The most recommended books on paranoia

Who picked these books? Meet our 37 experts.

37 authors created a book list connected to paranoia, and here are their favorite paranoia books.
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Cold, Black, and Infinite

By Todd Keisling,

Book cover of Cold, Black, and Infinite

Martin Kearns Author Of Beneath the Veil

From Martin's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Who am I?

Author Writer Theologian Reader Teacher

Martin's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Plus, Martin's 5-year-old's favorite books.

Why did Martin love this book?

I love Todd’s writing for, in particular, the darkness that flows from his pen.

This short story anthology is separated into three parts, which coincided with the title (Cold | Dark | Infinite), with each having its own sub-theme.

I will say I was most taken by the story “Afterbirth.” The name of the story belies Keisling’s intent to disgust readers, but I was still knocked on my ass by it. Readers who enjoy this collection will undoubtedly enjoy Todd’s other work. 

With each story, Keisling begs to remind us that we are adrift in a sea of causality, and the undertow may take us at any time. Be sure to watch a rom-com after this one and sleep with the lights on for good measure.

By Todd Keisling,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Down here in the dark lies a vast and twisted landscape where the wicked, wistful, and profane coalesce. This is where the lonely and lost face their demons, where anxious paranoias are made manifest, and where mundane evil wears a human face. For readers, the sixteen stories found within Cold, Black, & Infinite serve as a harrowing glimpse into the nightmarish imagination of Todd Keisling, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of Devil’s Creek and Scanlines.

Visit a town where the residents are slowly being replaced by mannequins in “We’ve All Gone to the Magic Show.” Go for a drive and discover…


The Second Shooter

By Nick Mamatas,

Book cover of The Second Shooter

Marc E. Fitch Author Of Boy in the Box

From the list on brilliantly bat-shit stories.

Who am I?

I read widely and in many genres, so coming up with a thematic list was a difficult task. However, in working on my forthcoming novel Dead Ends, in which a quiet neighborhood descends into paranoia and insanity driven by fear, politics, and technology, I sought out novels that engaged with conspiratorial thinking and violence. I admire writers who don’t hold back and fully engage with their characters and material, particularly if it means going to dark, imaginative and strange places in their work. Please keep an eye out for Dead Ends, coming from Flame Tree Press in 2023.

Marc's book list on brilliantly bat-shit stories

Why did Marc love this book?

Nick Mamatas never writes a typical novel and his latest offering is no exception. Built on the very real rumors and conspiracy theories surrounding mass shooting events in the United States, Mamatas' work offers hints and innuendos throughout of an invisible force seeking to create chaos, death, and destruction in collusion with a conspiracy theorist radio host fanning the flames. Like a real-life conspiracy theory, it’s all connected — somehow. Mamatas’ ability to draw a plot line and themes so at odds with our general perception of reality, the story, sadly, begins to reflect our real world of conspiracy theories and political paranoia in what has become a bat-shit age of American life.

By Nick Mamatas,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

"There was video of the second shooter. There was video."

In the first reports of every mass shooting, there's always mention of a second shooter-two sets of gunshots, a figure seen fleeing the scene-and they always seem to evaporate as events are pieced together.

Commissioned by a fringe publisher to investigate the phenomenon, journalist Mike Karras finds himself tailed by drones, attacked by a talk radio host, badgered by his all-knowing (and maybe all-powerful) editor, and teaming up with an immigrant family of conspiracy buffs.

Together, they uncover something larger and stranger than anyone could imagine-a technomystical plot to 'murder…


Walking on Glass

By Iain M. Banks,

Book cover of Walking on Glass

David Quantick Author Of All My Colors

From the list on expanding the mind through pleasure and strangeness.

Who am I?

Like most people, I read lots of different kinds of books, but I am often drawn to novels with unusual themes, structure, or all those things. As a comedy writer, I have always loved surreal writing – the Goon Shows on the radio, or the plays of NF Simpson – and this applies to my taste in literature as well. The unreal, the slightly detuned, anything that suggests this world is not entirely what it seems, or if it is what it seems, then it is an idiot.

