Here are 86 books that Deeper Than the Dead fans have personally recommended if you like Deeper Than the Dead. Book DNA is a community of 13,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Search

Nika Rhone Author Of Worth Any Price

From my list on romance books with strong women and the men who love them for it.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a voracious reader, and I’ve come across way too many books where the female MC was an airheaded TSTL (too stupid to live) ninny. I don’t want to read about women who have to be saved by big, strong men. I want to see women who can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and save themselves, maybe with a little help from the big, strong man if she needs or wants it, AND who can turn around and do some saving of said man of her own, should HE need it. I think the healthiest relationships, even fictional ones, are those based on mutual strength, trust, and respect.

Nika's book list on romance books with strong women and the men who love them for it

Nika Rhone Why Nika loves this book

I think that mental and emotional strength are often more hard-won than the physical kind. Fiona is a survivor. Literally. She’s the one that got away from a serial killer.

I can’t imagine the fortitude it would take to put your life back together and be able to function again after what she endured. But she not only rebuilt her life, she’s dedicated it to helping others through her search and rescue dogs. I enjoyed the weaving of her work into the heart of the story because it’s a huge part of who she is and how she copes, especially with the new danger that lands on her doorstep. Her strength and compassion are what draw taciturn Simon to her, even when he doesn’t want to be.

I love that she’s written with cracks that sometimes bleed but an inner core strong enough to keep her whole.

By Nora Roberts ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A canine Search and Rescue volunteer fights danger and finds love in the Pacific Northwest wilderness in this riveting #1 New York Times bestseller from Nora Roberts.

To most people, Fiona Bristow seems to have an idyllic life-a quaint house on an island off Seattle's coast, a thriving dog-training school and a challenging volunteer job performing Canine Search and Rescue. But Fiona got to this point by surviving a nightmare: an encounter with the Red Scarf Killer, who shot and killed Fiona's cop fiance and his K-9 partner.

On Orcas Island, Fiona has found the peace and solitude necessary to…


If you love Deeper Than the Dead...

Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Book cover of Water for Elephants

J.S. Wik Author Of Habitude

From my list on all of the romance and some of the suspense.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was always in love with love. I had my life all planned out, I was going to marry my high school sweetheart and have a family and live happily ever after. Newsflash, that didn’t happen and I’m glad it didn’t! As I’ve gotten older I still find myself in love with love, but now there are other things included with it such as quiet rebellion and a determination to simply be me. I find that I enjoy the suspense aspect because I know life isn’t perfect. We don’t all have stalkers or physically abusive exes, but books are a safe place to experience the emotions of these situations.

J.S.'s book list on all of the romance and some of the suspense

J.S. Wik Why J.S. loves this book

Water for Elephants was a book I went into not knowing what to expect! It was another recommendation from my mom and she was so right!

I love watching people fall in love, especially when I’ve had my own trials and tribulations in relationships! Jacob and Marlena are such a testament to true love triumphing over everything, and that is my number one reason for suggesting this book!

It also gives an incredible depiction of the Great Depression. Because of this book, I came away with a better understanding of my grandparents’ childhood struggles.

By Sara Gruen ,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked Water for Elephants as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
NOW A FILM STARRING REESE WITHERSPOON AND ROBERT PATTINSON

'Great story, loads of fun; hard to put down.' STEPHEN KING

The Great Depression, 1929.
When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and utterly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits in the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth: a second-rate travelling circus struggling to survive by making one-night stands in town after endless town. Jacob, a veterinary student now unable to finish his degree, is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. He…


Book cover of Safe Haven

R.K. Scott Author Of Choosing Season

From my list on characters displaying inner strength.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in a large family and was often forgotten since I wasn’t the loud and rebellious child, but I was often pushed over because I wouldn’t stand up for myself in fear of anger. My only escape was walking the seven blocks to my local library and reading about heroic deeds, beautiful ladies falling in love with the dashing prince, and wishing I could be brave like the characters in my books. In my late teens, I realized there’s more to a person than physical strength. 

R.K.'s book list on characters displaying inner strength

R.K. Scott Why R.K. loves this book

Nicholas Sparks is one of those romance writers whose work I mostly like, but I’m not a die-hard fan. However, I love this book. Not every sweet, sappy romance makes me cry, but this one did. I really cared for the main character, Katie. She’s quiet and keeps to herself, but beneath the reserved smile, she’s hiding from an abusive marriage.

It takes courage to run from a bad situation and strength to face your demons finally. I also liked that the romance was believable and took its time. Romances that make me fall in love with the characters are among my favorite kinds of love stories.

