Here are 100 books that Tiny fans have personally recommended if you like
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I’ve always been drawn to the natural world—not just its beauty but also its dirt, the earthiness and vitality of it. I prefer the company of animals to humans and the questions of curious children to the bland certainty of adults. I’ve worked as a teacher, news reporter, horse trainer, volunteer firefighter, and website designer. I try to pull bits of all these experiences together into my writing while also exploring the characters who fascinate me: flawed, compassionate protagonists who believe they must battle their demons alone and complex antagonists who think they have nothing to lose. There’s nothing so satisfying as a high-stakes challenge with an unpredictable outcome.
I chose not to put this 2023 Pulitzer Prize winner first on my list simply because everyone else already has.
I have loved Kingsolver’s writing from her very first non-fiction essays. So, what can I add? Except to say that this is a book for the ages: the enthralling journey of a southern Appalachian orphan. A tale of fortitude and redemption, the modern David Copperfield.
I’ve read it three times, finding more depth each time. Kingsolver balances pain, pathos, humor, insight, and resilience—all the facets of humanity—in the compelling character of Damon.
Demon's story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking 'like a little blue prizefighter.' For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise.
In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty isn't an idea, it's as natural as the grass grows. For a generation growing up in this world, at the heart of the modern opioid crisis, addiction isn't an abstraction, it's neighbours, parents, and friends. 'Family' could mean love, or reluctant foster…
I’ve always been drawn to the natural world—not just its beauty but also its dirt, the earthiness and vitality of it. I prefer the company of animals to humans and the questions of curious children to the bland certainty of adults. I’ve worked as a teacher, news reporter, horse trainer, volunteer firefighter, and website designer. I try to pull bits of all these experiences together into my writing while also exploring the characters who fascinate me: flawed, compassionate protagonists who believe they must battle their demons alone and complex antagonists who think they have nothing to lose. There’s nothing so satisfying as a high-stakes challenge with an unpredictable outcome.
I love learning about flawed characters who must make hard choices, and this book dropped me immediately into the lives of several.
Braffet raises dark themes of guilt, sorrow, and the power of community shaming to a high art in this gripping suspense story. Here’s a worthy struggle, indeed: How to rebuild your life as an outcast when the destruction isn’t your fault and the burden shouldn’t be yours to bear. I found myself liking and caring about these very flawed characters in spite of the bad choices they make. The writing is thoughtful and nuanced until suddenly, it isn’t.
I’ve always been drawn to the natural world—not just its beauty but also its dirt, the earthiness and vitality of it. I prefer the company of animals to humans and the questions of curious children to the bland certainty of adults. I’ve worked as a teacher, news reporter, horse trainer, volunteer firefighter, and website designer. I try to pull bits of all these experiences together into my writing while also exploring the characters who fascinate me: flawed, compassionate protagonists who believe they must battle their demons alone and complex antagonists who think they have nothing to lose. There’s nothing so satisfying as a high-stakes challenge with an unpredictable outcome.
I loved following the exploits of Sophie, described as a “brilliant hacker, MMA fighter, domestic abuse survivor, and chronic depressive” who likes kids and animals better than adults.
She’s the strong woman protagonist who’s also socially awkward and vulnerable. Add in the well-rendered descriptions of Maui—the lush and beautiful, the dark and dirty—and the high-stakes intrigue, and, well, it’s all here. And I’ll follow any writer who accurately captures the complex nuances of Hawaiian culture and societal issues.
Paradise hides a Lahaina thief with an obsession about the buried Hawaiian palace on Maui, and SOPHIE is the one to solve this crime. If Lisbeth Salander and Jack Reacher had a Black/Thai love child…she would be SOPHIE. ✅ Brilliant hacker, MMA fighter, domestic abuse survivor, and chronic depressive, Sophie is complicated
✅ Likes kids and animals more than people
✅ Never, never gives up on a case.
What would you do to save something priceless?
Security specialist Sophie Ang has a new case: someone is looting artifacts from a royal Hawaiian archaeological site in Lahaina on Maui. Things get…
I’ve always been drawn to the natural world—not just its beauty but also its dirt, the earthiness and vitality of it. I prefer the company of animals to humans and the questions of curious children to the bland certainty of adults. I’ve worked as a teacher, news reporter, horse trainer, volunteer firefighter, and website designer. I try to pull bits of all these experiences together into my writing while also exploring the characters who fascinate me: flawed, compassionate protagonists who believe they must battle their demons alone and complex antagonists who think they have nothing to lose. There’s nothing so satisfying as a high-stakes challenge with an unpredictable outcome.
I chose this book first for the sheer beauty of the writing and second, for the cautionary spotlight it places on the destructive power of the media.
