Here are 72 books that A Lesser Light fans have personally recommended if you like
A Lesser Light.
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My grandfather dictated a number of oral histories shortly before he died and left a series of sketchy diaries of his education at Sul Ross University (then Sul Ross State Teachers' College) in Alpine, Texas. Many years later, I got interested in his life and went to Sul Ross University to the archives, where the librarians gave me countless oral interviews from the 1930s and documents about the Civilian Conservations Projects in the area, namely the establishment of Big Bend National Park and the Balmorhea State Park Swimming Pool. This ignited my interest in the 1930s Depression and the New Deal—how, in a very short time, the U.S. federal government established work relief programs to help thousands out of work.
What I loved about this novel was learning about the Lincoln Indian Training School in Minnesota, where Native Americans were taken from their parents for “re-education.” They were not allowed to speak their own language. Krueger’s descriptions of sexual abuse and violence against children are harrowing.
The novel tells the story of two white orphans, Odie and Albert, who are placed in a Native American school, and how they come to escape the cruelties of the headmistress, whom they call “The Black Witch.”
When Odie commits a terrible crime, Odie and Albert flee the school, taking with them two other orphans, Mose, a mute Sioux, and Emma, a young girl who has been adopted by the headmistress. They float down the river in a canoe, reminiscent of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn.
The novel is narrated as a yarn with plenty of hyperbole and melodrama, and there are many twists…
1932, Minnesota-the Lincoln School is a pitiless place where hundreds of Native American children, forcibly separated from their parents, are sent to be educated. It is also home to an orphan named Odie O'Banion, a lively boy whose exploits earn him the superintendent's wrath. Forced to flee, he and his brother Albert, their best friend Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own.
Over the course of one unforgettable summer, these four orphans will fly into the unknown and cross paths with others…
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
I have always loved the unbridled life of the natural world. Long before I knew the term ‘forest bathing,’ I wandered the wild country around my home, where green became my favorite color and I bathed in the verdure of its fields and woods. And I have always been drawn to compelling stories. One of the first books I remember was about a WWII pilot downed in the Pacific who survived for weeks on a raft. Finally, my sophomore year in college introduced me to the love of language and good writing that has continued to deepen and become more profound. To put it simply, I love a good story well-told.
I love fiction and nonfiction and part of the reason I’ve included one of Krakauer’s books is because he’s an excellent author of nonfiction.
I feel like I needed to include a nonfiction book, and I’ve thought much about Krakauer’s book since reading it a decade ago.
This book has it all: a compelling story, murder, the history of a myth (the Mormon religion), the reasons for religious extremism, and more. It’s a great story, well told, within the kind of context you look for in a nonfiction book. And, like the other books on this list, it opened my eyes about many different perspectives.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. Now an the acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU.
“Fantastic.... Right up there with In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song.” —San Francisco Chronicle
Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God; some 40,000 people still practice polygamy in these communities.
At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty,…
I learned early that information doesn’t change people’s minds and that we can’t lecture our way into people’s hearts. Real change comes through building empathy, and we do that through compelling, personal storytelling. I’ve been working on disrupting bias and building empathy my whole life. It’s why I write, and why I teach, and why I travel to speak with different groups. It’s my theory of change in the world—the first step towards moving us to a more caring, kinder global society.
This book was also heart-touching and eye-opening.
The writing was beautiful, the story was remarkable, and the insights were compelling. Maybe more than that, I kept finding myself reminded by how much our outlooks and opinions are shaped by the perspectives we receive.
Hearing “Jim’s” first-hand account was a drastically different experience than hearing about him through Huck Finn, and appreciating that—with all the complexities it entails—made the experience of reading James all the more enriching and enjoyable.
'Truly extraordinary books are rare, and this is one of them' - Roddy Doyle, Booker Prize-winning author of Paddy Clarke, Ha Ha Ha
James by Percival Everett is a profound and ferociously funny meditation on identity, belonging and the sacrifices we make to protect the ones we love, which reimagines The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. From the author of The Trees, shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and Erasure, adapted into the Oscar-winning film American Fiction.
The Mississippi River, 1861. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a new…
Delve into this internationally best-selling series, now complete! A fast paced laugh-out-loud mix of Urban Fantasy and Mystery.
I can tell when you’re lying. Every. Single. Time. I’m Jinx, a PI hired to find a missing university student, I hope to find her propped up at a bar–yet my gut…
I have always loved the unbridled life of the natural world. Long before I knew the term ‘forest bathing,’ I wandered the wild country around my home, where green became my favorite color and I bathed in the verdure of its fields and woods. And I have always been drawn to compelling stories. One of the first books I remember was about a WWII pilot downed in the Pacific who survived for weeks on a raft. Finally, my sophomore year in college introduced me to the love of language and good writing that has continued to deepen and become more profound. To put it simply, I love a good story well-told.
