Here are 19 books that Heartwood fans have personally recommended if you like Heartwood. 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 Memorial Days

fran1

From Fran's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Fran loves this book

Memorial Days is of course sad, but it is also a tribute to Tony Horwitz and if you are familiar with his books you will appreciate this.

I really loved this book. It has encouraged me to finish those books of theirs which I have on my TBR.

By Geraldine Brooks ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A heartrending and beautiful memoir of sudden loss and a journey to peace, from the bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Horse.

Many cultural and religious traditions expect those who are grieving to step away from the world. In contemporary life, we are more often met with red tape and to-do lists. This is exactly what happened to Geraldine Brooks when her partner of more than three decades, Tony Horwitz - just sixty years old and, to her knowledge, vigorous and healthy - collapsed and died on a Washington, D. C. sidewalk.

After spending their early years together in conflict zones…


If you love Heartwood...

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 The Night Watchman

Elizabeth Cook

From Elizabeth's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Elizabeth loves this book

This book opened up a whole new world to me that I was unfamiliar with

By Louise Erdrich ,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked The Night Watchman as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE IN FICTION 2021

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

It is 1953. Thomas Wazhushk is the night watchman at the first factory to open near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota. He is also a prominent Chippewa Council member, trying to understand a new bill that is soon to be put before Congress. The US Government calls it an 'emancipation' bill; but it isn't about freedom - it threatens the rights of Native Americans to their land, their very identity. How can he fight this betrayal?

Unlike most of the girls on the reservation, Pixie…


Book cover of The Frozen River

Peggy Joque Williams Author Of Braving the Dawn

From Peggy's 3 favorite reads in 2026.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Peggy's 3 favorite reads in 2026

Peggy Joque Williams Why Peggy loves this book

A wonderful piece of historical fiction with a strong female character.

By Ariel Lawhon ,

Why should I read it?

47 authors picked The Frozen River as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • GMA BOOK CLUB PICK • AN NPR BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène comes a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.

"Fans of Outlander’s Claire Fraser will enjoy Lawhon’s Martha, who is brave and outspoken when it comes to protecting the innocent. . . impressive."—The Washington Post

"Once again, Lawhon works storytelling magic with a real-life heroine." —People Magazine

Maine, 1789: When…


If you love Amity Gaige...

Book cover of AcClaim

AcClaim by Jean Thesquare,

AcClaim is a dark, high-society romance about Beatrix Winslow-Hale, a successful romance author who believes desire can be negotiated and controlled—until enigmatic billionaire Dorian Wolker crosses the line between consensual surrender and violation. Publicly humiliated and emotionally shattered, Beatrix turns to Manon de Rochemaure, her fiercely loyal best friend and…

Book cover of Orbital

jcb

From Christopher's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Christopher loves this book

A beautiful book where nothing happens, but all the important topics in life are covered.

By Samantha Harvey ,

Why should I read it?

15 authors picked Orbital as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024

Winner of the 2024 Hawthornden Prize
Shortlisted for the 2024 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction
Shortlisted for the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction

A singular new novel from Betty Trask Prize-winner Samantha Harvey, Orbital is an eloquent meditation on space and life on our planet through the eyes of six astronauts circling the earth in 24 hours

"Ravishingly beautiful." — Joshua Ferris, New York Times

A slender novel of epic power, Orbital deftly snapshots one day in the lives of six women and men traveling through space. Selected for one of…


Book cover of Raising Hare

Marianne C. Bohr Author Of When Paris Whispers

From Marianne's 3 favorite reads in 2026.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Marianne's 3 favorite reads in 2026

Marianne C. Bohr Why Marianne loves this book

I didn't expect a book about a woman and a hare to stay with me the way this one has. It's a quiet, tender story of two beings learning to trust each other, with no demands on either side, and each life is richer for it. The writing is lovely. I was captivated by the author's close, patient observations of the hare, the kind of details you only notice when you've stopped long enough to really look. Woven through them are her reflections on how we live, where we belong in the natural world, and the responsibility that comes with the freedom to choose. I closed the book feeling a little more attentive to the wild things around me. A lovely, thought-provoking read.