David's book list on expanding the mind through pleasure and strangeness

Why did David love this book?

I love Iain Banks’ work and this book seems to encapsulate the best of his early work: epic sci-fi, mental breakdown, and fantastic comedy. Switching between three storylines, one of which contains the best imagery in all SF and fantasy, Walking On Glass mixes reality with insanity and imagination with the every day to superb effect.

By Iain M. Banks,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Her eyes were black, wide as though with some sustained surprise, the skin from their outer corners to her small ears taut. Her lips were pale, and nearly too full for her small mouth, like something bled but bruised. He had never seen anyone or anything quite so beautiful in his life.'

Graham Park is in love. But Sara Fitch is an enigma to him, a creature of almost perverse mystery. Steven Grout is paranoid - and with justice. He knows that They are out to get him. They are. Quiss, insecure in his fabulous if ramshackle castle, is forced…


A Prayer for the Dying

By Stewart O'Nan,

Book cover of A Prayer for the Dying

McKenna Miller Author Of Wyrforra (Wyrforra Wars)

From the list on with weird writing styles.

Who am I?

I’ve been reading and writing stories for as long as I can remember—and the weird ones have always been my favorite. I discovered many of my favorite books by wandering into my local library, telling the librarian about my strange reading interests, and allowing them to set me up with literary masterpieces of the most unusual kind. Once I knew how to bend the rules of genre and form to create something original, I took to creating my own weird stories, and have been doing so ever since in my novels, short stories, D&D characters, and bedtime stories for my bird.

McKenna's book list on with weird writing styles

Why did McKenna love this book?

A Prayer for the Dying is the only full-length novel I’ve ever read entirely in second-person perspective—which makes for a white-knuckle-grip adventure as the narrator drags the reader along a dark, haunted path, which is also a little bit on fire.

This ghost story full of living people (at first) follows a hard-working and dedicated protagonist who tries to protect his little town of Friendship as it faces disaster after horrible disaster. The narrative of the story unfurls like a tidal wave—terrifying, yet impossible to look away from as it sweeps away everything in its path. This scary story is definitely not for the faint of heart.

By Stewart O'Nan,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked A Prayer for the Dying as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Set in a leafy Wisconsin town just after the American Civil War, this story opens one languid summer's day. Only slowly do events reveal themselves as sinister as one neighbour after another succumbs to a creeping, fatal disease.


The Player

By Michael Tolkin,

Book cover of The Player

Howard Michael Gould Author Of Last Looks

From the list on comic crime that inspired comic crime movies.

Who am I?

I’ve made my way in the world as a writer, mostly of TV and movies, mostly of comedy of one stripe or another. As a consumer, though, I’ve always been more drawn to cops and robbers than to material designed primarily to make me laugh. Then, in my 50s, I made an unexpected turn to detective fiction, with a series shaped like traditional, serious mysteries but with satirical undertones and, hopefully, plenty of smiles along the way. My new career made me start thinking more attentively about how comedy and crime worked together, how my work built on what came before, and how it differed from it.

Howard's book list on comic crime that inspired comic crime movies

Why did Howard love this book?

Tolkin doesn’t hit you with belly laughs so much as tickle the upper corners of your mind with his knowing take on the mores and follies of the Hollywood of the late 1980s. (Of special interest to me, as that’s the moment I arrived there to begin my own TV and film career.) The trenchant satire is exemplified by the crime at its center: studio exec Griffin Mill, badgered by threats from some anonymous screenwriter he’s mistreated, focuses his attention on a different C-list scribe and winds up strangling him to death. Get it?  In a business full of writer-killing executives, Tolkin’s big-wig antihero literally kills a writer.

By Michael Tolkin,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Griffin Mill is senior vice president of production at a Hollywood studio. Obsessed with his career, dedicated to his success and riveted by paranoia, he is the ultimate player. But now he is in trouble. He has been getting postcards from a writer he rejected, who threatens to kill him.


Man In The Empty Suit

By Sean Ferrell,

Book cover of Man In The Empty Suit

Scotto Moore Author Of Wild Massive

From the list on SFF that take an improbable premise and go nuts.

Who am I?

