Here are 100 books that Erasure fans have personally recommended if you like Erasure. Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of A Gentleman in Moscow

Erika Rummel Author Of What They Said About Luisa

From my list on authenticity and truth with a capital T.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a professional historian and have published both nonfiction and fiction. I present research in my academic books and spin that research into stories in my novels, but sometimes I wonder whether it doesn’t come out to the same thing–I interpret the evidence in light of my own experiences and look at it through the narrow lens of contemporary values. Is that so very different from making it up? That’s why I like to write (and read) novels that inquire into the nature of our conceptions and raise the question of whether there is such a thing as Truth with a capital T. 

Erika's book list on authenticity and truth with a capital T

Erika Rummel Why Erika loves this book

This book has been criticized for ignoring the brutal aspects of the Bolshevik revolution and giving us only old-world elegance and luxury. Hello? It’s historical FICTION! Instead of facts, the author gives us atmosphere, a charming main character who is being gradually revealed to us.

It made me ask: Did time change him, or was he always that way, and the events brought out his “true” self? It’s a story told in a polished style or, as one reviewer put it, with “a permanently arched eyebrow.” 

By Amor Towles ,

Why should I read it?

46 authors picked A Gentleman in Moscow as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The mega-bestseller with more than 2 million readers, soon to be a major television series

From the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Lincoln Highway and Rules of Civility, a beautifully transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel

In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and…


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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

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…

Book cover of Fahrenheit 451

Ray C Doyle Author Of Timebreak

From my list on sci-fi books that fly me far away into an adventurous future.

Why am I passionate about this?

Sci-fi has been part of my life since Sunday afternoons in front of the radio listening to Journey to the Moon and the original Quatermass serial. Then it was Doctor Who and Star Trek. Despite this, I have never written a serious sci-fi book until now, but I can boast of knowing all the characters in both the radio and TV sci-fi shows. I guess I can admit to being a Trekkie.

Ray's book list on sci-fi books that fly me far away into an adventurous future

Ray C Doyle Why Ray loves this book

This book tells a strong story about censorship and has perhaps a "light" dystopian feel.

I liked this book because Bradbury’s characters are well drawn and, like Orwell, he creates a strong story. It reminded me of past events in the 30’s. A fireman, following orders to confiscate and destroy books because the authority does not want people to develop constructive thinking. Gradually turning against his boss, the fireman kills his boss and joins a group of people who memorise books and store content for the future.

I found this a thought-provoking story and hope that, considering the censorship laws we have today at home and in countries like Russia and Iran, this is one story that does not come true.

By Ray Bradbury ,

Why should I read it?

26 authors picked Fahrenheit 451 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The hauntingly prophetic classic novel set in a not-too-distant future where books are burned by a special task force of firemen.

Over 1 million copies sold in the UK.

Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness. Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house? The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books.

The classic…


Book cover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Justin C. Davis Author Of The Fallen Swallow

From my list on where magic feels dangerous, wild, and weirdly intimate.

Why am I passionate about this?

I write and read fantasy that doesn’t play safe—where magic is messy, divine, rotten, or reborn in mud. I’m obsessed with stories that walk barefoot through forgotten folklore, eerie townships, and mythic detours. The Fallow Swallow grew from this exact craving: for fantasy that’s personal, poetic, and just a little unwell. I gravitate toward tales that embrace magical realism, morally grey characters, and dark humour—and these books helped shape my voice as a writer.

Justin's book list on where magic feels dangerous, wild, and weirdly intimate

Justin C. Davis Why Justin loves this book

Reading this was like drinking tea with a ghost in a dusty library—charming, eerie, and wonderfully slow.

Clarke's ability to mix historical fiction with brooding, folkloric magic was inspiring. I admired how it builds tension not with battles, but with manners, contracts, and impossible choices. It taught me patience in worldbuilding and in life.

By Susanna Clarke ,

Why should I read it?

25 authors picked Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Two magicians shall appear in England. The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of…


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Book cover of The Year Mrs. Cooper Got Out More: A Great Wharf Novel

The Year Mrs. Cooper Got Out More by Meredith Marple,

The coastal tourist town of Great Wharf, Maine, boasts a crime rate so low you might suspect someone’s lying.

