Here are 100 books that Dr. Todson's Home for Incorrigible Women fans have personally recommended if you like
Dr. Todson's Home for Incorrigible Women.
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I knew in my early teens that I wasn’t straight, but back then, the thought of coming out was too scary. I waited until I was twenty-three to do so, and it was still scary even being ten years older! So I can relate to stories of women of all ages discovering their less-than-straight sexuality. It’s rarely easy, no matter how many years you’ve lived already. It still requires good support from the people who love you, and one thing in common in all of the books I’ve recommended is that family, or often found family, plays a crucial role in the newly-out woman feeling comfortable being themselves.
The first sapphic book I ever read, over 30 years ago, still holds a special place in my heart. The two women stumble into their attraction for each other in a way that is believable and tender, and they take a journey together that is still relevant to our times. While one woman, Lane, had previously thought a same-sex relationship could be a real possibility for her, the other, Diana, had literally no idea until she meets Lane and is swept off her feet by her feelings. Simply a lovely story that I’ve re-read many times.
The intimacy of a cabin at Lake Tahoe provides the combustible circumstances that bring Diana Holland and Lane Christianson together in this passionate novel of first discovery.
Candid in its eroticism, intensely romantic, remarkably beautiful, CURIOUS WINE is a love story that will remain in your memory.
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…
I knew in my early teens that I wasn’t straight, but back then, the thought of coming out was too scary. I waited until I was twenty-three to do so, and it was still scary even being ten years older! So I can relate to stories of women of all ages discovering their less-than-straight sexuality. It’s rarely easy, no matter how many years you’ve lived already. It still requires good support from the people who love you, and one thing in common in all of the books I’ve recommended is that family, or often found family, plays a crucial role in the newly-out woman feeling comfortable being themselves.
One of the biggest draws for me in this story is that both women are both around fifty years old. One, Ida, is a closeted lesbian, having hidden her sexuality for decades to protect her Hollywood career. The other, Faye, has never considered the possibility that she might not be 100% straight, until she and Ida ‘play gay’ for a movie and have to kiss. But it isn’t just the kiss that sets Faye’s mind whirling – it’s how fascinating she finds Ida as a person. The more time they spend together, the more confused Faye gets. It’s so well written, with alternate chapters from each woman’s point of view, but all in first person, which is cleverly done.
What if the greatest role of your life is playing your true self?
Ida Burton used to be Hollywood’s sweetheart until the best roles started drying up in her forties.
When Ida lands one of the leads in a big-budget lesbian rom-com, it's not only a chance at reviving her dwindling career. Maybe this movie can be an opportunity to finally burst out of the closet she's forced herself into.
Faye Fleming has been at the top of her acting game and collecting awards for the past few years. When she's cast in a huge blockbuster opposite the legendary Ida…
I knew in my early teens that I wasn’t straight, but back then, the thought of coming out was too scary. I waited until I was twenty-three to do so, and it was still scary even being ten years older! So I can relate to stories of women of all ages discovering their less-than-straight sexuality. It’s rarely easy, no matter how many years you’ve lived already. It still requires good support from the people who love you, and one thing in common in all of the books I’ve recommended is that family, or often found family, plays a crucial role in the newly-out woman feeling comfortable being themselves.
This historical romance is so much more than a romance. It’s also a commentary on the place women had in society for much of the 19th century, and how hard it was for them to break out of the mold of being nothing but a pretty thing to entertain the men in their lives. The story of Lucy, a young astronomer, and her relationship with her older benefactress, Catherine, is beautifully written. Catherine’s journey from an abusive marriage to the incredible love she finds with Lucy is poignant and passionate all at the same time, and the depth of characterization of both women is wonderful.
As Lucy Muchelney watches her ex-lover’s sham of a wedding, she wishes herself anywhere else. It isn’t until she finds a letter from the Countess of Moth, looking for someone to translate a groundbreaking French astronomy text, that she knows where to go. Showing up at the Countess’ London home, she hoped to find a challenge, not a woman who takes her breath away.
Catherine St Day looks forward to a quiet widowhood once her late husband’s scientific legacy is fulfilled. She expected to hand off the translation and wash her hands of the project—instead, she is intrigued by the…
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…
I knew in my early teens that I wasn’t straight, but back then, the thought of coming out was too scary. I waited until I was twenty-three to do so, and it was still scary even being ten years older! So I can relate to stories of women of all ages discovering their less-than-straight sexuality. It’s rarely easy, no matter how many years you’ve lived already. It still requires good support from the people who love you, and one thing in common in all of the books I’ve recommended is that family, or often found family, plays a crucial role in the newly-out woman feeling comfortable being themselves.