I’m a former playwright, current novelist, future designation unclear but maybe something like really committing to being the person that always carries one of every kind of charging cable, just in case. I’m old enough to be properly jaded about our media landscape, not simply to “fit in” with “people” who are “theoretically out there somewhere” but because I’ve genuinely seen so much and I’m just like, I mean, whatever. But sometimes a novel forges a new path across the imagination with such an unexpected angle on worldbuilding or a blatant assault on the propriety of common plot structure that I literally swoon with excitement. I’m about to tell you about some of those novels.

Scotto's book list on SFF that take an improbable premise and go nuts

Why did Scotto love this book?

My new book features a solitary time traveler in a key supporting role, so I feel well-equipped to say that Man in the Empty Suit is the pièce de resistance of absurdly trippy time travel stories.

A time traveler celebrates his birthday every year at an abandoned hotel in the year 2100 or so, with all his fellow time-traveling past and future selves in attendance – nobody else is ever invited. This year, however, he discovers the murdered corpse of next year’s instance of himself.

This makes him the lead detective in the case of his own murder, which ideally he’d like to prevent; and the only suspects are either younger versions of himself, although you’d expect him to remember committing the crime, or elder versions of himself, who somehow managed to survive the murder of their younger self – for the time being, anyway.

Twisty and mind-bendy goodness.

By Sean Ferrell,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Say you're a time traveler and you've already toured the entirety of human history. After a while, the outside world might lose a little of its luster. That's why this time traveler celebrates his birthday partying with himself. Every year, he travels to an abandoned hotel in New York City in 2071, the hundredth anniversary of his birth, and drinks twelve-year-old Scotch (lots of it) with all the other versions of who he has been and who he will be. Sure, the party is the same year after year, but at least it's one party where he can really, well,…


Working Days

By John Steinbeck,

Book cover of Working Days: The Journals of The Grapes of Wrath

Noel Anenberg Author Of The Karma Kaper

From the list on majestic stories that lift our spirits.

Who am I?

I enjoyed writing The Karma Kaper. Just as there's tragedy and comedy in every aspect of our lives there's humor in crime. It's fun bringing that humor to my audience. I also believe in justice for all. Sadly, as American courts are currently more concerned with criminals' rights than victims' rights there are no guarantees victims will receive the justice they deserve. No one can predict if a jury of 12 will find a defendant who has committed a crime guilty. Then, there's the highest court of appeal - fiction! Between the covers of a novel, a crafty writer can ensure just verdicts and devise macabre punishments for the bad guys! It doesn't get any better! 

Noel's book list on majestic stories that lift our spirits

Why did Noel love this book?

John Steinbeck wrote the Working Days... journals while writing The Grapes of Wrath.

The intent of the journal was to establish a schedule, including a completion date for the novel. What he reveals about his self-doubt is tonic for any writer who is haunted by the same malaise.

Here is the entry for June 18, "…I am assailed with my own ignorance and inability. Honesty. If I can keep an honesty to it… If I can do that it will be all my lack of genius can produce. For no one else knows my lack of ability the way I do. I am pushing against it all the time."

Sometimes, I seem to do a good little piece of work, but when it is done it slides into mediocrity…John Steinbeck’s honesty and humility remind me that self-doubt is a part of the creative process.

I sometimes read entries from…

By John Steinbeck,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath during an astonishing burst of activity between June and October of 1938. Throughout the time he was creating his greatest work, Steinbeck faithfully kept a journal revealing his arduous journey toward its completion.

The journal, like the novel it chronicles, tells a tale of dramatic proportions—of dogged determination and inspiration, yet also of paranoia, self-doubt, and obstacles. It records in intimate detail the conception and genesis of The Grapes of Wrath and its huge though controversial success. It is a unique and penetrating portrait of an emblematic American writer creating an essential American…


The Horned Man

By James Lasdun,

Book cover of The Horned Man

Ryan Tim Morris Author Of This Never Happened

From the list on that leave you questioning identity and maybe reality.

Who am I?