Nevertheless, jobless empty nester Mallory Cooper has become increasingly reclusive and fearful. Careful to keep the red wine handy and loath to leave the house, Mallory misses her happier self—and so…

Book cover of Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge

Susanna Ashton Author Of A Plausible Man: The True Story of the Escaped Slave Who Inspired Uncle Tom's Cabin

From my list on new discoveries in Black History.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I moved to South Carolina some 25 years ago, I found understanding all the history around me challenging. Even more than that, I found it hard to talk about! Politics and history get mixed up in tricky ways. I worked with students to understand stories about plantation sites, leading me to start reading the words of survivors of captivity. I started reading slave narratives and trying to listen to what people had to say. While sad sometimes, their words are also hopeful. I now read books about our nation’s darkest times because I look for ways to guide us to a better future. 

Susanna's book list on new discoveries in Black History

Susanna Ashton Why Susanna loves this book

Washington, our first president…Mr. American Freedom himself—was not just a slave owner but a slave hunter. What was his problem, I wondered, as I read about how he and his wife positively obsessed over re-capturing Ona Judge, a woman who escaped from their bondage.

They spent years, money, and some political clout tracking her down and trying to drag her back. They had plenty of other enslaved people! They weren’t short of money! As I read this wild tale of courage and cruelty, I got the message…the Washingtons knew that if a slave could flee the President of the United States, it would demonstrate the hypocrisy of trying to found a nation on liberty that, uh,…..held men, women and children in bondage.

My spoiler for you: They failed. Judge never returned to the Washingtons and lived to tell her own tale about the ugly history of American freedoms. Dunbar’s book…

By Erica Strong Dunbar ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Never Caught as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A startling and eye-opening look into America's First Family, Never Caught is the powerful story about a daring woman of "extraordinary grit" (The Philadelphia Inquirer).

When George Washington was elected president, he reluctantly left behind his beloved Mount Vernon to serve in Philadelphia, the temporary seat of the nation's capital. In setting up his household he brought along nine slaves, including Ona Judge. As the President grew accustomed to Northern ways, there was one change he couldn't abide: Pennsylvania law required enslaved people be set free after six months of residency in the state. Rather than comply, Washington decided to…


Book cover of Get Good with Money: Ten Simple Steps to Becoming Financially Whole

LaTonya M. Summers Author Of Black Again: Losing and Reclaiming My Racial Identity

From my list on restoring black women’s mental wellness.

Why am I passionate about this?

Black women's mental wellness is important to me because my racial identity was interrupted by racial assimilation. There was a period of time where I thought passing for white would lead me to the success I sought. I learned that adopting white norms and values as my own was psychologically harmful, and these books led to racial restoration and mental well-being. I am an associate professor of clinical mental health, and I teach my students to assess, identify, and promote healthy racial identity development. I hope readers who are on their journeys will find these books helpful. 

LaTonya's book list on restoring black women’s mental wellness

LaTonya M. Summers Why LaTonya loves this book

Much of my financial nonsense was taught, indirectly and directly, by my parents, family, and community members. Coming from a low-income and blue-collar working-class family, I am armed with a mentality toward poverty.

This book was written in plain language about saving, budgeting, investing, and wealth building. The steps were practical and easy enough for me to implement. Because of this book, I have a plan for my money; I know exactly where it goes, and I am an investor. These are no longer things I thought were reserved for white people.  

By Tiffany Aliche ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Get Good with Money as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER • A ten-step plan for finding peace, safety, and harmony with your money—no matter how big or small your goals and no matter how rocky the market might be—by the inspiring and savvy “Budgetnista.”

“No matter where you stand in your money journey, Get Good with Money has a lesson or two for you!”—Erin Lowry, bestselling author of the Broke Millennial series

Tiffany Aliche was a successful pre-school teacher with a healthy nest egg when a recession and advice from a shady advisor put her out of a job and…


Book cover of The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha

Seth Kaufman Author Of The Seductive Lady Vanessa of Manhattanshire

From my list on book-within-a-book format.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love books. I studied them at school, sold them in a store, and now I write them. Books about books are a favorite genre of mine because they explore the power of story-telling and the sharing of ideas. Indeed, from the King James Bible to Kapital to Fifty Shades of Grey, books shape us and the world. This fascination inspired me to write two comic novels about books, The King of Pain, which contains a book-within-in-a-book, and most recently, The Seductive Lady Vanessa of Manhattanshire, a satirical romance inspired by Don Quixote.  

