t think of those lessons as survival training, but in my novels, the skills I learned as a kid often save the characters’ lives. All the books on this list feature ordinary people doing extraordinary things to survive and, in some cases, protecting those they love. I hope you enjoy the books on this list as much as I have!

Kim's book list on surviving post-apocalyptic alternate universe

Kim McMahill Why did Kim love this book?

I love to be surprised. Poster Girl started a bit slow, but as the story unfolded, the web of connections made this dystopian book much more interesting than I thought it would be.

The story began after a revolution. Many considered patriots by the former government were either killed or imprisoned. As the new government tries to paint itself as the liberator from oppression, similarities between the new and old regimes are exposed.

As with any good dystopian story, it shows what people will do to survive in a dangerous and unfamiliar world and how they navigate relationships within a new set of social rules.  

By Veronica Roth,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A fallen regime. A missing child. A chance at freedom.

Ten years ago, Sonya was the face of an oppressive regime. Then it was toppled by rebels and she was thrown into prison - where she has been locked up ever since.

When an old enemy comes to her with a deal, it seems too good to be true: find a missing girl who was stolen from her parents, and earn her freedom.

But as Sonya hunts for the child, she is forced to dig deeper into the past - and her family's dark secrets - than she ever bargained…


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Book cover of Victoria Unveiled

Victoria Unveiled By Shane Joseph,

A fast-paced literary thriller with a strong sci-fi element and loaded with existential questions. Beyond the entertainment value, this book takes a hard look at the perilous world of publishing, which is on a crash course to meet the nascent, no-holds-barred world of AI. Could these worlds co-exist, or will…

Book cover of Life on Mars: Poems

DeMisty D. Bellinger Author Of Peculiar Heritage

From my list on poetry inspired by history.

Why am I passionate about this?

I care about social justice, equality, and history, as well as beauty and art. As an African-American woman who was raised working class and who understands how history informs the present, I have fallen in love with the depiction of history in poetry and prose. Not all of my writing has something to do with race or gender or class, but all of my writing is about justice in some way. I want to get to the good of people.

DeMisty's book list on poetry inspired by history

DeMisty D. Bellinger Why did DeMisty love this book?

This book mixes personal poetry and history and art and space. It is a wonder! Smith looks at the Hubble Telescope and all of its marvels along with one of its engineers, her father Floyd Smith. 

Smith mixes stars, David Bowie, mass shootings, love, racism, sexism all in this poetry collection and somehow, it works. It more than works. It explodes! 

I don’t know if this work has much to do with my own; there is history, yes, and there is social commentary. But mostly, there is excellent poetry that is exemplary for any poet writing today.

By Tracy K. Smith,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In this brilliant collection of new poems, Tracy K. Smith envisions a sci-fi future sucked clean of any real dangers, contemplates the dark matter that keeps people both close and distant and revisits kitschy concepts like 'love' and 'illness', now relegated to the museum of obsolescence. With allusions to David Bowie and interplanetary travel, Life on Mars imagines a soundtrack for the universe, accompanying the discoveries, failures and oddities of human existence and establishing Smith as one of the best poets of her generation.


Book cover of Vera Rubin: A Life

Steven Gimbel Author Of Einstein's Jewish Science: Physics at the Intersection of Politics and Religion

From my list on biographies of mathematicians and scientists.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a professor, I see students fascinated by science, but petrified to take a science class. This is in part because we have dehumanized science, removed the story, edited out the human, deleted the parts that allow people to connect with it. Science does not get delivered by gods, but is created by people: smart, quirky, sometimes immoral people. As a writer, my hope is to be able to reinsert life into readers’ understanding of our greatest advances. As a reader myself, I am deeply appreciative when other authors do it too.

Steven's book list on biographies of mathematicians and scientists

Steven Gimbel Why did Steven love this book?

The engagingly told story of a modern hero who not only illuminated some of the darkest secrets of the universe, but who had to do it while fighting sexism all along the way. This is not a romanticized picture of a great scientist, but an inspiring and enraging telling of a real person living a recognizable life whose genius contributed to humanity and her unwavering moral compass and determination did the same for the culture.

