100 books like The Keeper

By Kelcey Ervick,

Here are 100 books that The Keeper fans have personally recommended if you like The Keeper. 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 Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations

Haley Weaver Author Of Give Me Space but Don't Go Far: My Unlikely Friendship with Anxiety

From my list on graphic memoirs to make you feel seen.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a child, I was always drawn to stories told through both words and illustrations. Why should that have to end in adulthood? Spoiler: it doesn’t, because there are SO many incredible graphic memoirs and novels written with adult audiences in mind. As a graphic memoirist myself, I love to see how other artists explore the form. I share recommendations in this genre every month in my newsletter, Haley Wrote This

Haley's book list on graphic memoirs to make you feel seen

Haley Weaver Why did Haley love this book?

This is one of those books I am just WAITING to give my niece and nephews when they’re old enough to read it. It is such a great guide for how to have conversations born out of curiosity rather than fear.

I also think the formatting of the story and illustrations is inventive, fun, and informative. I consider this graphic memoir a must-read for anyone interested in dipping a toe in the genre. 

By Mira Jacob,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Good Talk as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, TIME, BUZZFEED, ESQUIRE, LIBRARY JOURNAL AND KIRKUS REVIEWS LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN/OPEN BOOK AWARD 'Hilarious and heart-rending' Celeste Ng 'Heartbreaking, but also infused with levity and humour. What stands out most is the fierce compassion with which she parses the complexities of family and love' Time How brown is too brown? Can Indians be racist? What does real love between really different people look like? Like many six-year-olds, Mira Jacob's half-Jewish, half-Indian son, Z, has questions about everything - and as tensions from the…


Book cover of Commute: An Illustrated Memoir of Female Shame

Haley Weaver Author Of Give Me Space but Don't Go Far: My Unlikely Friendship with Anxiety

From my list on graphic memoirs to make you feel seen.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a child, I was always drawn to stories told through both words and illustrations. Why should that have to end in adulthood? Spoiler: it doesn’t, because there are SO many incredible graphic memoirs and novels written with adult audiences in mind. As a graphic memoirist myself, I love to see how other artists explore the form. I share recommendations in this genre every month in my newsletter, Haley Wrote This

Haley's book list on graphic memoirs to make you feel seen

Haley Weaver Why did Haley love this book?

Oh, this book. I wept! Williams' candid storytelling mirrored my own experiences with feeling objectified and unraveling shame.

This book made me feel ready to be more vulnerable about how I was feeling (which is something I’ve struggled with for most of my life). I also appreciate how the illustrations—mostly black and white with splashes of yellow—help set the tone. 

By Erin Williams,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

An intimate, clever, and ultimately gut-wrenching graphic memoir about the daily decision women must make between being sexualized or being invisible

In Commute, we follow author and illustrator Erin Williams on her daily commute to and from work, punctuated by recollections of sexual encounters as well as memories of her battle with alcoholism, addiction, and recovery. As she moves through the world navigating banal, familiar, and sometimes uncomfortable interactions with the familiar-faced strangers she sees daily, Williams weaves together a riveting collection of flashbacks. Her recollections highlight the indefinable moments when lines are crossed and a woman must ask herself…


Book cover of Cheeky: A Head-to-Toe Memoir

Haley Weaver Author Of Give Me Space but Don't Go Far: My Unlikely Friendship with Anxiety

From my list on graphic memoirs to make you feel seen.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a child, I was always drawn to stories told through both words and illustrations. Why should that have to end in adulthood? Spoiler: it doesn’t, because there are SO many incredible graphic memoirs and novels written with adult audiences in mind. As a graphic memoirist myself, I love to see how other artists explore the form. I share recommendations in this genre every month in my newsletter, Haley Wrote This

Haley's book list on graphic memoirs to make you feel seen

Haley Weaver Why did Haley love this book?

If ever a book made me want to give myself a massive hug after reading it, this one is it. As someone who has suffered with body image, this book spoke right to my soul, making even the most deeply seeded insecurities feel like parts of me worth loving.

The illustrations are silly and beautiful and moving, which brings to life so much of the messaging! I keep this on my shelf for an instant confidence boost. A total antidote to body shame!