When I start a new book, my aim is to write something completely different from what I’ve written before. It’s challenging, but also important to keep things fresh. To me, a blank slate before each story is thrilling. To start with nothing, and end with something wholly original. This Never Happened, my third book, began with a feeling we’ve all had before: the feeling of not belonging. I asked myself, “What if I really didn't belong here, but was meant for somewhere else entirely?” From there, I created a character who grows increasingly unsure of his own identity and reality, themes that are also present in my selection of books below.

Ryan's book list on that leave you questioning identity and maybe reality

Why did Ryan love this book?

Such a peculiar book. The Horned Man is not for those who want answers or resolutions. By the time the final page is turned you'll find yourself with more questions than you had at any other point in the book. It takes the Unreliable Narrator device to the extreme, to the point where you don’t really believe anything from the get-go, a unique way to tell a story, but it works here. This book is dark, smart, uncomfortable, and it is unlike anything you'll ever read. Lasdun’s prose is also exceptional, and I’ve often found myself getting lost in his paragraphs, enjoying how I can stop and really take the time to re-read how the author has crafted his story, and lead you exactly where he wanted to.

By James Lasdun,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The Horned Man opens with a man losing his place in a book, then deepens into a dark and terrifying tale of a man losing his place in the world. As Lawrence Miller-an English expatriate and professor of gender studies-tells the story of what appears to be an elaborate conspiracy to frame him for a series of brutal killings, we descend into a world of subtly deceptive appearances where persecutor and victim continually shift roles, where paranoia assumes an air of calm rationality, and where enlightenment itself casts a darkness in which the most nightmarish acts occur. As the novel…


Book cover of The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings

Krystale Jane'l Author Of Paradise of the Undead

From the list on horror that were adapted into film to haunt you.

Who am I?

I've been a horror fanatic since I was a little girl. At the age of 7, I was attempting to write my first horror novel, My Teacher is a Vampire, and at age of 9, I had already read my mom’s copy of, It. By the age of 16, I read the majority of Stephen King’s novels and was fascinated with Nosferatu, the original vampire, Vincent Price - the master of horror, and George Romero. When people ask why do I love the horror genre so much…my answer is: I’d rather read about the monsters in books and in movies instead of reading the newspaper or turning on the news and see the real monsters.

Krystale's book list on horror that were adapted into film to haunt you

Why did Krystale love this book?

Although this is a short story, I have to add this one to my list. Edgar Allan Poe’s witty and crafty way of telling this tale of murder and paranoia is by far chilling and brilliantly crafted. Of course, Poe can do no wrong in my eyes with his cryptic tales. This story was later crafted into a not-so-good movie, but I’m sure true Edgar Allan Poe fans can appreciate the modern visual.

By Edgar Allan Poe,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A masquerade ball in a secluded abbey; a vendetta settled in the wine cellars of an Italian palazzo; a gloomy castle in a desolated landscape; the beating of a heart beneath the floorboards: the plots and settings of Poe's dark, mysterious tales continue to haunt the popular imagination. This new selection introduces the greatest Gothic fiction from one of the most deranged and deliciously weird writers of the nineteenth century. The tales are accompanied by the classic illustrations of Harry Clarke, an artist fully alive to the deep darkness at the heart of Poe's writing.


Book cover of Anti-Intellectualism in American Life

Gary Clayton Anderson Author Of Massacre in Minnesota: The Dakota War of 1862, the Most Violent Ethnic Conflict in American History

From the list on stories so engaging you loose track of time.

Who am I?

I grew up on the Northern Plains, visiting Indian Reservations where my mother was a social worker. The poverty, hopelessness, and general lack of medical care and schooling made a profound impact on me. It led me to Graduate School and the study of American Indians. Of my twelve books, two have been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, and several others have won minor prizes. As a historian, I realize that we can turn things around. We can strive to better understand the past, and prepare our children and grandchildren for the future. But this will never happen by banning books. We must face the brave, new world that is upon us.

Gary's book list on stories so engaging you loose track of time

Why did Gary love this book?

I doubt that there is any American who can look at our country over the past four or five years and conclude that the ship is running smoothly.

