83 Books Like A Song for Arbonne

Jane Austin is a classical writer of romance and a perfect combination of well-written English. The love Mr Darcy had for Elizabeth was explained with passion through the English language. 

It addressed issues within that time, and the beauty of a girl, as well as the strength of a man, was portrayed well. Jane Austin has other books, but my favorite was this one. 

This is the BEST retelling of Cinderella and one of my all-time favorite books.

I’ve read it at least a dozen times…as an adult. It never gets old.

Despite her curse of obedience, Ella isn’t a passive damsel in distress (the most aggravating trope in all fairytales). She’s witty, bold, and determined. I love how light and fast-paced it is, yet still rich with fantastic world-building and fully developed characters.

If you’ve only seen the movie, you’re missing a treat. Like they say, the book is always better—in this case, it’s way better.

Not the new, watered-down versions, mind you. The original, dark ones that you read now and think, “Who in their right mind would let a kid read this?”

These stories were insane, and I couldn’t get enough of them. And the thing about these stories is that they’re real. There are monsters living among us (we read about them in the news). There’s a reason to be cautious and aware of our surroundings. Life isn’t all sunshine and lollipops, and I think it’s not a bad idea to let kids know that bad things happen, but that children can be stronger than they think. After all, Hansel and Gretel sent the witch into the oven instead of themselves.  

This Pied Piper of Hamelin retelling is one of my favourite retellings of all time. It combines the deeply fairytale feel of thirteenth-century Europe with an action-adventure unlike any other. And the romance. Ahhh, the romance! I’m also deeply impressed with Ivinya because she’s one of the few fantasy authors I’ve read who consistently explores disability and the empowerment of characters finding their way around such obstacles to become mighty heroes in their own unique ways. In this story, for example, the main character, Adelaide, is deaf and therefore the only person who can defeat the Pied Piper. The magical world where the children from Hamelin are taken is both beautiful and terrifying, reminiscent of the older, darker fairytales, while it also captures the charming beauty of days gone by.

I first read this book over thirty years ago and it is set during the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars in Southern France. There is a major love and romance element to the plot that sees Roland, a troubadour, pitted against his half-brother Amalric.

I bought the book second-hand and have read it a few times over the years. Beforehand, I knew very little about the brutal Inquisition and the Albigensian Crusade in particular, and this book ignited my interest in a period not often covered in historical fiction. I would recommend it to anyone interested in this little-known period of history.

I remember picking this book up at a conference when I was a doctoral student, and it ignited a passion that has come to define my career. I had previously seen the crusades as dry, tedious lists of battles and military campaigns, but Adrian’s book opened new doors to understanding the societies created by the crusading movement in the Levant. Now in its second edition, this impressive volume remains the go-to work for the flourishing archaeology of the crusader states. Everything from ceramics and coins, to tombs, houses, churches, monasteries, castles, towns, farms, and industrial installations is covered. I have taught the archaeology of crusading for many years, and this book has always been at the top of my reading lists. It also inspired me to write my own book on Prussia.

This lavishly illustrated book focuses on the crusades’ material objects: sculptures, paintings, manuscripts, architecture, coinage, and even jewelry. As historical evidence, artifacts are as important as documents, and these carefully chosen items provide privileged insights into the largely-shared crusader worldview and sense of mission. They further illuminate the complex relationships that developed between crusaders and the many foreign cultures with which they came into contact.  

Study of the ins and outs, the steps and missteps of a particular crusade allow us to move from the general to the particular and to view closeup the choices and actions of participants who lacked our 20-20 hindsight. No crusade was more beset by unforeseen circumstances and miscalculations than the Fourth Crusade (1202-04), which left Venice headed for an amphibious assault on Muslim-held Egypt but wound up capturing Christian Constantinople not once but twice and establishing the Latin Empire of Constantinople (1204-61). This classic in-depth but never dull book puts a human face on that crusade and brings alive its numerous twists and turns. History is intrinsically exciting, and Queller and Madden’s enthusiasm does full justice to that fact. 

This remarkable ‘novel’ opens (and closes) with the author being given a journal written by Roger, Duke of Lunel, ‘l’Escrivel’, from whom he claims to be descended. This diary forms the bulk of the novel, and it seems to be a translation of a real diary, an intimate and detailed account of the penitent Roger’s journey to Jerusalem in company with other pilgrims on the First Crusade. At times poetic and beautiful, Roger lays bare his innermost reflections on his faith, his sexuality, his guilty love for his friend’s wife, and his search for his soul and for redemption. In excruciating detail, we also learn of the venality, ambition, and greed of those in charge of the various crusader armies who seek power and position in their conquered territories, and the absolute brutality of the conquering crusaders who, in the name of Christ, slaughter, behead and burn all those men,… show more.

A solid grasp of crusading geography is essential for anyone who wishes to understand these complex holy wars, and this book is unsurpassed in providing such information in a clear and comprehensible manner. Its many maps and charts, each beautifully drawn and accompanied by insightful commentary and, in most cases, relevant illustrations and excerpts from primary sources, make this an indispensable resource that belongs in every crusade historian’s library. If you can find a used copy of this out-of-print treasure, buy it without hesitation. Be careful, there is another so-called atlas of the crusades out there by someone who is not a crusade historian, and it is filled with numerous errors.