By Ariella Elovic,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A Beat Most Anticipated Graphic Novel of Fall 2020

The funny, exuberant, inspiring antidote to body shame--a full-color graphic memoir celebrating the imperfections of the author's female body in all its glory.

Too tall. Too short. Too fat. Too thin. The message is everywhere--we need to pluck, wax, shrink, and hide ourselves, to not take up space, emotionally or literally; women are never “just right.” Well, Ariella Elovic, feminist and illustrator extraordinaire, has had enough. In her full-color graphic memoir Cheeky, she takes an inspiring and exuberant head-to-toe look at her own body self-consciousness, and body part by body part,…


Book cover of Dancing at the Pity Party

Haley Weaver Author Of Give Me Space but Don't Go Far: My Unlikely Friendship with Anxiety

From my list on graphic memoirs to make you feel seen.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a child, I was always drawn to stories told through both words and illustrations. Why should that have to end in adulthood? Spoiler: it doesn’t, because there are SO many incredible graphic memoirs and novels written with adult audiences in mind. As a graphic memoirist myself, I love to see how other artists explore the form. I share recommendations in this genre every month in my newsletter, Haley Wrote This

Haley's book list on graphic memoirs to make you feel seen

Haley Weaver Why did Haley love this book?

It wasn’t until this book that I encountered such a sweet, heartbreaking, and colorful retelling of grief. This book has become my blueprint for how to both navigate my own experiences with loss and care for friends in grieving; Feder so perfectly lays out what’s helpful and what’s not.

I also appreciate how the illustrations preserve the beauty of Feder’s connection to her mom (in which I saw a lot of similarities to my own mother-daughter relationship!). I gave this book to my friend, who is a school counselor, to keep in their office for students going through grief, too. 

By Tyler Feder,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dancing at the Pity Party as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

This acclaimed graphic memoir that Kirkus calls “cathartic and uplifting” is the tale of losing a parent and what it feels like to grieve and to move forward.

“I can’t recommend this kind, funny, and poignant memoir enough. It’s an intimate, life-affirming story of resilience that feels like a good friend.” —Mari Andrew, author of Am I There Yet?

Tyler Feder had just white-knuckled her way through her first year of college when her super cool mom was diagnosed with late-stage cancer. Now, with a decade of grief and nervous laughter under her belt, Tyler shares the story of that…


Book cover of Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX: The Law That Changed the Future of Girls in America

Barbara Carroll Roberts Author Of Nikki on the Line

From my list on girls who love sports.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was a very active kid – the kind of kid who was constantly told to sit still and be quiet. Growing up in the 1960s, I had few opportunities to engage in athletics, other than neighborhood games of tag and kick-the-can. But when I got to high school, our school district had just begun offering competitive sports for girls. Finally, my energy and athletic ability were appreciated (at least by my coaches and teammates). So I guess it was inevitable that when I began writing books for young readers, I would start with a book about a girl who loves sports.

Barbara's book list on girls who love sports

Barbara Carroll Roberts Why did Barbara love this book?

Today’s young readers can’t believe that when I was in high school, our basketball team was only allowed in the gym when the boys weren’t using it. They can’t believe there was a time when people thought girls shouldn’t play competitive sports. But really, who could believe it? Who could believe it would take an act of Congress – the 1972 law known as Title IX – to guarantee girls and women the right to equal opportunities in every academic field and in athletics? I love this book because it tells the story of Title IX, a law that mandated academic equity for girls and women, and changed the world for girls who love sports. 

By Karen Blumenthal,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Let Me Play 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?

Can girls play softball? Can girls be school crossing guards? Can girls become lawyers or doctors or engineers? Of course they can... today. But just a few decades ago, opportunities for girls were far more limited, not because they weren't capable or didn't want to, but because they weren't allowed to. Ages 8-12.


