Fans pick 63 books like Wall and Piece

By Banksy,

Here are 63 books that Wall and Piece fans have personally recommended if you like Wall and Piece. 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 Blue Light Project: A Novel

Elen Ghulam Author Of Graffiti Hack

From my list on graffiti to make you want to pick up spray paint.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm sure you’ve heard of method acting. A technique by which an actor embodies the character they're portraying 24/7. I'm a method writer. I embody the world of the novels that I write. However, when the time came to write a novel inspired by graffiti, I faced a particular frustration. Graffiti is illegal. I felt a strong desire to grab a spray paint can to decorate public spaces. And yet the fear of a jail cell prevented me from acting on the impulse. I had to find a different outlet for that desire. I poured over every book and movie on the subject. I believe I became a bit of an expert.

Elen's book list on graffiti to make you want to pick up spray paint

Elen Ghulam Why did Elen love this book?

A bombastic start that leads to a gentle beautiful ending. Nothing works how you expect it to in this novel. The graffiti is woven through the story like broad brush strokes of a Van Gogh painting. Abrupt and yet conveying of most delicate feelings. Open the first page, leave all your expectations to the side and let yourself be taken on the ride. The less I tell you the better.

By Timothy Taylor,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A hostage-taker hides a shocking secret in “a breakneck literary thriller that combines the worlds of conspiracy theory [and] reality TV.”—National Post

Without warning, a man, armed with explosives, seizes a television studio taking over a hundred terrified hostages. He offers no motive. And he makes just a single curious demand. The only person he’ll speak to is Thom Pegg, a once honored investigative journalist turned disgraced tabloid reporter. As surprised as anyone, and pressured to comply by authorities, Pegg reluctantly enters the fray as the chosen confidante.

From outside, the enthralling drama is revealed through the eyes of two…


Book cover of Against the Wall: The Art of Resistance in Palestine

Elen Ghulam Author Of Graffiti Hack

From my list on graffiti to make you want to pick up spray paint.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm sure you’ve heard of method acting. A technique by which an actor embodies the character they're portraying 24/7. I'm a method writer. I embody the world of the novels that I write. However, when the time came to write a novel inspired by graffiti, I faced a particular frustration. Graffiti is illegal. I felt a strong desire to grab a spray paint can to decorate public spaces. And yet the fear of a jail cell prevented me from acting on the impulse. I had to find a different outlet for that desire. I poured over every book and movie on the subject. I believe I became a bit of an expert.

Elen's book list on graffiti to make you want to pick up spray paint

Elen Ghulam Why did Elen love this book?

My interest in graffiti started during a visit to Ramallah, Palestine. Since there is no functioning government that can remove graffiti, the city walls are covered in layers upon layers of graffiti. Anything reachable by human hand is decorated in paint. From the profound to the vulgar. Political to benign. It suddenly occurred to me that in the city of Ramallah no one needs to wonder: “What are people thinking? What is on their mind?” The writing is on the wall. Simply open your eyes and absorb the order within the chaos. Against the Wall reminds me of that moment of inspiration that later informed my novel.

By William Parry,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Featuring the work of acclaimed artists such as Banksy, Ron English, and Blu, as well as Palestinian artists and activists, the photographs in this collection express outrage, compassion, and touching humor while illustrating the lives and livelihoods of the tens of thousands of people affected by Israel's wall. This stunning book of photographs details the graffiti and art that have transformed Israel's Wall of Separation into a canvas of symbolic resistance and solidarity. The compelling images are interspersed with vignettes of the people whose lives are affected by the wall and who suffer due to a lack of work, education,…


Book cover of The World Atlas of Street Art and Graffiti

Elen Ghulam Author Of Graffiti Hack

From my list on graffiti to make you want to pick up spray paint.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm sure you’ve heard of method acting. A technique by which an actor embodies the character they're portraying 24/7. I'm a method writer. I embody the world of the novels that I write. However, when the time came to write a novel inspired by graffiti, I faced a particular frustration. Graffiti is illegal. I felt a strong desire to grab a spray paint can to decorate public spaces. And yet the fear of a jail cell prevented me from acting on the impulse. I had to find a different outlet for that desire. I poured over every book and movie on the subject. I believe I became a bit of an expert.

Elen's book list on graffiti to make you want to pick up spray paint

Elen Ghulam Why did Elen love this book?

The World Atlas of Street Art is a treasure trove of Graffiti from all four corners of the earth. From hurried random scribbles on a wall to intricate creations worthy of Da Vinci, you can get lost inside this book only to emerge with a new appreciation of this puzzling art form. Some might insist on calling graffiti a form of vandalism. I am certain that none of them had the privilege of perusing this beautiful book.