Seth's book list on book-within-a-book format

Seth Kaufman Why Seth loves this book

The 400+ year-old urtext of metafiction, Cervantes’ masterpiece is directly responsible for my own novel. But its influence on literature is incalculable. The story of a man driven mad by the spellbinding power of romantic books about knights and the women they serve, Don Quixote is more than just a comedy. While serving up one misadventure after another, Cervantes pokes fun at books about chivalry, poetry, authorial ego, and the very process of writing a book. Subjects that still consume us today, from book burning to censorship to plagiarism, also get their time in the spotlight. One note of caution: many readers find Don Quixote too long. Open it up and start reading anywhere, it is a bible of another sort.  

By Miguel De Cervantes , John Ormsby (translator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Don Quixote, fully titled The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha (Spanish: El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha), is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. It follows the adventures of Alonso Quijano, an hidalgo who reads so many chivalric novels that he decides to set out to revive chivalry, under the name Don Quixote. He recruits a simple farmer, Sancho Panza, as his squire, who often employs a unique, earthly wit in dealing with Don Quixote's rhetorical orations on antiquated knighthood. Don Quixote is met by the world as it is, initiating such themes as…


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Book cover of That First Heady Burn

That First Heady Burn by George Bixley,

Don’t mess with the hothead—or he might just mess with you. Slater Ibáñez is only interested in two kinds of guys: the ones he wants to punch, and the ones he sleeps with. Things get interesting when they start to overlap. A freelance investigator, Slater trolls the dark side of…

Book cover of Pale Fire

Janice MacDonald Author Of Sticks and Stones

From my list on a very different view of university life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a Western Canadian nerd, and when I got to university, I knew that I had “found my people,” and I spent half my adult life studying and then teaching on various campuses. Universities are often as large as small cities, and each has its own particular atmosphere. What some folks don’t realize is that campuses have such a wide variety of niches and specialties that you could write a whole series featuring new facets of post-secondary life in each book. And, of course, that is what I did with my first detective series, the Randy Craig Mysteries.

Janice's book list on a very different view of university life

Janice MacDonald Why Janice loves this book

Ostensibly an academic dissertation, the footnotes begin to reveal a far wilder and manic story happening to the writer.

There are trilingual puns, verbal pratfalls, and all the wild humour that Nabokov is known for throughout this book. Of all the metafiction I have ever read, this book made me feel as if I’d been given something rather than just had a big literary joke played on me.

By Vladimir Nabokov ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Pale Fire as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A darkly comic novel of suspense, literary idolatry and one-upmanship, and political intrigue—and "one of the great works of art of this century" (Mary McCarthy)—from one of the leading writers of the 20th century.

In Pale Fire Nabokov offers a cornucopia of deceptive pleasures: a 999-line poem by the reclusive genius John Shade; an adoring foreword and commentary by Shade's self-styled Boswell, Dr. Charles Kinbote; a darkly comic novel of suspense, literary idolatry and one-upmanship, and political intrigue.


Book cover of Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto

Trista Harris Author Of Future Good: How to Use Futurism to Save the World

From my list on dreamers who want to shape the future.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been obsessed with making the future a better place since I was 8 years old and spent my evenings hanging out in a local community center. I realized that things got better when people who cared showed up for each other. I am now a philanthropic futurist and have spent my career dedicated to helping visionary leaders build a more beautiful and equitable future. All of the books on this list have inspired me, and I hope they inspire you, too. If we all do our small part, we can ensure we have a Star Trek future and not a Hunger Games future.

Trista's book list on dreamers who want to shape the future

Trista Harris Why Trista loves this book

This book completely shifted my perspective on rest and its importance in my life. I am a recovering hustle-and-grind girl. I learned that great ideas and true creativity flourish when we are well-rested and when we give ourselves the space to make new connections.