Hofstadter, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian from the 1950s, is the first historian to really put his finger on what makes America tick. He sees a clear relationship between concern over Status (and one could include race), anxiety, paranoia, irrational fear, and the evolution of politics. 

And while the book is not quite as pessimistic as the title might seem, I wonder what he would say about the country’s status today? Are we as a nation really committed to democracy? It would seem that a considerable percentage of people are not. Those same people seem to promote violence.

And has not the massive increase in shootings been a major factor in increasing our anxiety, and paranoia? Such an increase in those concerns has…

By Richard Hofstadter,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Anti-Intellectualism in American Life as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winner of the 1964 Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction

Anti-Intellectualism in American Life is a book which throws light on many features of the American character. Its concern is not merely to portray the scorners of intellect in American life, but to say something about what the intellectual is, and can be, as a force in a democratic society.

"As Mr. Hofstadter unfolds the fascinating story, it is no crude battle of eggheads and fatheads. It is a rich, complex, shifting picture of the life of the mind in a society dominated by the ideal of practical success." —Robert Peel in…


Brothers

By William Goldman,

Book cover of Brothers

Jesse Karp Author Of Those That Wake

From the list on a world under secret control.

Who am I?

I grew up in the 1970s, still in contention for America’s most paranoid decade (thanks, Watergate). Practically everything I watched, listened to or read (right down to my beloved superhero comics) was asking, what’s hiding behind the world around you? I don’t think of myself as a paranoid guy – I don’t, for instance, believe in a real life Deep State – but these are the sorts of stories that resonate for me. Taken less literally, they do ask worthwhile and still disturbingly relevant questions: what is beneath the world you know and see every day? What is right in front of you, both good and bad, that you aren’t seeing?

Jesse's book list on a world under secret control

Why did Jesse love this book?

Agent Scylla was dead, but they brought him back because someone is holding a contest, a contest to see who can create the deadliest weapon. As Scylla navigates a world he’s been out of touch with for too long, he finds that there’s something on its outskirts, pulling all the wrong strings. A thrilling espionage adventure drenched in paranoia, this was the most fun I ever had being terrified to learn the truth. The only book I ever read that I literally could not put down. Its momentum – the need to find out what the contest was about and where the search would lead Scylla – was so powerful, I could not stop my fingers from turning the pages.  

By William Goldman,

Why should I read it?

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


The Quantum Spy

By David Ignatius,

Book cover of The Quantum Spy: A Thriller

Keith Thomson Author Of Once a Spy

From the list on spy books that will make you paranoid.

Who am I?

I played semi-professional baseball in France in 1986. If your baseball career has brought you to France, you should be rethinking your professional aspirations. No problem, I thought. I will write. I like to write. To my dismay, publishers were not fans of novels about French baseball players. The world of espionage I became acquainted with in Europe, however….

Keith's book list on spy books that will make you paranoid

Why did Keith love this book?

Ignatius’s most recent novel is in many respects a mashup of books no. 1 and 2 on this list: terrific storytelling and the latest spy recent tech: You’ll conclude that it’s just a matter of time until “bad actors” (spy speak for “bad guys”) can hack your brain. At the same time, you’ll enjoy the story.

By David Ignatius,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A hyper-fast quantum computer is the digital equivalent of a nuclear bomb; whoever possesses one will be able to shred any encryption and break any code in existence. The question is: who will build one first, the U.S. or China?

In this gripping thriller, U.S. quantum research labs are compromised by a suspected Chinese informant, inciting a mole hunt of history-altering proportions. CIA officer Harris Chang leads the charge, pursuing his target from Singapore to Mexico and beyond. Do the leaks expose real secrets, or are they false trails meant to deceive the Chinese? The answer forces Chang to question…


Book cover of Paranoia and the Destiny Programme

Richard Godwin Author Of One Lost Summer

From the list on totalitarian novels.

Who am I?

I studied propaganda and it is a subject that we all should be familiar with. Our basic liberties are bound up in our understanding of information and how different systems use it. I am the author of over 20 novels, and my stories have been published in numerous magazines and over 34 anthologies. I was born in London, and I've lectured on English and American literature at the University of London. I currently teach creative writing at Universities and online.