It tells the story of young Huckleberry Finn and the slave Jim (and many, many others) as they flee the law and escape down the mighty Mississippi, one of the world’s greatest rivers. It is an epic journey that changes the lives of everyone the river (and those who live beside it) touches.
Since it is one of the first novels told in the vernacular of its time and place, Ernest Hemingway believed all books that were written after owed a debt of gratitude to Mark Twain and this book. Regardless, once I began reading (and rereading) this book, I often laughed out loud and was never able to put it down.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written throughout in vernacular English, characterized by local color regionalism. It is told in the first person by Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, a friend of Tom Sawyer and narrator of two other Twain novels (Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective). It is a direct sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.The book is noted…
I began my own writing journey in 2007. I skipped many HS classes just to stay home and read. I want to know the ending of a story. I want happy ending. Life is hard, but when I have the ability to write the stories I write with the ending that so many are deprived of, at least I know I can find it in a book of my own choosing. That is my love of romance.
Whatever book you select from this author highlights the reason I selected this book. The witty dialogue.
I re-read my favorite books, and this one is no exception. Ms. Phillips goes beyond the normal stuff. The depth to her characters is awe-inspiring. Plus, this book is from her Chicago Stars series and I am a huge NFL fan.
A star quarterback and a feisty detective play for keeps in this sporty, sexy, sassy novel-a long-awaited new entry in the beloved, award-winning, New York Times bestselling author's fan-favorite Chicago Stars football series. Piper Dove is a woman with a dream-to become the best detective in the city of Chicago. First job? Trail former Chicago Stars quarterback, Cooper Graham. Problem? Graham's spotted her, and he's not happy. Which is why a good detective needs to think on her feet. "The fact is ...I'm your stalker. Not full-out barmy. Just ...mildly unhinged." Piper soon finds herself working for Graham himself, although…
In 2015, I moved to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a world all its own. I live only four blocks from Lake Superior, and I can’t imagine living anywhere without that lake. I pay much more attention to the weather—those waves really crash during Winter storms—and I’ve become more interested in things like geology and local history since moving to such a unique place. Everything I notice eventually enters my poetry, which has become filled with water, shorelines, copper, and white deer. And best of all, our long winters give me a lot of time to read.
I live right down the street from the “real” Dandelion Cottage (though it has been moved from its original site)! I walk past it nearly every day when I’m out strolling with my pooch. So this book is locally famous.
It’s a children’s book, and I’m hoping one day to read it to grandchildren or great-nieces and nephews. I particularly enjoyed the interactions of the four girls who are the main characters and reading about their interests in the early 20th century.
Mr. Arthur Mackwayte slipped noiselessly into the dining-room and took his place at the table. He always moved quietly, a look of gentle deprecation on his face as much as to say: "Really, you know, I can't help being here: if you will just overlook me this time, by and by you won't notice I'm there at all!" That was how he went through life, a shy, retiring little man, quiet as a mouse, gentle as a dove, modesty personified.
On the morning of December 26, 2004, an undersea earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. The resulting tsunami killed an estimated 230,000 people across fourteen countries, from Indonesia to Sri Lanka to Thailand to the Maldives to India and all the way to East Africa.…
I grew up in the interior of British Columbia, hours from the water, but my father loved the ocean. Every summer we’d take a vacation on the coast and sometimes we’d take the ferry to Vancouver Island. Oh, how I loved those ferry rides! The wind, the smell of the sea, the waves, the smaller islands we passed. When the idea came to me to setImprobably Yourson my very own fictional island, I was over the moon! My resident Viking and I took a research trip to the San Juans to help me in my creation of Vinland, and I was utterly charmed and delighted by island life.
I adore the wild, untamed island where this novel is set and the way the spirits of earth and water and forest make themselves known in eerie ways. Plus there’s the mysterious old house, Metsan Valo, the enigmatic caretaker, and his wife and the questions raised as to who (or what!) exactly they were. I’m also a total sucker for stories about characters who are faced with the challenge of accepting gifts and powers they didn’t know they had and aren’t sure they want to wield, so I was rooting for Anni. Plus there’s mystery and family drama and a touch of romance...so basically everything I love in a book is represented here.
The spirits of Nordic folklore come calling in this entrancing tale of family secrets and ancient mysteries by the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Haunting of Brynn Wilder.
In Metsan Valo, her family home on Lake Superior, Anni Halla's beloved grandmother has died. Among her fond memories, what Anni remembers most vividly is her grandmother's eerie yet enchanting storytelling. By firelight she spun tall tales of spirits in the nearby forest and waters who could heal-or harm-on a whim. But of course those were only stories...