Hersey’s book showed me that rest is not just about sleep—it’s a form of resistance against capitalism and white supremacy. I loved how she emphasized rest as a foundation for healing and justice, reminding us that we are enough just as we are. This book made me rethink my relationship with productivity and why it’s essential to reclaim rest as a human right. I now see rest as a radical act of self-care and community care.

By Tricia Hersey ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Rest Is Resistance as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

***INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER***

Disrupt and push back against capitalism and white supremacy. In this book, Tricia Hersey, aka The Nap Bishop, encourages us to connect to the liberating power of rest, daydreaming, and naps as a foundation for healing and justice.

What would it be like to live in a well-rested world? Far too many of us have claimed productivity as the cornerstone of success. Brainwashed by capitalism, we subject our bodies and minds to work at an unrealistic, damaging, and machine‑level pace –– feeding into the same engine that enslaved millions into brutal labor for its own…


Book cover of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing

LaTonya M. Summers Author Of Black Again: Losing and Reclaiming My Racial Identity

From my list on restoring black women’s mental wellness.

Why am I passionate about this?

Black women's mental wellness is important to me because my racial identity was interrupted by racial assimilation. There was a period of time where I thought passing for white would lead me to the success I sought. I learned that adopting white norms and values as my own was psychologically harmful, and these books led to racial restoration and mental well-being. I am an associate professor of clinical mental health, and I teach my students to assess, identify, and promote healthy racial identity development. I hope readers who are on their journeys will find these books helpful. 

LaTonya's book list on restoring black women’s mental wellness

LaTonya M. Summers Why LaTonya loves this book

This book explains a lot of my automatic behaviors—things I knew were a thing but didn’t know why they were there. For example, I change the way I speak around white people or step onto the shoulder when a white person is walking toward me on the sidewalk.

Since reading about the origins of these ingrained behaviors, I practice not doing them. It’s crazy how hard they are to overcome. 

By Joy Degruy ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the 16th century, the beginning of African enslavement in the Americas until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment and emancipation in 1865, Africans were hunted like animals, captured, sold, tortured, and raped. They experienced the worst kind of physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual abuse. Given such history, isn't it likely that many of the enslaved were severely traumatized? And did the trauma and the effects of such horrific abuse end with the abolition of slavery?

Emancipation was followed by one hundred more years of institutionalized subjugation through the enactment of Black Codes and Jim Crow laws, peonage, convict leasing,…


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Book cover of My Book Boyfriend

My Book Boyfriend by Kathy Strobos,

Lily loves her community garden. Rupert wants to bulldoze it. When feelings grow, will they blossom or turn to rubble?

"It literally had everything! - Bookworm Characters - Humor - Banter - Swoon-worthy lines."  - Book Reviewer.

Book cover of The City and Its Uncertain Walls

Erika Rummel Author Of What They Said About Luisa

From my list on authenticity and truth with a capital T.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a professional historian and have published both nonfiction and fiction. I present research in my academic books and spin that research into stories in my novels, but sometimes I wonder whether it doesn’t come out to the same thing–I interpret the evidence in light of my own experiences and look at it through the narrow lens of contemporary values. Is that so very different from making it up? That’s why I like to write (and read) novels that inquire into the nature of our conceptions and raise the question of whether there is such a thing as Truth with a capital T. 

Erika's book list on authenticity and truth with a capital T

Erika Rummel Why Erika loves this book

This is another book that deals with the question of truth, of our true selves. This enigmatic novel meanders from the real to an unreal world without ever explaining it, because the wall between those worlds resembles “our brain, divided into right and left”.

This is not the magic realism of Garcia Marquez. It demands a patient reader. It doesn’t have a lot of action, but it’s full of magic moments.

By Haruki Murakami , Philip Gabriel (translator) ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

STEP INTO THE CITY

When a young man's girlfriend mysteriously vanishes, he sets his heart on finding the imaginary city where her true self lives. His search will lead him to take a job in a remote library with mysteries of its own.

When he finally makes it to the walled city, a shadowless place of horned beasts and willow trees, he finds his beloved working in a different library - a dream library. But she has no memory of their life together in the other world and, as the lines between reality and fantasy start to blur, he must…


Book cover of A Gentleman in Moscow
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Book cover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

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Interested in African-American men, satire, and African Americans?

Satire 186 books
African Americans 841 books