By Nicholas Sparks ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Safe Haven as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In a small North Carolina town, a mysterious and beautiful woman running from her past slowly falls for a kind-hearted store owner . . . until dark secrets begin to threaten her new life.

When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken…


If you love Tami Hoag...

Book cover of The Tao of Poison

The Tao of Poison by Isham Cook,

A poisonous maiden, a Daoist sex cult, and a violent insurgency.

The polyandrous Yan family in China's rural Shaanxi Province takes in two carpenter brothers. When one brother is convicted of murder after killing their neighbor in a dispute, a constable threatens to expose the family's rumored polyandry and extorts…

Book cover of The Rescue

J.S. Wik Author Of Habitude

From my list on all of the romance and some of the suspense.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was always in love with love. I had my life all planned out, I was going to marry my high school sweetheart and have a family and live happily ever after. Newsflash, that didn’t happen and I’m glad it didn’t! As I’ve gotten older I still find myself in love with love, but now there are other things included with it such as quiet rebellion and a determination to simply be me. I find that I enjoy the suspense aspect because I know life isn’t perfect. We don’t all have stalkers or physically abusive exes, but books are a safe place to experience the emotions of these situations.

J.S.'s book list on all of the romance and some of the suspense

J.S. Wik Why J.S. loves this book

This is another one of Nicholas Sparks books that I read at the recommendation of a good friend and I’m so glad I did! Denise is one of my most favorite fictional female main characters, and there was absolutely no surprise that Taylor fell for her despite his best efforts!

I was completely immersed in this book to the point that I stayed up way later than I should have when I needed to work the next morning and then woke up with a book hangover! This one was one that I needed a palette-cleansing book to read after because I was so emotionally invested!

By Nicholas Sparks ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

How do you learn to trust again?

Denise Hilton, a young single mother, is driving through Edenton, North Carolina, when her car skids off the road during a storm.

With her is her four-year-old son, Kyle, a boy with severe learning disabilities for whom she has sacrificed everything. When volunteer fireman Taylor McAden finds her she is unconscious and bleeding, but when she wakes an even more chilling truth becomes clear: Kyle is gone.

When confronted by raging fires or deadly accidents, Taylor feels compelled to take terrifying risks to save lives, and the search for Kyle is no exception.…


Book cover of Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie

Doug Macdougall Author Of Endless Novelties of Extraordinary Interest: The Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger and the Birth of Modern Oceanography

From my list on scientific discovery and what makes scientists tick.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a geoscientist and writer, and ever since my childhood explorations of the ponds, creeks, cliffs and forests of my native Ontario I’ve been fascinated with the natural world. During my PhD studies and subsequent academic career I’ve been fortunate to experience the thrill of experiment and discovery, and I’m passionate about communicating the wonders of science to others. I try to do that in my own books. Those I’ve recommended here, in my opinion, do it superbly. 

Doug's book list on scientific discovery and what makes scientists tick

Doug Macdougall Why Doug loves this book

The ‘obsessive genius’ of the title is Marie Curie, the only woman to have won two Nobel Prizes. I love Goldsmith’s book because it humanizes Curie, starting with her childhood in Poland and progressing to her determination to someday become a scientist, the difficulties she faced as a woman seeking an education in Poland at the end of the nineteenth century, and finally the combination of serendipity, enduring curiosity and fierce determination that led to her groundbreaking discoveries about radioactivity, a word she is credited with coining.

By Barbara Goldsmith ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Through family interviews, diaries, letters, and workbooks that had been sealed for over sixty years, Barbara Goldsmith reveals the Marie Curie behind the myth-an all-too-human woman struggling to balance a spectacular scientific career, a demanding family, the prejudice of society, and her own passionate nature. Obsessive Genius is a dazzling portrait of Curie, her amazing scientific success, and the price she paid for fame.


Book cover of Dignifying Science: Stories About Women Scientists

Carol Colatrella Author Of Feminism's Progress: Gender Politics in British and American Literature and Television since 1830

From my list on feminism and women's experiences in science.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always enjoyed talking with others about books, including throughout my education at St. John’s College (the Great Books school) and my graduate work. Recently I was able to reunite online with college classmates; during Zoom sessions, we discuss fictions that are meaningful to us. Additionally, as a literature and women’s studies professor at a technological university, I am always looking for interesting texts to discuss with students and to analyze in my research. The books I selected have been book club selections, course readings for my classes in gender studies and in comparative literature, and/or have been the focus of my writing about women and feminism. 