This book needs to come with a health warning – will make you laugh so hard you’re in danger of pulling a muscle. The humor, usually provided by the two elderly ladies one of the main characters, Jorie, lives with, really is side-splitting. But alongside their hilarity, the romance between Jorie, an out lesbian, and the random woman, Lena, she shares a car ride with when snow cancels their flight is delightful. Mainly because, for once with a ‘late coming out’ story, Lena very quickly accepts her new sexuality, and it’s Jorie who struggles with what it means to be the first woman that Lena’s attracted to.
Some believe that special someone is out there just waiting to be found. Jorie Andolini is one of those people and has spent a lot of time envisioning that moment. She bumps into a woman at a grocery store, the woman drops a can of peas, Jorie picks it up, their eyes meet, and two souls connect. But it’s actually a wasted trip to New York, a snowstorm, and a canceled flight home that puts her in the path of Lena Vaughn.
Lena has found fault in every man she’s ever dated. Her dream of finding a husband is dwindling…
I grew up with books like Dinotopia, Goosebumps choose your own adventures, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings, growing me into a lover of intricate world-building. I've always been passionate about magic and science. Interweaving magic into everyday life is part of who I am and I love seeing it in writing. After writing ten fantasy detective novels, buckets of short mysteries, and over a decade of world-building I know a passionate writer when I read it. As an avid audiobook consumer, organizer, and progenitor for the Logan Writers Festival, and twice-a-week professional Dungeon Master, I love the way these books intricately lay down their clues in the places they didn’t think we’d look.
This book by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris is one that you skip other books in your TBR pile for! It’s impossible to put it down. The story takes place in an alternate Victorian era where the world is powered by steam and magic. The plot is filled with so many threads of clues and mysteries weave you into the world and before you know it you’re as tangled as the characters. The secret agent and medium characters are brilliant, and their chemistry is just amazing. The world-building is superb, the steampunk universe is so rich and fascinating. The balance of mystery, fantasy, and adventure are just perfect. If you love steampunk and mystery, you have to read this book! It's simply fantastic!
There's something rotten in the city of London. Women are disappearing - young and old, rich and poor, from all walks of society. The only thing they have in common is their belief that women also deserve the vote. It's up to the Ministry of Peculiar Occurences to find out why these women are vanishing, but agents Books and Braun have their own challenges. There's a turncoat with nefarious plans within the Ministry itself, and the reappearance of an old flame means their growing friendship is threatened. To say nothing of the queen of the underworld, tassassins-attacking-on-ornithopters, and a conspiracy…
My PhD work was in developmental robotics, which is about how a robot could wake up and learn about the world the way a human child does. The robot in my thesis work does this by building models, and, more generally, society as a whole advances when science builds ever better causal models about how the world works. The books in this collection are about what could happen when we are 5, 10, and 100 years ahead in the causal model-building process, and they look at what happens when those models are built by robots instead of humans.
I love how this book conveys the wonder of discovery as they travel the universe. You can skip over some of the early math passages without missing anything. The book is about a civilization of software agents, and the description of how their understanding of physics advances is great.
If you like this one, check out Permutation City by Egen, which explores what it is like to live forever in a simulation. You live for so long that you can load passions for hobbies into your brain to pass the time. A character has an intense desire for woodwork and all the materials a woodworker would dream of.
A quantum Brave New World from the boldest and most wildly speculative writer of his generation. "Greg Egan is perhaps the most important SF writer in the world."-Science Fiction Weekly "One of the very best "-Locus. "Science fiction with an emphasis on science."-New York Times Book Review
Since the Introdus in the twenty-first century, humanity has reconfigured itself drastically. Most chose immortality, joining the polises to become conscious software. Others opted for gleisners: disposable, renewable robotic bodies that remain in contact with the physical world of force and friction. Many of these have left the solar system forever in fusion-drive…
A fake date, romance, and a conniving co-worker you'd love to shut down. Fun summer reading!
Liza loves helping people and creating designer shoes that feel as good as they look. Financially overextended and recovering from a divorce, her last-ditch opportunity to pitch her firm for investment falls flat. Then…
I’ve always been a creative, imaginative person, and I love creating exciting, fantastical worlds, either through my fine art or the stories I write. As such, I am always intrigued by creations by others that depict all the interesting possibilities of reality. I consume and create fantasy and science fiction tales, which take up the majority of my readings and viewings. But I also love comedy! I love to think and laugh, and when I come across a story that makes me do both, that’s a beautiful double whammy! And I particularly love sci-fi because it isn’t just about escapism, but this genre leads to real-world scientific advancements.
Who doesn’t love a good cyberpunk novel? Well, I love them! And this is a good one! It depicts a dark and gritty 21st century sci-fi future, which is fine, but now that we are actually in the 21st century and approaching some of the technology featured in the book, it makes it now all the more interesting.
With nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, and an interactive book for learning (which now we’d just call a tablet like an iPad), it really makes you wonder if we are actually heading for the world of the book.
