TTT: Books for people who like X author

Top Ten Tuesday: Books recommendations for people who like author Barbara Kingsolver's books.

Starting with Barbara Kingsolver's newest book: Demon Copperhead

If you like this book and haven't tried any of her other books...

I recommend you give The Lacuna a try. It is one of those stories you can really get lost in.

Next give William Ken Krueger a go. This book, Ordinary Grace, is such a poignant, well-written and well-plotted book. This author writes stand-alones, like this book, and series books. I have not tried any of his series, so won't include them in this recommendation. Once you are done with this book try his This Tender Land.

I loved Rebecca Makkai's The Great Believers. It is a touching and heart-breaking look at the AIDS epidemic from the vantage point of those left behind. I understand she has a new book out this year, I Have Some Questions for You.

Back in the days when I was finding my way back to reading I discovered both Kingsolver and Sue Monk Kidd at the same time, so these two authors are always linked in my mind. My favorite by her is The Secret of Bees. I still haven't read her latest, The Book of Longings.

I like books which are beautifully written and where I learn something while I'm reading. Both Kingsolver and Maggie O'Farrell do this. My favorite by her is Hamnet.

Barbara Kingsolver not only writes fiction but also excellent essays on a variety of topics. So does another favorite author, Ann Patchett. Her collection of essays, These Precious Days, were all written during the recent COVID-epidemic lockdowns. My favorite fiction book by Patchett is Commonwealth.

I've only read The Overstory by Richard Powers but his writing reminds me of Kingsolver's: descriptive and well-crafted. This author have been around for a long time so I have much to explore. I do have his latest, Bewilderment, queued up on Libby for my next audiobook.

What can I say about Amor Towles? This guy is a first-rate storyteller. The Lincoln Highway was my favorite book of 2022 by a mile. His A Gentleman in Moscow is also excellent.

When Barbara Kingsolver publishes a new book, I read it. The same goes for Louise Erdrich. Her latest book, The Sentence, not only deals with Native American issues and rights, it also touches on the George Floyd riots, and includes ghosts. Her stories always move me.

Everything I've read by Colson Whitehead have been spectacularly well-crafted stories, though often hard to read for the subject matter. My favorite is The Underground Railroad.

I'd be remiss to not mention Charles Dickens. Kingsolver admits that her muse for Demon Copperhead was David Copperfield, Dicken's semi-autobiographical masterpiece. One thing you may not know about Dickens -- all of his books are quite readable, even though they are long. He first published chapters of his books in newspapers before compiling them into a book. Each chapter, therefore, leaves off on a cliffhanger to entice readers to come back and read more.

 

-Anne