Book cover of Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson

Leonard L. Richards Author Of The Slave Power: The Free North and Southern Domination, 1780--1860

From my list on why slaveholders once dominated American politics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm now retired. But like many historians of my generation, I've been lucky. Having gone to the University of California when there was no tuition and got through graduate school thanks to the GI Bill, I then taught history for five decades, briefly at San Francisco State College and the University of Hawaii, and for a long stretch at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. During those years, I wrote eight books, one was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1987, and three won prizes—the Albert J. Beverage Award in 1970, the second-place Lincoln Prize in 2001, and the Langum Trust Prize in 2015. All but one deal with slavery and power.

Leonard's book list on why slaveholders once dominated American politics

Leonard L. Richards Why did Leonard love this book?

This book also deserves more attention than it has received. And it, too, is a corrective. Taking to task a host of biographers and historians who have pretended that the “founding fathers” were blind to slavery and that slavery was a secondary issue in 1787, Finkleman contends that slavery was always a major bone of contention. Moreover, contends Finkelman, Thomas Jefferson was anything but an antislavery man. Instead, he was on the proslavery and anti-Black side in most controversies.

By Paul Finkelman,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In Slavery and the Founders, Paul Finkelman addresses a central issue of the American founding: how the first generation of leaders of the United States dealt with the profoundly important question of human bondage. The book explores the tension between the professed idea of America as stated in the Declaration of Independence, and the reality of the early American republic, reminding us of the profound and disturbing ways that slavery affected the U.S. Constitution and early American politics. It also offers the most important and detailed short critique of Thomas Jefferson's relationship to slavery available, while at the same time…


Book cover of Why Socrates Died

Armand D’Angour Author Of Socrates in Love

From my list on the life, death, and thoughts of Socrates.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have studied the ancient world for over 50 years and have found that there are always new things to discover. Everyone thought that all that was known about Socrates had already been said, so I was excited to discover new evidence for his relationship with Aspasia - a woman of extraordinary influence and intellect - hiding in plain sight. I am a Professor of Classics at Oxford University and Fellow and Tutor in Classics at Jesus College, Oxford

Armand's book list on the life, death, and thoughts of Socrates

Armand D’Angour Why did Armand love this book?

Socrates’ trial and death together are a famous moment in classical history. This is a vigorous and authoritative scholarly investigation into the historical circumstances that led to Socrates being charged with impiety and corrupting the youth.

By Robin Waterfield,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Socrates' trial and death together form an iconic moment in Western civilization. In 399 BCE, the great philosopher stood before an Athenian jury on serious charges: impiety and "subverting the young men of the city." The picture we have of it-created by his immediate followers, Plato and Xenophon, and perpetuated in countless works of literature and art ever since-is of a noble man putting his lips to the poisonous cup of hemlock, sentenced to death in a fit of folly by an ancient Athenian democracy already fighting for its own life. But an icon, an image, is not reality, and…


Book cover of The Runaway Jury

John L. DeBoer Author Of The Girl from Belgrade

From my list on thrillers that don’t skimp on character development.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a retired surgeon and have no expertise in espionage, law enforcement, or the legal system. But I enjoy thriller novels that feature these things, and I follow the adage, “Write what you like to read.” But I do have medical/surgical expertise and have followed another adage: “Write what you know,” so I have inserted medical situations into many of my stories and one of my published books is a medical thriller. What I like about thrillers is the ability to show each side of the conflict. The good guys against the bad guys, neither side knowing what the other is doing. But the reader knows, and this adds to the suspense.

John's book list on thrillers that don’t skimp on character development

John L. DeBoer Why did John love this book?

I’ve enjoyed most of Grisham’s novels, but I’m picking this legal thriller (as are most of his books) because of the fascinating plot. It’s a David vs. Goliath story, in which the underdogs are seeking righteous justice from a huge corporation by using the legal court system. The planning involved to make it happen and the attempts by the opposition to destroy the effort gives an inside-baseball look at how multi-million dollar lawsuits are put together. The book also made a great movie!

By John Grisham,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Ever wonder what happens in the jury room, a place where the lawyer's aren't heard and the judge is not welcome? Who controls a jury when the door is locked and the deliberations begin? John Grisham returns to the legal world and weaves another gripping tale of intrigue and power play. With a combination of taul suspense and high drama this novel will once again show John Grisham as the master storyteller of our generation.