Carol's book list on feminism and women's experiences in science

Carol Colatrella Why Carol loves this book

This collection of comics by different women cartoonists explains the challenges and successes of six women scientists in the 20th century.

Although I am familiar with the scientists’ biographies and their celebrated discoveries, I liked seeing how well the different cartoonists make use of the affordances of the comic book format to convey women’s situations, emotions, and steps toward empowerment as well as the technical aspects of their scientific work. It would make an attractive book club choice for students or adults.

By Jim Ottaviani , Donna Barr (illustrator) , Mary Fleener (illustrator) , Ramona Fradon (illustrator) , Stephanie Gladden (illustrator) , Roberta Gregory (illustrator) , Lea Hernandez (illustrator) , Carla Speed McNeil (illustrator) , Linda Medley (illustrator) , Marie Severin (illustrator) , Jen Sorensen (illustrator)

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

This original graphic novel features famous women scientists including Marie Curie, Emmy Noether, Lise Meitner, Rosalind Franklin, Barbara McClintock, Birute Galdikas, and Hedy Lamarr. The stories offer a human context often missing when we learn about the discoveries attached to these scientists' names. Readers, drawn in by the compelling anecdotes, will discover intriguing characters, while end notes and references will lead them to further information on the scientists they've read about.


If you love Deeper Than the Dead...

Book cover of Big Ideas... For Small Businesses: Simple, Practical Tools and Tactics to Help Your Small Business Grow

Big Ideas... For Small Businesses by John Lamerton,

Big Ideas… for Small Businesses is a straight-talking, no-nonsense guide to growing a small business without sacrificing your lifestyle. Written by a former civil servant turned entrepreneur, the book challenges hustle culture and instead champions the idea of an "ambitious lifestyle business" - one that provides freedom and financial stability,…

Book cover of Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut's Story of Invention

David H. DeVorkin Author Of The Hubble Cosmos: 25 Years of New Vistas in Space

From my list on the universe from Hubble to Hubble.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was trained in astronomy and astrophysics, was a staff observer at the Lick and Yerkes Observatories, and always have had a passion for researching and writing the history of modern astrophysics and space astronomy. I hold a PhD in the history of astronomy from the University of Leicester in England, am now a retired museum curator having been a planetarium lecturer, college professor, research associate for the Center for History of Physics at the American Institute of Physics, and guitar teacher in the early 1960s.

David's book list on the universe from Hubble to Hubble

David H. DeVorkin Why David loves this book

Highly exciting and engaging first-hand account by an astronaut of launching and then repairing the Hubble Space Telescope. The author provides her personal profile as a “Sputnik Baby,” life in science, and becoming the first female astronaut to leave the Shuttle.

By Kathryn D. Sullivan ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The first American woman to walk in space recounts her experience as part of the team that launched, rescued, repaired, and maintained the Hubble Space Telescope
 
The Hubble Space Telescope has revolutionized our understanding of the universe. It has, among many other achievements, revealed thousands of galaxies in what seemed to be empty patches of sky; transformed our knowledge of black holes; found dwarf planets with moons orbiting other stars; and measured precisely how fast the universe is expanding. In Handprints on Hubble, retired astronaut Kathryn Sullivan describes her work on the NASA team that made all this possible.…


Book cover of The Hungry Tide

Trevor Shane Author Of List of Fears

From my list on epic novels to read by a cozy fire.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a writer and a reader. I love getting lost in books. It has been the most consistent aspect of my life. I love audacious books whose beauty pushes all the way to the edge of absurdity, without ever slipping over. I love nothing more in life than sitting by a fire and dissolving into a good book. I'm the author of the Children of Paranoia series, the Memory Detective series, and the stand-alone novel List of Fears. My books have been published in seven different languages and have been optioned for both movies and television. I live in Brooklyn with my wife and two children, all of whom can be found reading at any given moment. 

Trevor's book list on epic novels to read by a cozy fire

Trevor Shane Why Trevor loves this book

When I read The Hungry Tide for the first time, it read to me like a fantasy novel set in a faraway world. Except it isn’t. The setting for The Hungry Tide is a real place, but it is as dangerous and as fantastic as something created by Tolkien. It takes place in the Sundarbans of India, a world where tigers hunt people and tidal floods come without warning and wipe out villages. Sometimes I read a book to get lost in a world that doesn’t exist. Other times I read a book to get lost in a world that does. I’ve never been to the Sundarbans, but I still periodically dream about them. 