Richard's book list on totalitarian novels

Why did Richard love this book?

My take on a future society in which a shadowy group conducts mass surveillance and is experimenting on turning a musician into a serial killer. 'I see no butterfly wings in the Rorschach test, but a mountain of bones.' So says Dale Helix, who is convinced he is being abducted by a shadowy group of rulers called The Assembly. The novel is set in a dystopian city, and is an exploration of totalitarianism, paranoia, and social engineering in a society where it is impossible to gauge the truth. The aim of the programme is to study the link between serial killers and dictators in order to clone the ideal dictator. And the Assembly is engineering a new gender. Is Dale insane or is his paranoia a key to a hidden truth? This is a novel about surveillance totalitarianism.

By Richard Godwin,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

‘I see no butterfly wings in the Rorschach test, but a mountain of bones.’ So says Dale Helix, who is convinced he is being abducted by a shadowy group of rulers called The Assembly. He claims they have programmed him to kill. International novelist Richard Godwin’s latest title is set in a dystopian city, and is an exploration of totalitarianism, paranoia and social engineering in a society where it is impossible to gauge the truth. The aim of the programme is to study the link between serial killers and dictators in order to clone the ideal dictator. And the Assembly…


Book cover of The Innocence Treatment

T.J. Lockwood Author Of Violent Skies

From the list on featuring a memorable female protagonist.

Who am I?

When I was little I used to seek out stories that featured strong female characters—especially in genre fiction. This proved to be quite difficult, even as I enlisted my entire family to help in the search. Because of this, ensuring that each of my own works feature this is a must. I am an author, artist, and podcast host who focuses on understanding the importance of story elements. I am an active martial artist, have a degree in creative writing from Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and often get mesmerized by the process of creating comics and music. I hope you enjoy these recommendations as much as I did.

T.J.'s book list on featuring a memorable female protagonist

Why did T.J. love this book?

From the get-go the reader is introduced to Lauren Fielding, a teenager living with a condition that makes her believe everything she is told. When the opportunity for her to surgically correct this comes up, she takes it and sets much of the plot in motion. What I love is the narrative style; a set of journal entries, scenes, and supporting materials which serve to present the events as Lauren and the people around her see it. This is a classic coming-of-age speculative fiction story with sprinkles of a possibly unreliable narrator, leaving the reader to follow along with the events and create their own conclusions about what is happening. Laura and the pacing her story provides are both memorable and noteworthy.

By Ari Goelman,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Lauren has always been naive. She has a disorder that makes her believe everything that everyone tells her - to the point that she often puts herself in danger. When she has the opportunity to have an operation to correct her disorder, she and her family are thrilled. Now Lauren can live a normal life. But after the surgery Lauren grows more and more paranoid, convinced that she's part of a government conspiracy that only she can uncover.

Told in journal entries and therapy-session transcripts, The Innocence Treatment is a collection of Lauren's papers, annotated by her sister long after…


Bleaker House

By Nell Stevens,

Book cover of Bleaker House: Chasing My Novel to the End of the World

Emma Darwin Author Of This is Not a Book About Charles Darwin: a writer’s journey through my family

From the list on failing to write a book.

Who am I?

Alongside writing, I’ve been running workshops, teaching and mentoring writers for nearly twenty years, helping people get unstuck and keep going. So I spend most of my working life thinking about creativity and writing—then suddenly I, too, couldn’t write the book I needed to write. Every book in this list is about not-writing for different reasons, in different circumstances, but between them they tell us so much about how we write, why we write, how we get writing to happen—and what’s happening when we can’t. These very different stories resonate with each other, and I hope some of them resonate with you.

Emma's book list on failing to write a book

Why did Emma love this book?

This was the book that had just sold to great acclaim when my own book was looking for a publisher. Like almost all of us, Stevens was desperate for peace, quiet and freedom from distractions so she could write her first novel. But she went further than most of us would dare: an uninhabited island off the Falklands. Yet on Bleaker Island every forward move she tried to make with the novel got tangled up in the impossibility of avoiding her self, her past, and how she got here. Writing does that—and it’s often also absurd, as Stevens knows too. I loved this book.

