Here are 63 books that Black Valley fans have personally recommended if you like
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I am a Pulitzer-nominated writer who began as a poet, then shifted to prose during a period of aesthetic and personal crisis in my life. I am interested in how the novelist can gather and curate fascinating facts for the reader and incorporate them into the text. I see writing as a great adventure and investigation into issues of empathy, power, and powerlessness, and the individual in an increasingly technological world.
When I wrote my first novel, I began investigating modern-day technology—robotics, bioengineering, AI, and information technology—and have read and worked in this area for over 15 years. It is a pleasure to share some of the books that have informed my own journey.
Truly a book for the ages, how could I not recommend this? It is THE iconic book about a constructed being and his consequent travails.
Made by Victor Frankenstein from all sorts of collected detritus, when the monster opens his “yellow, watery eyes,” the scientist flees from him and never looks back. The monster is left to negotiate the world on his own, but much like a newborn baby, he is ignorant and unequipped to do so.
I love how, unlike the popular concept of the monster, he is, in fact, a vegetarian, and at the start, very vulnerable and peaceful. He learns to read by sitting outside a cottage where he can hear the cottagers teaching a foreigner to read.
I wrote a whole novel about him, A Monster’s Notes, which transports him into the 21st century.
One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'
'That rare story to pass from literature into myth' The New York Times
Mary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen, living with her lover Percy Shelley on Lake Geneva. The story of Victor Frankenstein who, obsessed with creating life itself, plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, but whose botched creature sets out to destroy his maker, would become the world's most famous work of horror fiction, and remains a devastating exploration of the limits of human creativity. Based on the third…
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
We’re Neil and Ruchin Kansal—builders, innovators, car lovers, and travelers at heart. In 2020, during the pandemic, we chased a dream: we bought a battered 1998 Acura Integra and, working in our garage, transformed it into a striking lime green showpiece. To celebrate Ruchin’s 50th birthday and Neil’s high school graduation in 2021, we drove it 5,000 miles to the summit of Mt. Evans, Colorado—the highest paved road in North America—learning along the way that, like life, the road demands resilience, adaptability, and courage to act. Our adventures are about more than cars—they’re about pushing boundaries, embracing challenges, and discovering what’s possible together.
I, Ruchin, like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for multiple reasons.
It is a father-son story, yet it includes how their family and friends shape their experiences. I like it because the motorcycle itself transforms into a human-like character, adding depth to the dialogue.
I also like the storytelling style; it is vivid. You can see each scene unfolding before you. And lastly, I appreciate how it draws on the Hindu and Buddhist values I grew up with, making the book even more relatable.
At the same time, I find the book a little dated in its voice and perhaps too long for readers today.
Acclaimed as one of the most exciting books in the history of American letters, this modern epic became an instant bestseller upon publication in 1974, transforming a generation and continuing to inspire millions. A narration of a summer motorcycle trip undertaken by a father and his son, the book becomes a personal and philosophical odyssey into fundamental questions of how to live. Resonant with the confusions of existence, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a touching and transcendent book of life.
I have always been interested in and captivated by horror and the darker genres, drawing and painting initially and later on as a writer. I am a full-time tattooist now but I still enjoy writing, and I produced several short stories as well as finished my vampire/Egyptian mythology novel Pharaoh during the coronavirus lockdown when I was unable to work in the tattoo studio. I still draw and paint, and it can be fun illustrating and producing artwork for my fiction, where sometimes one feeds off another.
A monstrous book in every sense and the one that first got me interested in writing. Metaphysical and repulsive in equal measure, it is an epic tale spanning many lives in midtown America, with the sequel Everville even better. Absolutely mind-bending from the master of beautiful and fantastical horror.
From master storyteller Clive Barker, comes this intricately woven and meticulously constructed epic where past and future meet.
In the little town of Palomo Grove, two great armies are amassing; forces shaped from the hearts and souls of America. In this New York Times bestseller, Barker unveils one of the most ambitious imaginative landscapes in modern fiction, creating a new vocabulary for the age-old battle between good and evil.
The Art, the greatest power known to humankind, is the focus of struggle between the evil spirit, Jaff, and a force for light, Fletcher. Jaffe hopes to…
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
I’m a British writer with a passion for the stories of history, both real and imagined. I have always been fascinated by tales and relics of the past, old ruins, ancient buildings, mythology, and the uncanny power of the natural world. All these things connect us to the ghosts of the past. So, I write historical fantasy novels based in the England I explored growing up, but brushed with the shadow of the supernatural, magic, witchcraft, and seductive illusion. I also write straight historical fiction under the name Samantha Grosser.