By Rafael Schacter,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The World Atlas of Street Art and Graffiti as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Painted murals first appeared in Latin America in the early 20th century; in the 1950s, spray-can graffiti associated with Latino gangs followed, notably the "cholo" graffiti of Los Angeles. Today, street art has traveled to nearly every corner of the globe, evolving into a highly complex and ornate art form. The World Atlas of Street Art and Graffiti is the definitive survey of international street art, focusing on the world's most influential urban artists and artworks. Since the lives and works of urban artists are inextricably linked to specific streets and places, this beautifully illustrated volume features specially commissioned "city…


Book cover of Anonymouse

Elen Ghulam Author Of Graffiti Hack

From my list on graffiti to make you want to pick up spray paint.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm sure you’ve heard of method acting. A technique by which an actor embodies the character they're portraying 24/7. I'm a method writer. I embody the world of the novels that I write. However, when the time came to write a novel inspired by graffiti, I faced a particular frustration. Graffiti is illegal. I felt a strong desire to grab a spray paint can to decorate public spaces. And yet the fear of a jail cell prevented me from acting on the impulse. I had to find a different outlet for that desire. I poured over every book and movie on the subject. I believe I became a bit of an expert.

Elen's book list on graffiti to make you want to pick up spray paint

Elen Ghulam Why did Elen love this book?

Anonymouse is a charming illustrated picture book for children that grownups will appreciate. It tells the story of a mysterious graffiti artist that creates art specifically for animals. What I love most about it, is that it illustrates the transformative power of art. As the different animals are surprised and delighted with the graffiti, their lives, how they see themselves and relate to each other are enhanced in surprising ways.

By Vikki VanSickle, Anna Pirolli (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Animal-friendly street art is popping up all over the city, but who is creating these masterpieces? There is no explanation, only a name: Anonymouse. For fans of Sidewalk Flowers and Art & Max.

Art for the birds.
Art for the ants.
Art for the dogs, cats and raccoons.
Art to make them laugh, make them think, make them feel at home.
But who is creating it?
Only Anonymouse knows for sure . . .

This clever tale mixes street art, animals and gorgeous illustrations to create a meditation on how art can uplift any creature's spirit -- human or animal…


Book cover of Big Little Breakthroughs: How Small, Everyday Innovations Drive Oversized Results

Alison Levine Author Of On the Edge: Leadership Lessons from Mount Everest and Other Extreme Environments

From my list on how to tackle life’s mountains.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have firsthand experience in some of the harshest environments on the planet. I’ve survived sub-zero temperatures, hurricane force winds, sudden avalanches…and a career on Wall Street. I served as team captain of the first American Women’s Everest Expedition, climbed the highest peak on every continent (the “7 Summits”), and skied to both the North and South Poles. I spent four years as an adjunct professor at the US Military Academy at West Point. Awarded the 2019 Ellis Island Medal of Honor. I have a beer named after me. I love dogs. Three heart surgeries could not slow me down. NY Times bestselling author of On the Edge. I’ve had some high profile failures and have been the butt of late night talk show opening monologue jokes. Come at me!

Alison's book list on how to tackle life’s mountains

Alison Levine Why did Alison love this book?

So often we get “stuck” because we think we have to come up with a really big idea in order to have an impact and to achieve substantial results. Nope! Linkner explains why it is a mistake to put pressure on ourselves to “Go Big.” It’s often the little ideas that lead to the best, most significant results. This book chronicles all kinds of amazingly accomplished people – Lin Manuel Miranda, Lady Gaga, Steven Spielberg, etc. Linkner’s story-telling will convince you to focus on small things and will help you unlock your creativity.

By Josh Linkner,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A surprisingly simple approach to help everyday people become everyday innovators.

The pressure to generate big ideas can feel overwhelming. We know that bold innovations are critical in these disruptive and competitive times, but when it comes to breakthrough thinking, we often freeze up.

Instead of shooting for a $10-billion payday or a Nobel Prize, the most prolific innovators focus on Big Little Breakthroughs-small creative acts that unlock massive rewards over time. By cultivating daily micro-innovations, individuals and organizations are better equipped to tackle tough challenges and seize transformational opportunities.

How did a convicted drug dealer launch and scale a…


Book cover of Medieval Graffiti: The Lost Voices of England's Churches

Sally Coulthard Author Of A Brief History of the Countryside in 100 Objects

From my list on superstitions, sacrifice, and folk history.