Set in London in 1990, this is the story of an Irish immigrant family tied by blood but not by intimacy. Their tragedies are exaggerated for gain by the ambition of a sketchy tabloid reporter who exploits the vulnerabilities of these flawed characters. I love how Nolan uses her exquisitely beautiful prose to describe tragic events and dark secrets. Everything is infused with sharp psychological insights and a keen eye for the intricate details of the worlds her characters inhabit.
Yes, it’s dark. But there’s hope, healing, and growth here, as well.
*LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024*
*SHORTLISTED FOR FICTION - 2023 NERO BOOK AWARDS*
After the death of a young girl, the finger of suspicion is pointing at one reclusive family...
'Ambitious and original' DAVID NICHOLLS
'Gripping... A triumph' SUNDAY TIMES
It's 1990 in London and, after the death of a young girl on an estate, the finger of suspicion is pointing at one reclusive Irish family: the Greens.
At their heart sits Carmel: beautiful, other-worldly, and once destined for a future beyond her circumstances until life - and love - got in her way. Now, as the…
I’ve written and spoken on raising children and creating a home environment that supports learning, self-worth, a growing faith, a confident child who has character and creativity. I’ve had a passion for children all my life, and after teaching and working with kids from ages two to eighteen, and college, I began writing to inspire and equip parents to make the most of the fast-moving years of their children’s growing up years. My books like Unlocking Your Child’s Learning Potential, When Mothers Pray, Mothering By Heart, The One Year Book of Praying Through the Bible, have been published in eighty countries because they are inspiring, contain doable ideas, and are applicable to parents in other nations.
As a mother of three grown children, former teacher, and author, and speaker on parenting for many years, I much prefer the term “Spirited Child” to “Strong-Willed Child.” Do you have a child who’s more intense and persistent? Challenging and uncomfortable with change? Then thank your lucky stars. As they grow into their personality, these spirited kids can become the most empathetic and focused young people and successful adults. Learn how to work and parent with an understanding of your child’s temperament instead of trying to “break” your child’s will. Often when parents set out with punitive methods to break their child’s will, they end up breaking his or her spirit. This book has plenty of real-life stories, practical ideas, and the most current research.
“Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, Ed.D., brings her expertise in raising spirited children to help you understand and soothe your spirited baby. Her research-based, parent-tested strategies will help your baby sleep better and develop a calmer, more resilient brain and nervous system.” —Dr. Laura Markham, founder of AhaParenting.com, and author of Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids
From the beloved bestselling author whose award-winning parenting books have sold over 1 million copies—an indispensable guide to the unique needs of Spirited Infants™.
Does your baby bursts into tears when another baby in the same situation sleeps soundly?
Two self-interested people will try to outperform each other. One will win, the other will lose. If they instead cooperate, both will win a bit, and lose a bit. Is this preferable? I say yes, because in the long term, winning a bit many times, is better than winning a lot, once. Choosing short-term gain at the expense of long-term benefit is a waste of potential for societies and individuals. Traditional morality works, sometimes, in some cases. Rational morality can fill the gaps, and expand the circle of morality so that when higher ideals fail or become too difficult to follow, rationality can be about more than just short-term self-interest.
Paul Bloom wants to persuade the reader to be against empathy, as he is, because morally we’re better off without empathy.
He is right, and I see his argument as similar to the argument made by Sugden, although its structure is very different. Bloome, rightly, says that we cannot rely on empathy to be moral – we need something more and something more tangible.
That something might be rationality, although Bloome himself prefers to speak of reason. Moral theories have for too long relied on unstable ground: empathy and moral character.
If we care about morality, we must ground it on more solid ground.
In a divided world, empathy is not the solution, it is the problem; a source of prejudice, not kindness.
We think of empathy - the ability to feel the suffering of others for ourselves - as the ultimate source of all good behaviour. But while it inspires care and protection in personal relationships, it has the opposite effect in the wider world. As the latest research in psychology and neuroscience shows, we feel empathy most for those we find attractive and who seem similar to us and not at all for those who are different, distant or anonymous. Empathy therefore…
As a professor and scientist, using my Intentional Change Theory (ICT), I have studied sustained desired change of individuals, teams, organizations, communities, and countries since 1967. I have authored more than 200 articles and 9 books on leadership, competencies, emotional intelligence, competency development, coaching, neuroscience, and management education (including the international best-seller, Primal Leadership with Daniel Goleman and Annie McKee and the recent Helping People Change with Melvin Smith and Ellen Van Oosten). I run several Coursera MOOCs, including Inspiring Leadership Through Emotional Intelligence which has over a million enrolled from 215 countries.