I’ve read this book twice, once as a paperback and more recently as an audiobook, which added a wonderful extra layer to this luscious novel.
Primarily a love story, the tale is told in beautiful prose that made my skin tingle with both appreciation and envy. Love, memory, the nature of books, the nature of self, characters that jump off the page, there is so much to appreciate in this deeply immersive story.
But for me, it was the characters’ sense that there is something unknown missing in themselves, something just out of reach, that resonated most strongly, a feeling that comes so close to my experiences of depression that it almost took my breath away. A book of wonder and magic that reached deep into my soul.
LOSE YOURSELF IN THE BREAKOUT SENSATION OF THE YEAR
SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019
'Brilliant' Joanna Cannon 'Spellbinding' Guardian 'Magic' Erin Kelly 'Immersive' Sunday Times 'Gorgeous' Stella Duffy 'Astounding' Anna Mazzola
Emmett Farmer is a binder's apprentice. His job is to hand-craft beautiful books and, within each, to capture something unique and extraordinary: a memory.
If you have something you want to forget, or a secret to hide, he can bind it - and you will never have to remember the pain it caused.
In a vault under his mentor's workshop, row upon row of books -…
I am both a writer and a publisher of Superversive fiction. Even before I encountered the term and the official definition of it, my fiction writing has always tended to be Superversive. Which makes sense as I am drawn to Superversive stories as a reader. I want to read and write about heroes and heroines. I want to be drawn into incredible universes and taken along on amazing adventures. I want stories where evil appears to be winning but good eventually finds a way to triumph in the end.
A book about the Medieval times written by a writer more known for his stories of the American Old West seems out of place, but this in my mind is his greatest work. I can only imagine the time he spent researching it and he definitely put in the time as he really transports you to the times and the lands involved in this story. One of these days I hope to write something that is as good as this book is.
As part of the Louis L’Amour’s Lost Treasures series, this edition contains exclusive bonus materials!
Louis L’Amour has been best known for his ability to capture the spirit and drama of the authentic American West. Now he guides his readers to an even more distant frontier—the enthralling lands of the twelfth century.
Warrior, lover, and scholar, Kerbouchard is a daring seeker of knowledge and fortune bound on a journey of enormous challenge, danger, and revenge. Across Europe, over the Russian steppes, and through the Byzantine wonders of Constantinople, Kerbouchard is thrust into the treacheries, passions, violence, and dazzling wonders of…
I have a close girlfriend who was once involved with a man she wanted to marry. The trouble was, the guy was always hanging out with this other woman who he’d known since childhood. Just friends, he said. Nothing going on. Ha! The shenanigans they got up to were unbelievable, and extremely upsetting to my girlfriend, who eventually broke up with the cad. Her unlucky experience got me interested in the psychology of the love triangle, and why some people remain mired in these dead-end relationships. My reading jam is anything twisty and suspenseful, and what’s more fraught than a three-way competition for someone’s affections.
Beware the replacement wife! Those folks we envy because they appear to have it all (flawless family/home/career, etc…) are often frantically treading water, desperate to keep that facade of perfection afloat. I know because I’ve been there, in a seemingly idyllic marriage where underneath the trappings of material success was, well, crap.
In this novel, the second wife thinks she’s got it goin’ on with the first wife’s ex, but things are not as they seem (are they ever in domestic thrillers, or real life??) I got a vicarious kick out of the two wives’ scheming and revenge-lust, and the dry humor laced throughout the story had me snickering with snarky delight!
There is no limit to the lies, suspicion, and secrets that can poison the perfect marriage in this twisting novel of suspense by USA Today bestselling author Kaira Rouda.
Kate Nelson had it all. A flourishing company founded with her husband, John; a happy marriage; and a daughter, Ashlyn. The picture-perfect family. Until John left for another woman. Tish is half his age. Ambitious. She's cultivated a friendship with Ashlyn. Tish believes she's won.
She's wrong.
Tish Nelson has it all. Youth, influence, a life of luxury, and a new husband. But the truth is, there's…
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
by
Arietta Richmond,
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…
As a longtime lover of Gothic literature, I wrote my doctoral dissertation on it, which became my book The Gothic Wanderer: From Transgression to Redemption. My second book on the Gothic, Vampire Groomsand Spectre Brides, explored how French and British Gothic authors influenced each other. The City Mysteries novels were part of that influence, as evidenced by how British author Reynolds borrowed the idea to write The Mysteries of London from French author Sue’s The Mysteries of Paris. After reading so many City Mysteriesnovels, I decided to write my own, complete with crossdressers, prostitutes, criminals, innocents, and the genre’s many other signature elements.