Why am I passionate about this?

Having lived in the countryside for more than two decades and fallen for its charms, I find myself fascinated by its heritage. Rural history is often overlooked for the grand stories of royalty, urban life, and warfare. For me, the archaeology and history that speaks of daily life, practical struggles, and the humanity of people–that’s what really switches me on. I constantly yearn to get inside the minds of our ancestors to try and understand how they saw the world. Whether that’s strange superstitions or ingenious inventions, it’s all part of what it means to be human.

Sally's book list on superstitions, sacrifice, and folk history

Sally Coulthard Why did Sally love this book?

When we first moved to our farm, we discovered witches’ marks carved into the walls of our granary. Hundreds of years old, these ancient scribblings are absolutely everywhere–churches, grand homes, cottages, and farm buildings. These are not mindless doodles, however, but prayers for a good harvest or desperate protections against harm.

Matthew Champion’s well-researched book is a highly readable summary of this secretive and surprisingly common practice.

By Matthew Champion,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

For centuries carved writings and artworks in churches lay largely unnoticed. So archaeologist Matthew Champion started a nationwide survey to gather the best examples. In this book he shines a spotlight on a forgotten world of ships, prayers for good fortune, satirical cartoons, charms, curses, windmills, word puzzles, architectural plans and heraldic designs. Drawing on examples from surviving medieval churches in England, the author gives a voice to the secret graffiti artists: from the lord of the manor and the parish priest to the people who built the church itself.

Here are strange medieval beasts, knights battling unseen dragons, ships…


Book cover of Wizard of the Pigeons

Stephen Dedman Author Of Shadowrun: For A Few Nuyen More

From my list on lovers of urban fantasy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve had a passion for weirdness in mundane settings since my childhood days watching The Addams Family in a boring suburb. I grew up with the Apollo program, but as I realized I’d never be an astronaut, I increasingly turned to writing science fiction and fantasy set on Earth. I discovered role-playing games shortly after D&D came out, but when I became bored with characters who were only after money and mayhem, I found other RPGs and began writing for them. FGU’s Bushido introduced me to Japanese mythology, which inspired my first urban fantasy novel, The Art of Arrow Cutting, which led me to being invited to write Shadowrun novels.

Stephen's book list on lovers of urban fantasy

Stephen Dedman Why did Stephen love this book?

Wizard is one of Seattle’s homeless magicians, a seer who tells the truth to those who need it, haunted by a nebulous menace and hiding from his past. Apart from its (often ambiguous) fantasy elements, it’s a beautifully-written guide to urban survival and to downtown Seattle (as well as the setting for my latest novels). 

By Megan Lindholm, Tommy Arnold (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The fifth book in the Megan Lindholm (Robin Hobb) backlist.

Seattle: a place as magical as the Emerald City.

Subtle magic seeps through the cracks in the paving stones of the sprawling metropolis. But only the inhabitants who possess special gifts are open to the city's consciousness; finding portents in the graffiti, reading messages in the rubbish or listening to warnings in the skipping-rope chants of children.

Wizard is bound to Seattle and her magic. His gift is the Knowing - a powerful enchantment allowing him to know the truth of things; to hear the life-stories of ancient mummies locked…


Book cover of Graffiti and the Literary Landscape in Roman Pompeii

Virginia Campbell Author Of The Tombs of Pompeii: Organization, Space, and Society

From my list on Pompeii and what we know about this Roman city.

Why am I passionate about this?

I first visited Pompeii on a school trip when I was 17. I have a clear memory of standing in the Forum and thinking it was the most amazing place I had ever been. Decades later, that feeling remains, and the sites destroyed by Vesuvius have become the focus of my research on ancient Rome. I have excavated in Pompeii, conducted epigraphic fieldwork in Herculaneum, and taught students at multiple universities around the UK about the cities, the people who lived there, and their destruction. I am fundamentally interested in the people, how they lived their lives, and have published widely on tombs, epigraphy, and politics in Pompeii.

Virginia's book list on Pompeii and what we know about this Roman city

Virginia Campbell Why did Virginia love this book?

Imagine re-creating the works of Shakespeare or Milton from the graffiti on the walls of Victorian England – impossible you’d say. But it is possible to find lines of the most famous poets of the Roman world scratched into the walls of Pompeii, and Milnor provides a systematic overview of how and why this literary re-production occurred, what it indicates about literacy and learning, and how differently the ancients viewed writing in public spaces.