Of all of the competencies that repeatedly predict effective leadership and creating and maintaining of key relationships, is empathy. At the heart of any relationship and perhaps the only antidote to rampant narcissism in our society is empathy. As a prominent psychiatrist and scholar, Helen chronicles decades of research and explains the neural mechanisms that enable us to relate to others, build better relationships ad even inspire others. Her personal stories and those of patients and colleagues make the research come alive with compassion and meaning.
"We are all connected on a neurobiological level far more than we have previously realized. Consciously or not, we are in constant, natural resonance with one another's feelings. When we are engaged in shared mind awareness, the possibilities for mutual aid and collaborative problem solving abound." -Helen Riess, MD
A Revolutionary Guide for Understanding and Changing the Way We Connect
Empathy is undergoing a new evolution. In a global and interconnected culture, we can no longer afford to identify only with people who seem to be a part of our "tribe." As Dr. Helen Riess has learned, our capacity for…
I have always loved children. I love tiny babies just discovering the world around them. I love elementary-age kids who are taking pride in developing new skills and learning how to deal with challenges. I love teens who are questioning and rethinking the things they thought they knew. I also love the science and practice of psychology (my profession for over thirty years) and, I love books. To date, I have written nine books. My audience ranges from preschool to high school and topics include strategies to understand and cope with problems as well as psychology as a topic of study.
Although this picture book has no words, its message of caring and compassion is clear and powerful. A small boy becomes aware of a homeless woman and simply, gently, acknowledges her. This innocent and kind book serves may serve as an opening to talk to children about homelessness. It also may help us all to remember not to ignore those less fortunate.
I See You is a wordless picture book that depicts a homeless woman who is unseen by everyone around her - except for a little boy. Over the course of a year, the boy is witness to all that she endures. Ultimately, in a gesture of compassion, the boy acknowledges her through an exchange in which he sees her and she experiences being seen. This book opens the door for kids and parents to begin a conversation about homelessness. In a "Note for Parents, Educators, and Neighbours", there are discussion questions and additional resources about helping the homeless. Ages 4-8.
As a former middle school language arts teacher, I’ve witnessed firsthand the struggles some students face trying to be accepted and the heartbreak they experience when they are not. Every child deserves to be seen and appreciated for who they are and not be excluded or ostracized due to factors over which they have little control. I write and promote picture books about friendship, acceptance, and inclusion because everyone deserves to be included…always.
As a middle school teacher, I knew a lot of Janines. Janine has her own style and isn’t afraid to be herself even if the “cool” kids think she’s odd. However, add in invites to a “cool” kids’ party and Janine has a problem. To attend, the “cool” kids want her to change. How far will Janine go to be included? To be included is a powerful desire but at what cost? Unfortunately, scenarios like this occur every day in classrooms across the country, but this book shines a light on the importance of looking at each person’s uniqueness through the lenses of kindness, compassion, and empathy.
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ILA 2016 Teachers' Choices Reading List
Meet Janine. She is one of a kind! Janine dresses a little different, remembers random facts, reads the dictionary for fun, and has her own style of cheering. Nobody does things the way Janine does things! One girl in Janine's class is throwing a party and all the COOL kids are invited. But Janine is not cool. Some kids think she is strange and want her to change. Will Janine try to be different or just be her spectacular self? In this charming story, Maryann Cocca-Leffler uses her own daughter as inspiration for a…
I always sensed I was from another planet, here to help create a new world by nature of my heightened sensitivity and ability to perceive beneath the surface of our supposed reality. After decades of struggling and nearly dying through addiction to mute my sensitivity, my healing path led me to see how being an empath is the greatest gift, once we learn to take care of ourselves and refine our abilities. My book The Empath Experience is the guide I wish I had when I was born, that tells my story and guides life-changing practices to master your energy and harness your empathic gifts as the superpowers they are.
I love this book from Anita – it feels like it resonates a lot with the messages in my original book on the empath experience yet includes some other stories and anecdotes that can relate to an even broader audience. I appreciate her core thesis that empaths are really the world’s healers especially at this time – here to teach empathy, compassion, and true connection simply by being who they truly are.
The New York Times bestselling author of Dying to Be Me returns with “a gorgeous and powerful field guide to the empath living in today’s wild world” (Laura Berman, PhD, author of Quantum Love) and how they can fully embrace their gifts of intuition and empathy.
Empaths not only sense other people’s emotions, but also absorb them—sometimes to their own disadvantage, often leading to overwhelming sensory overload and feelings of confusion or low self-esteem. Their willingness to help and please others might make them prey to opportunists or cause them to give away more energy than they can afford.
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them.
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