The Mysteries of Paris was so popular that Alexandre Dumas’ publisher wanted him to write a similar novel. The result was this book (1845), which focuses on Edmond Dantès, who is unjustly imprisoned by his enemies. Upon escaping and finding a great treasure, Dantès disguises himself as the Count of Monte Cristo and begins to exact his revenge.
The novel enters the criminal world of both Marseille and Paris. The count creates mystery by being a master of disguise and manipulating events without his victims knowing his identity or why their lives are crumbling. At the same time, the count is not without compassion and questions the morality of his own actions, thereby raising the novel to the status of true literature.
The epic tale of wrongful imprisonment, adventure and revenge, in its definitive translation
Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to use the treasure to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas' epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialized…
I’ve always loved a good mystery that doesn’t give you all the details upfront. My favourite stories growing up were those where I had little epiphanies along the way until I got to the end, where everything finally fell into place. But perhaps why I’m most drawn to these types of stories is because they parallel learning about your surroundings in the real world. After living in several different countries, I’ve come to learn many situations piece by piece, where some ended in danger, while others were more humorous events that I can now laugh about.
This book blew my mind! It changed my life and gave me food poisoning; well, maybe it was some lousy shrimp that did that, but it came around the same time anyhow.
I loved the initial point of revenge, how the main character was abandoned to die in a broken spaceship in the middle of nowhere. I, too, would be pissed if a ship flew by me without stopping to save my butt.
I was happy that the book also played with metaphysical notions and cranked up the ending to a glorious finish that broke from the standard good-guy wins trope.
Gully Foyle, Mechanic's Mate 3rd Class, is the only survivor on his drifting, wrecked spaceship. When another space vessel, the Vorga, ignores his distress flares and sails by, Gully Foyle becomes a man obsessed with revenge. He endures 170 days alone in deep space before finding refuge on the Sargasso Asteroid and then returning to Earth to track down the crew and owners of the Vorga. But, as he works out his murderous grudge, Gully Foyle also uncovers a secret of momentous proportions...
I’m a Canadian writer who has always had a love for fantasy books. Particularly fantasy books with badass female characters who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty, which is why my first published novel, It Ends With Her, is just that. I hate reading books, fantasy or otherwise, where the female lead simply waits around for someone else to fix her problems. Or even worse, lets someone else run her life entirely. No thank you, I’d much rather read about someone taking matters into her own hands and doing what’s right, no matter the cost.
For one thing, this Greek mythology fantasy begins with our main character, Lore, beating up someone during an underground boxing match. How much more badass can you get? Throughout the standalone YA novel, Lore tries to navigate a deadly game of the Gods and the constant deceit of those closest to her. But she keeps going, no matter the sacrifices she must make. This is a great story about strength and putting others before yourself for the greater good.
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What is this book about?
From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Darkest Minds comes a sweepingly ambitious, high-octane tale of power, destiny, love, and redemption.
Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals. They are hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.
Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world, turning her back on the hunt’s promises of eternal glory after her family was murdered by a rival line. For years she's pushed…
This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.
In these and other intimate conversations, the book…
I am an avid fantasy reader and writer. I have been writing for many years and love to craft detailed worlds and complex characters that surprise and delight readers. Stories are about challenges, overcoming the barriers that are put in front of us, and growing in the process. Characters do not have to be good or bad; they can be both, a mixture, just like real people. I strive to create characters that make people stop and think, make them question their assumptions, or relate to them in ways that they had not expected. Fantasy is about bringing real emotions to readers through an imaginary setting, and I love it.
I loved the Nevernight books because the main character is not necessarily always a hero. Mia is an assassin and cares only about killing. This means it can be uncomfortable to support her decisions and actions when they involve so much death and bloodshed.
She kills for reasons that she thinks are justified, but that isn’t always right, and it is great to see her grow and become something more than just a killing machine. She has a great personality and endures many hardships through the series but I loved reading along and seeing how she overcame everything she faced.
In a world where the suns almost never set, a woman gains entry to a school of infamous assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers that destroyed her family. Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father's failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she wanders a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and its thugs. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the hearth of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined. Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock…