By Kristina Milnor,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Graffiti and the Literary Landscape in Roman Pompeii as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this volume, Milnor considers how the fragments of textual graffiti which survive on the walls of the Roman city of Pompeii reflect and refract the literary world from which they emerged. Focusing in particular on the writings which either refer to or quote canonical authors directly, Milnor uncovers the influence- in diction, style, or structure-of elite Latin literature as the Pompeian graffiti show significant connections with familiar authors such as Ovid,
Propertius, and Virgil.

While previous scholarship has described these fragments as popular distortions of well-known texts, Milnor argues that they are important cultural products in their own right,…


Book cover of Oscar's Half Birthday

Sean Taylor Author Of A Brave Bear

From my list on greatest books for young readers featuring dads.

Why am I passionate about this?

You get more mums than dads in books for young readers. Perhaps that’s understandable. Mums still loom largest in the lives of younger children. One way or another, it would be good to have more fathers present in the lives of children, and it would be good to have more fathers in children’s books. So I’ve chosen five books featuring fathers who are both at the centre of the story and more alive than the caricatures. The books are ordered roughly by age of the reader: younger first, older last. I hope there’s something new for you to find and enjoy.

Sean's book list on greatest books for young readers featuring dads

Sean Taylor Why did Sean love this book?

One of many memorable picture books from a master of creating dads, mums, children, and all human beings. (Also fairies, in fact.) A family goes walking to a green hill in the city to celebrate baby Oscar’s “six-month birthday.” Bob Graham paints the world as a jumble of different lives, made beautiful by the warmth that can come between them.

In this story, there’s particular attention to moments of grace that children and parents can conjure up, if they want. I love the dirty old-town setting, with its colourful graffiti. And I like the spiky-haired dad. He makes the sandwiches. He gets on with the stuff of the family day. He does it with love. And he’s involved in one of my favourite of all picture book endings. When the kids are asleep, he pushes back the furniture and dances with Mum.

By Bob Graham,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Oscar's Half Birthday as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is an enchanting early picture book from the creator of "Max", 2000 Smarties Gold Prize Winner and CBC Early Childhood Book of the Year Honour Book.The day Oscar turns six months old, Mum, Dad and Millie decide to celebrate. They take coat-hanger fairy wings, three tuna sandwiches and a chocolate cake with half a candle, and set off across the city for a picnic on Bellevue Hill. Once there, all the other people in the park join in for a rousing chorus of 'Happy Birthday' in this warm, gentle story of a family celebration on an urban, autumn day.


Book cover of Finding Junie Kim

Mahtab Narsimhan Author Of Mission Mumbai: A Novel of Sacred Cows, Snakes, and Stolen Toilets

From my list on to travel the world without leaving home.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been an avid reader. At school, during recess, I would find places to hide so the teachers wouldn’t find me and insist on sending me out to play. Exploring other countries also fascinated me but, growing up, we did not have the money to travel the world. Books became my means of travel. I especially love books written by authors who have lived or grown up in that setting. It’s why I find writing stories in an Indian setting easy and satisfying. The highest compliment from my readers is when they feel immersed in my stories and come away feeling like they’ve been to India and now want to eat an Indian meal. 

Mahtab's book list on to travel the world without leaving home

Mahtab Narsimhan Why did Mahtab love this book?

An intergenerational story about a young girl, Junie Kim, who finds the strength to face up to the bullying and racism in school thanks to the stories shared by her grandparents is heartbreaking and inspiring. 

Though this story is set in North America, the flashbacks to Korea during the war between the North and South are chilling and authentic.  

It was fascinating to read about the Korean War and the struggles of the masses as they tried to escape to the West in search of a better life for themselves and their families. It also gave me a sense of relief that I was living in a country (and a time) where life wasn’t a challenge every day. 

By Ellen Oh,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Finding Junie Kim 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?

For fans of Inside Out and Back Again and Amina's Voice comes a breathtaking story of family, hope, and survival from Ellen Oh, cofounder of We Need Diverse Books. When Junie Kim is faced with middle school racism, she learns of her grandparents' extraordinary strength and finds her voice. Inspired by her mother's real-life experiences during the Korean War, Oh's characters are real and riveting.

"Both unique and universal, timely and timeless." -Padma Venkatraman, Walter Award-winning author of The Bridge Home

"A moving story that highlights how to find courage in the face of unspeakable hardship." -Hena Khan, award-winning author…


Book cover of The Blue Light Project: A Novel
Book cover of Against the Wall: The Art of Resistance in Palestine
Book cover of The World Atlas of Street Art and Graffiti

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