By Amitav Ghosh ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A profound and absorbing saga from the Internationally Bestselling and Man Booker Prize shortlisted author

'Amitav Ghosh is such a fascinating and seductive writer... I cannot think of another contemporary writer with whom it would be this thrilling to go so far, so fast' The Times

January 2001: A small ship, led by wealthy Scotsman Daniel Hamilton, arrives in the Sundarbans, a vast archipelago of islands in the mythical river Ganges, a half-drowned land where the waters of the Himalayas merge with the incoming tides of the sea.

In the Sundarbans the tides reach more than 100 miles…


Book cover of Margaret and the Moon

Sandra Nickel Author Of The Stuff Between the Stars: How Vera Rubin Discovered Most of the Universe

From my list on children’s books about astronomy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an award-winning children’s book author who writes stories about unexpected friends, women who did the impossible, people who are (almost) forgotten & ideas that seem too complicated until I find the right way to tell them.

Sandra's book list on children’s books about astronomy

Sandra Nickel Why Sandra loves this book

Margaret and the Moon tells the story of Margaret Hamilton, who wrote the computer code that was key to the US first landing on the moon. The story is full of suspense. Margaret—not the astronauts—is the real hero of the story. But what is best about this book is that it is bursting with curiosity. Margaret wonders, Why are there only DADDY Longlegs? Why aren’t more girls scientists? How big is the moon? And with each of her questions, readers themselves became more and more curious! Isn’t that fabulous?!

By Dean Robbins , Lucy Knisley (illustrator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Margaret and the Moon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

A true story from one of the Women of NASA!

Margaret Hamilton loved numbers as a young girl. She knew how many miles it was to the moon (and how many back). She loved studying algebra and geometry and calculus and using math to solve problems in the outside world.

Soon math led her to MIT and then to helping NASA put a man on the moon! She handwrote code that would allow the spacecraft’s computer to solve any problems it might encounter. Apollo 8. Apollo 9. Apollo 10. Apollo 11. Without her code, none of those missions could have…


If you love Tami Hoag...

Book cover of Sexy Selfie Nation: Standing Up for Yourself in Today's Toxic, Sexist Culture

Sexy Selfie Nation by Leora Tanenbaum,

The problem is not with the actions young women take but with the toxic, sexist conditions they are responding to.

Tanenbaum found, based on six years of interviews with young people ages 14-30, that young women are navigating a culture littered with gendered dress codes, revenge porn, and sexually explicit…

Book cover of A Lady's Formula for Love

Rose Prendeville Author Of Mistress Mackintosh and the Shaw Wretch

From my list on smart, feisty heroines not cowed by social mores.

Why am I passionate about this?

When we were young and naughty, our parents only had to give my sister The Look, and she’d burst into tears. Me, I would stare right back at them and demand, “What?” Fiercely. In fact I often got in trouble for “arguing,” (when all I was really trying to do was make my case because I felt misunderstood). These days people describe me as someone who doesn’t care what other people think. I forge my own path, staunchly, proudly, and so I am drawn to heroines who do the same, who fly in the face of societal expectations to fight for truth and science and what is right.

Rose's book list on smart, feisty heroines not cowed by social mores

Rose Prendeville Why Rose loves this book

I adore everything about the premise of this book—a secret society of lady scientists, working away in an old house in London, trying to invent solutions to the problems of the day. Yes please! I also love that Lady Violet is worldly. She's knowledgeable about physical relations between men and women, and she knows about her body, what she likes, and how to prevent pregnancy. She’s very down-to-earth, empowered, and sex-positive, and she brings our brooding hero Arthur to his knees. There’s something very special about historical fiction with a modern sentimentality. Add to that a swoon-worthy hero, a cast of colorful side characters, and dark forces working against our heroine, and you’ve got a recipe for the perfect start to a super fun series.

By Elizabeth Everett ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Lady's Formula for Love as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What is a Victorian lady's formula for love? Mix one brilliant noblewoman and her enigmatic protection officer. Add in a measure of danger and attraction. Heat over the warmth of humor and friendship, and the result is more than simple chemistry--it's elemental.

Lady Violet is keeping secrets. First, she founded a clandestine sanctuary for England's most brilliant female scientists. Second, she is using her genius on a confidential mission for the Crown. But the biggest secret of all? Her feelings for protection officer Arthur Kneland.

Solitary and reserved, Arthur learned the hard way to put duty first. But the more…


Book cover of The Search
Book cover of Water for Elephants
Book cover of Safe Haven

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