And who could be smaller or more insignificant than poor Little Nell - an orphan girl alone and adrift in a world of Confucian Law, Neo-Victorian values and warring nanotechnology?
Well, not quite alone. Because Nell has a friend, of sorts. A guide, a teacher, an armed and unarmed combat instructor, a book and a computer: the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is all these and much much more. It is illicit, magical, dangerous.
I’ve been reading fantasy since before I could read (thanks, Mom and Dad!). I certainly never outgrew my love of fairy tales. But over the years, I discovered I also love historical romance. Then, I stumbled across books that combined the two. They were the best of both worlds. The comfort of a well-fitted waistcoat with the whimsy of an enchanted jewel. Naturally, I gravitated to writing what I loved: books full of magic and manners, castles and balls, romance and intrigue.
When encountering a spinster alone at a ball, there is no excuse to forget proper manners, even—or perhaps especially—if one is a vampire. Or werewolf. I adored the voice in this book, which gave that Jane Austen feel, except brimming with humor.
The characters enchanted me as they balanced between high-society manners and the reality of living with (or being) supernatural creatures. The interactions between solidly practical Alexia and exasperated Lord Maccon made it a romance I couldn’t help but root for.
Even if Alexia was soulless, you can’t convince me her werewolf wasn’t her soulmate. A perfect blend of Victorian London and paranormal romance.
Alexia Tarabotti is labouring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.
Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire - and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.
With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high…
Since discovering the Enneagram a few years ago, I’ve been absolutely fascinated by the psychology behind personalities. Each one is unique, influenced by innumerable things from both nature and nurture. And the misunderstandings that come from different types of interaction have contributed significantly to challenges in my personal life. But they also make stories more interesting to read, especially when you get to see things from the perspective of multiple different characters. Nothing is juicier to me as a reader than watching characters initially misunderstand and dislike each other, but over time grow to understand and even respect each other as close friends and/or romantic interests as the story unfolds!
She insults him with Shakespeare. This line from the blurb sold me on this futuristic steampunk fantasy because what does that even mean? But finding out was super fun, and I absolutely loved watching these enemies become lovers through the MMC and FMC’s perspectives.
Like the other books in this list, there are additional POVs besides the main love interests that add depth, humor, and emotion to the story, and the world contains an interesting mix of sci-fi and fantasy elements that work well together.
As with Six of Crows, I recommend having book two handy right off the bat because the cliffhanger ending to this book will leave you scrambling for what happens next!
Perfect for fans of Dune, Pride & Prejudice, and anyone who believed Rogue One needed a romantic subplot.
Two tortured souls. One world on the brink of war.
Kase Shackley is an embittered hover pilot still reeling from the night his sister died in his arms. He’s a screw up in every sense, so when a pilot nearly dies on his watch, he faces serious charges. Seeking to clear his name, he flies a ragtag crew to a lost and dangerous land from which they might never return. If only he didn’t have to work with the infuriating bookshop girl…
“Rowdy” Randy Cox, a woman staring down the barrel of retirement, is a curmudgeonly blue-collar butch lesbian who has been single for twenty years and is trying to date again.
At the end of a long, exhausting shift, Randy finds her supervisor, Bryant, pinned and near death at the warehouse…
Growing up, I loved discovering how things work. That led me to a career in engineering, but I never left a certain quirkiness behind. Why else would I have raised llamas for thirty years? Or loved the stories I find in science fiction? Especially books that start in a real place occupied by believable people, then demand a leap of faith, a reach beyond what's known today. We have so much to learn – about planets and people – that possibilities spiral out into the universe. I hope you enjoy the books on my list as much as I have.
What if humanity rocketed to the moon in the 19th Century? Then surely Mark Twain, aka Sam Clemens, would have gone to seek his fortune. I've never found a more compelling image of travel over and under the moon's surface. These adventures let me discover technology that fits the place and the time. One of my favorites is steam power – not as anachronistic as you might guess. I'm excited by real-life discoveries of water ice in lunar craters, possible fuel for future astronauts.
Twain's style is captured wonderfully, something I hadn't expected. He must keep from blowing himself to kingdom come as science and human nature mix in a delightful stew of troubles. I'm happy to see Twain may solve some of NASA's upcoming problems too.
In an alternate 19th century, young Samuel Clemens sets out for the mining camps of America’s wildest frontier: the Moon. Travel with Sam and his partner Calvin as they venture into the desolate, deadly wastes of the Mare Imbrium and the Montes Caucasus, in search of wonders, adventure, and a fortune in precious water ice. This is Prospectors!, the opening salvo in the epic saga of Mark Twain on the Moon, as told by the alternate Mark Twain himself.
"You will soon forget that it isn't Mr. Twain" -Melvin H. Wilson, Jr.