By Nell Stevens,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'Perfect' Lena Dunham 'This year's literary sensation' Evening Standard

How far would you travel to become a writer?
8000 miles from home
1085 calories a day
3 months to write the novel that would make her name

At least that was the plan. But when Nell Stevens travelled to Bleaker Island in the Falklands (official population: two) she didn't count on the isolation getting to her . . .

Hilarious and heartbreaking, this is a book about loneliness and creativity. It is about discovering who you are when there's no one else around. And it's about what to do when…


The Puzzle Palace

By James Bamford,

Book cover of The Puzzle Palace: A Report On NSA, America's Most Secret Agency

Keith Thomson Author Of Once a Spy

From the list on spy books that will make you paranoid.

Who am I?

I played semi-professional baseball in France in 1986. If your baseball career has brought you to France, you should be rethinking your professional aspirations. No problem, I thought. I will write. I like to write. To my dismay, publishers were not fans of novels about French baseball players. The world of espionage I became acquainted with in Europe, however….

Keith's book list on spy books that will make you paranoid

Why did Keith love this book?

Truth kicks fiction’s ass, and the truth about the National Security Agency’s technological and espionage capabilities is more terrifying—or, depending on one’s perspective, cool—than any spy novel. Regardless of your perspective, it is astonishing. As a journalist, this book taught me to be daring, as Bamford is. As a novelist, it taught me the secret to writing about classified cutting-edge spy tech: you pretend you are writing sci-fi and imagine the technological possibilities a quarter of a century from now: you will not be far off from what the NSA has today.

By James Bamford,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In this remarkable tour de force of investigative reporting, James Bamford exposes the inner workings of America's largest, most secretive, and arguably most intrusive intelligence agency. The NSA has long eluded public scrutiny, but The Puzzle Palace penetrates its vast network of power and unmasks the people who control it, often with shocking disregard for the law. With detailed information on the NSA's secret role in the Korean Airlines disaster, Iran-Contra, the first Gulf War, and other major world events of the 80s and 90s, this is a brilliant account of the use and abuse of technological espionage.


A Head Full of Ghosts

By Paul Tremblay,

Book cover of A Head Full of Ghosts

V.P. Morris Author Of ShadowCast

From the list on thrillers with morally gray female protagonists.

Who am I?

I’ve always been fascinated by people’s motives whether that be in real life or written on the page. That’s what drew me to write in the thriller genre to begin with because at the core, it's about finding out why people do things. But sometimes this genre portrays female characters as either innocent damsels or evil femme fatales, neither of which captures that women are a mix of good and bad like all other people. That’s why I try to write my female protagonists in my novels, short stories, and fictional podcasts, in a way that makes them conflicted humans and causes them to experience both downfalls and triumphs. 

V.P.'s book list on thrillers with morally gray female protagonists

Why did V.P. love this book?

As an avid horror fan, not much creeps me out. This book did.

The story follows Merry, a young girl who is certain her teenage sister, Marjorie is possessed. Soon her religious parents believe Marjorie is possessed as well and invite a film crew to document the strange happenings in their home and an attempted exorcism.

The details of this alleged possession are terrifying, especially told from the perspective of a nine-year-old girl.

But just when you think you understand what happened with their family, the last few pages turn the tables on you and cause you to question what Merry has told you, how good of a person she actually is, and ask yourself how responsible could a child be in this horrific circumstance. 

By Paul Tremblay,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked A Head Full of Ghosts as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The lives of the Barretts, a suburban New England family, are torn apart when fourteen-year-old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia. To her parents' despair, the doctors are unable to halt Marjorie's descent into madness. As their stable home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help, and soon find themselves the unwitting stars of The Possession, a hit reality television show.Fifteen years later, a bestselling writer interviews Marjorie's younger sister, Merry. As she recalls the terrifying events that took place when she was just eight years old, long-buried secrets…


I See You

By Clare Mackintosh,

Book cover of I See You

Marilyn Levinson Author Of Dewey Decimated

From the list on psychological thrillers I've recently read.

Who am I?