The reading of the will now occasions a family reunion. Anni and…
I am a writer of true crime, which makes me keenly aware of the credibility of police procedural books. I also write crime fiction and am drawn to series that provide an interesting and thought-provoking protagonist in the framework of excellent writing. I survived an attempted abduction as a child and have had an interest in crime books since then, starting with the Jane Withers mystery my dad brought home from Goodwill and, of course, the Nancy Drew series.
I was stunned by the glimpses into another culture and by the beauty of the setting of this first story in a twenty+ book series.
Sheriff Cork O’Connor is a fascinating protagonist torn between the two cultures of his mixed-race family and struggling for balance and fairness on both sides.
Once I read this book, I knew I would keep reading until I read every one.
The 20th anniversary edition of the first novel in William Kent Krueger's beloved and bestselling Cork O'Connor mystery series-includes an exclusive bonus short story!
"A brilliant achievement, and one every crime reader and writer needs to celebrate." -Louise Penny, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Glass Houses
"A master craftsman [and] a series of books written with a grace and precision so stunning that you'd swear the stories were your own." -Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire series
"Among thoughtful readers, William Kent Krueger holds a very special place in the pantheon." -C.J. Box, #1…
I’m a Minnesota writer who loves to read and write books set in places I’ve spent time in. The Upper Peninsula is a favorite vacation destination. It has so much history to unearth, quaint towns and woods to explore, and giant mosquitoes to avoid. I’ve traveled along Lake Superior in all seasons. Lake Superior covers 31,700 square miles and holds more water than all the other Great Lakes combined, so there's a lot to see and enjoy. After my first visit to the U.P., I began to write the Double Barrel Mysteries series. Set in the tiny fictional town of Port Scuttlebutt, Lake Superior isn’t just a backdrop, but part of the story.
The Lake Superior backdrop and surrounding area are so familiar from personal visits that it seemed like I was walking around in the book. I enjoyed the sense of place as much as the mystery.
A young journalist struggling with the age-old problem of leaving his job at the office when he’s home with his family finds that the news stops for no man. He’s soon caught up in the mystery of why a native American woman came to town just to throw herself off a cliff over Lake Superior. Town politics, an elite family with enough power to squelch any gossip, and his own mother try to divert his attention from the story, but a newsman needs to know.
Small-town reporter Vince Marshall faces looming deadlines, an over-the-edge boss, a wife he suspects is cheating, and the challenge of balancing his career while raising a toddler. The last thing he needs is for his mother to become the suspect in a mysterious woman's death-a story he's covering for the local newspaper.
Vince searches for answers and runs up against the town's irascible police chief, an untouchable influential family, and a rogue detective-who are all trying to kill the story for their own reasons. Even more mystifying is his usually opinionated mother's infuriating silence. The harder he tries to uncover…
Nelson West, a former Chicago homicide detective, is hired by wealthy heir Lionel Bing to discreetly help “fix” scandals and legal problems for his father’s wealthy friends.
Bing, a brilliant but troubled investigator, suffers from PTSD symptoms as a result of being kidnapped and witnessing the murder of his mother…
I’m a Minnesota writer who loves to read and write books set in places I’ve spent time in. The Upper Peninsula is a favorite vacation destination. It has so much history to unearth, quaint towns and woods to explore, and giant mosquitoes to avoid. I’ve traveled along Lake Superior in all seasons. Lake Superior covers 31,700 square miles and holds more water than all the other Great Lakes combined, so there's a lot to see and enjoy. After my first visit to the U.P., I began to write the Double Barrel Mysteries series. Set in the tiny fictional town of Port Scuttlebutt, Lake Superior isn’t just a backdrop, but part of the story.
I loved that the protagonist of Superior Justice is an unorthodox Lutheran pastor who loves fly fishing and a great cup of coffee maybe a bit more than the job he’s paid to do. While he’s not slack in performing his preaching and counseling, he does tend to have heavier things on his mind. Like the fact that one of his parishioners is in jail for a murder he didn’t commit. Finding a way to prove that to the police and courts may be the death of him.
Unlike his namesake, Jonah doesn’t run away when the going gets tough. While this story deals with murder and other crimes, the writer’s use of light humor and romance woven throughout is a gentle respite from the otherwise dark, suspenseful thread.
Jonah Borden is not your typical Lutheran pastor, and he takes pains to make sure everyone knows it. He's a tough-guy, thinks-he's-funny, rock-music-playing, gourmet-cooking, painfully-moderate-drinking, hard-boiled man of the cloth. He is even available for a bit of romance, under the right circumstances.
Doug Norstad, a member of Jonah Borden's church, is arrested for a vigilante killing. Norstad shares his true alibi with Borden, under the privileged status of religious confession. Knowing now that the man is innocent, Borden must prove it somehow, without divulging his secret. Along the way he uncovers a twisted…