Book cover of Five Miles Away, A World Apart: One City, Two Schools, and the Story of Educational Opportunity in Modern America

Tracy L. Steffes Author Of Structuring Inequality: How Schooling, Housing, and Tax Policies Shaped Metropolitan Development and Education

From my list on understanding the history of educational inequality.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a historian of education and twentieth-century U.S. history. Public schooling has been transformative for me, opening up a world of opportunities, but I know many others are not nearly so lucky. This has shaped my interest in the history of public schooling, including its promise of democracy and opportunity and the too-often reality of the way it replicates and deepens social and economic inequalities. I think history helps us understand our world, including to see the roots of inequality we live with today and to think about how we might build a more equitable system. 

Tracy's book list on understanding the history of educational inequality

Tracy L. Steffes Why did Tracy love this book?

I love how this book shows us how we can’t understand the failures of recent education reforms to fix educational inequality without putting them into a longer and wider context, namely the history of school desegregation.

This book explores how the failure of courts and policymakers to go far enough in school desegregation—especially to challenge the city-suburban boundary as a primary axis of racial and socioeconomic inequality—has doomed all subsequent reforms, including school finance reform, school choice, and standards and accountability.

This book has shaped my thinking about educational reform and inequality today, especially the importance of boundaries and funding. It helps us look at our current education policy landscape with a much more critical eye and see some of the things that are missing from this discussion today.

By James Ryan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Five Miles Away, A World Apart as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

How is it that half a century after Brown v. Board of Education--and in spite of increased funding for urban schools and programs like No Child Left Behind--educational opportunities for blacks and whites in America still remain so unequal?
In Five Miles Away, A World Apart, James Ryan provides a sobering answer to this question by tracing the fortunes of two schools in Richmond, Virginia--one suburban, relatively affluent, and mostly white, and the other urban, relatively poor, and mostly black. Ryan shows how court rulings against desegregation in the 1970s laid the groundwork for the massive disparities between urban and…


Book cover of Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Framework for Teaching Critical Thinking to All Students

Sara Blanchard and Misasha Suzuki Graham Author Of Dear White Women: Let's Get (Un)Comfortable Talking about Racism

From my list on for kids (and parents) on anti-racism.

Why am I passionate about this?

We are two biracial (Japanese and White) mothers with very mixed-race children, who believe that when we learn about our nation’s history and look more deeply at our personal experiences with race and identity, we gain the power to effect personal and systemic change. Some of that starts with the books that we read to, and with, our kids. We discuss these topics and more on our weekly award-winning podcast, Dear White Women. We hope that you love the books on this list as much as we do!

Sara's book list on for kids (and parents) on anti-racism

Sara Blanchard and Misasha Suzuki Graham Why did Sara love this book?

At first glance, you might not see why we think it’s a book for parents that addresses anti-racism. But digging deeper, you’ll see that one of the things we advocate for is developing the skills for introspection - to ask ourselves the tough questions, to challenge our own beliefs and assumptions, and think critically about the information that constantly surrounds us. Those skills are a fundamental part of our own anti-racism practices. Unfortunately, critical thinking is not a skill that’s been well taught, or evenly taught, throughout the schools in our country - so it’s important for each of us to help ourselves, and our children, learn this most foundational skill to succeed in the 21st century.

By Colin Seale,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Thinking Like a Lawyer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Critical thinking is the essential tool for ensuring that students fulfill their promise. But, in reality, critical thinking is still a luxury good, and students with the greatest potential are too often challenged the least. Thinking Like a Lawyer:

Introduces a powerful but practical framework to close the critical thinking gap. Gives teachers the tools and knowledge to teach critical thinking to all students. Helps students adopt the skills, habits, and mindsets of lawyers. Empowers students to tackle 21st-century problems. Teaches students how to compete in a rapidly changing global marketplace.

Colin Seale, a teacher-turned-attorney-turned-education-innovator and founder of thinkLaw, uses…


Book cover of Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations
Book cover of Commute: An Illustrated Memoir of Female Shame
Book cover of Cheeky: A Head-to-Toe Memoir

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