I write mysteries and I love to read them. The mysteries I write are traditional and cozy. The focus is on my sleuth as she solves murders, her relationships, and on the local setting. These past few years I've enjoyed reading mysteries quite a bit edgier than the ones I write. These books are filled with characters that are often unstable or emotionally damaged. The murders are more brutal; the plots are more complex. Psychological thrillers veer off in many directions, and the person narrating the story is not always reliable. You can't take for granted that what a character says is true. Your best bet is to observe the action and enjoy the ride!

Marilyn's book list on psychological thrillers I've recently read

Why did Marilyn love this book?

Zoe commutes to her job every day on a crowded train on the London underground. She discovers that someone is posting advertisements in a local paper saying which women take which trains. And there's a photograph of herself, claiming she's up for some "discreet casual action." Who is behind this and why? Zoe becomes suspicious of everyone in her life—her boss, her significant other—wondering who is cruel enough to set up unsuspecting women that commute by train. She's shocked when she finds out the truth, part of which she never discovers. A final zinger.

By Clare Mackintosh,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Discover the twisty, gripping Richard & Judy Book Club pick and Sunday Times Number One bestseller. And don't miss the next nail-biting thriller from Clare Mackintosh. Hostage is out now.

You do the same thing every day.
You know exactly where you're going.
You're not alone . . .

When Zoe Walker sees her photo in the classifieds section of a London newspaper, she is determined to find out why it's there. There's no explanation: just a grainy image, a website address and a phone number. She takes it home to her family, who are convinced it's just someone who…


Book cover of The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory

Mark Fenster Author Of Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture

From the list on understanding conspiracy theories.

Who am I?

I’m a law professor who, among other things, writes about the culture and law of secrecy. I’ve written two books: Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture, the second edition of which was published in 2008, and The Transparency Fix: Secrets, Leaks, and Uncontrollable Government Information (2017). I hold a J.D. from Yale Law School and a Ph.D. from the Institute of Communications Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and I teach at the University of Florida.

Mark's book list on understanding conspiracy theories

Why did Mark love this book?

Hofstadter’s Paranoid Style is more a work of historiography than history and attempted to explain the rise of a right-wing “paranoia” to a liberal intellectual audience in the early 1960s. By contrast, Jesse Walker’s book offers a more detailed, engaging, and sympathetic history of U.S. conspiracy theories and the individuals and groups who have made and circulated them. It’s funny and deadpan, with a keen eye for subcultural details and the singular American oddballs that have traveled from the margins to the mainstream. As Walker demonstrates, Qanon is not the first example of a bizarre, syncretic set of beliefs that has attracted a surprisingly large number of adherents.

By Jesse Walker,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The United States of Paranoia is a history of America's demons. Conspiracy theories, Walker explains, aren't just a feature of the fringe: They've been a potent force across the political spectrum, in the center as well as the extremes, from the colonial era to the present. Walker argues that conspiracy stories need to be read not just as claims to be either believed or debunked but as folklore. When a tale takes hold, it says something true about the anxieties and experiences of the people who believe and repeat it, even if it says nothing true about the objects of…


Book cover of CIA Improvised Sabotage Devices

Keith Thomson Author Of Once a Spy

From the list on spy books that will make you paranoid.

Who am I?

I played semi-professional baseball in France in 1986. If your baseball career has brought you to France, you should be rethinking your professional aspirations. No problem, I thought. I will write. I like to write. To my dismay, publishers were not fans of novels about French baseball players. The world of espionage I became acquainted with in Europe, however….

Keith's book list on spy books that will make you paranoid

Why did Keith love this book?

Exploding wine bottles, guns constructed out of pipes, bullets made of teeth, aspirin explosives: If these sound like props from a B spy movie, it's because, again, truth > fiction. In the early-1970s, the Central Intelligence Agency spent a great deal of effort developing myriad weapons for sabotage. The results were this seventy-two-page illustrated manual, published in 1977 and distributed to American operatives likely to find themselves in situations requiring such improvisation. The manual is also invaluable for writers.

By USA Government,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked CIA Improvised Sabotage Devices as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

, Brand New Desert Publications Clean and Tight OS O