By Jacqueline Mitton, Simon Mitton,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Vera Rubin as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Physics Today Best Book of the Year

The first biography of a pioneering scientist who made significant contributions to our understanding of dark matter and championed the advancement of women in science.

One of the great lingering mysteries of the universe is dark matter. Scientists are not sure what it is, but most believe it's out there, and in abundance. The astronomer who finally convinced many of them was Vera Rubin. When Rubin died in 2016, she was regarded as one of the most influential astronomers of her era. Her research on the rotation of spiral galaxies was groundbreaking,…


Book cover of Cosmology: A Very Short Introduction

R. Bruce Partridge Author Of Finding the Big Bang

From my list on the Big Bang and the early history of our Universe.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was a teenager, my dad decided he wanted to make an astronomical telescope, so he ground and polished the mirror for an 8-inch reflecting telescope. Then he also helped me make one in our basement. I ended up with something I’d made that showed me the pearly rings of Saturn and the wispy details of the Andromeda nebula! I was hooked and kept my interest in astronomy alive through years of math and physics courses. 


R. Bruce's book list on the Big Bang and the early history of our Universe

R. Bruce Partridge Why did R. Bruce love this book?

As I recall, this short summary ranges a bit more widely than the two volumes I've listed above. It is short, accessible and to the point, with rather more emphasis on the theory than the observations. I like the fact that it looks forward to possible new discoveries about our Universe and provides a glimpse of topics that lie outside the mainstream of contemporary cosmology. Quantum cosmology, anyone?

By Peter Coles,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

This book is a simple, non-technical introduction to cosmology, explaining what it is and what cosmologists do. Peter Coles discusses the history of the subject, the development of the Big Bang theory, and more speculative modern issues like quantum cosmology, superstrings, and dark matter.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.


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Book cover of Empire in the Sand

Empire in the Sand By Shane Joseph,

Avery Mann, a retired pharmaceuticals executive, is in crisis.

His wife dies of cancer, his son’s marriage is on the rocks, his grandson is having a meltdown, and his good friend is a victim of the robocalls scandal that invades the Canadian federal election. Throw in a reckless fling with…

Book cover of The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred

Joan Slonczewski Author Of The Highest Frontier

From my list on trees, stars, and the scientists who love them.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a child in New England, I used to look up to the trees around my home and the stars beyond. The trees caught my gaze by day, their branches twisting into the blue sky. I imagined myself turning upside-down, so the branches actually plunged into blue water, like the tree-islands of my novel A Door into Ocean. By night I imagined falling off the Earth into the dark well of stars. My vision of stars ultimately morphed into the multicolored microbes of Brain Plague. The books on my list expanded my view of trees and stars into many dimensions. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Joan's book list on trees, stars, and the scientists who love them

Joan Slonczewski Why did Joan love this book?

This Harvard-trained cosmologist takes us on a journey into the universe, from colliding black holes to neutrons and protons “faking it” as elementary particles. If you ever wondered why the universe has more matter than antimatter, and what is dark matter made of, this book is for you. And physics is about more than theories; it’s about people doing physics. Black lives matter, and Black lives are the stuff of stars. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein shares her exploration of a universe that is “bigger than the bad things that are happening to us.” Along the way, we gain new clues to the fate of our galaxies full of stars.

By Chanda Prescod-Weinstein,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

From a star theoretical physicist, a journey into the world of particle physics and the cosmos -- and a call for a more just practice of science.

In The Disordered Cosmos, Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein shares her love for physics, from the Standard Model of Particle Physics and what lies beyond it, to the physics of melanin in skin, to the latest theories of dark matter -- all with a new spin informed by history, politics, and the wisdom of Star Trek.

One of the leading physicists of her generation, Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is also one of fewer than one hundred…


Book cover of The Purpose of Reality: Solar
Book cover of A Primer to Kaaron Warren
Book cover of The Tree of Ecstasy & Unbearable Sadness

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