By Chloe Dalton ,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked Raising Hare as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024
A TIMES and SPECTATOR BEST BOOK OF 2024
A WATERSTONES BEST NATURE WRITING BOOK OF 2024
A BOOKSHOP.ORG NATURAL HISTORY GIFT BOOK 2024

'A beautiful book' - ANGELINA JOLIE
'A glorious book - for its warmth, its precision, its joy' - KATHERINE RUNDELL
'I will be recommending this to everyone' - MATT HAIG

__

Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and lolloped around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your…


Book cover of My Friends

Christine Herbert Author Of The Color of the Elephant

From Christine's 3 favorite reads in 2026.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Christine's 3 favorite reads in 2026

Christine Herbert Why Christine loves this book

An engrossing, multifaceted story about a group of friends that learn to create a “found family” to help them rise above their hardscrabble lives. As the years pass and life gets in the way—fame, fortune, brushes with the law, death—the friends find their way back to one another in order to make room for an unexpected addition to their ride-or-die group.

As a writer, Backman is an alchemist; he has a way of taking prickly characters (angsty teenagers, grumpy old men, etc.) and transmuting them on the page into someone you look forward to spending time with and grieve to part from when the story ends. My Friends is a touching story of humanity and the power of friendship...with a generous dose of fart jokes thrown in to keep the “human” in humanity front and center.

By Fredrik Backman ,

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked My Friends as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

A Most Anticipated Book of 2025: Goodreads •USA TODAY • Marie Claire • BookPage • Literary Lifestyle •Book Riot •Sunset Magazine • Totally Booked with Zibby Owens * A Fallon Book Club Pick

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Anxious People returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a complete stranger's life twenty-five years later.

Most people don't even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of…


If you love Heartwood...

Book cover of The Silent Women

The Silent Women by Tara Lynn Masih,

"A profound and often affecting story of resilience." —Kirkus Reviews

The Silent Women, an extraordinary novel inspired by the real women of Oak Ridge, Tennessee—the Manhattan Project’s “Secret City," where thousands kept the deadliest secret of World War II—is a sweeping, absorbing, and deeply human story about chosen…

Book cover of Flashlight

Anthony Schneider Author Of Repercussions

From Anthony's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Anthony's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Anthony Schneider Why Anthony loves this book

A bold, big encompassing work of fiction, spanning many years and moving from Japan to America to North Korea. The characters are vivid and original, and the story goes to deep and unpredictable places physically and emotionally. Full of surprises, packed with humanity and history, it's a book you'll think about long after you read the last page.

By Susan Choi ,

Why should I read it?

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


Book cover of Circle of Days

francine corry

From francine's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why francine loves this book

I loved the historical setting and that I learned something about Stonehenge.

By Ken Follett ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Circle of Days as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Beneath the Moon and Long Dead Stars

Anthony Schneider Author Of Repercussions

From Anthony's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Anthony's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Anthony Schneider Why Anthony loves this book

A wonderful collection of short shorts (twenty-three stories in one slim, shimmering volume). Wallace packs each story with humor and pathos, love, longing and human yearning. There's a lot of wisdom in these shorts, a cast of memorable characters and loads of beautiful writing. An innovative and memorable collection from a master of the form.

By Daniel Wallace ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Beneath the Moon and Long Dead Stars as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the dazzling flash fictions of Beneath the Moon and Long Dead Stars, lives are altered in what appear to be minor moments: an unlatched lock, an old photo, a light left on too long. But in the care of acclaimed novelist Daniel Wallace, those details constellate into something mysterious and magical. The drifter who is mistaken for a movie star, an old woman who sits on the roof of her house to smoke her secret cigarette, a man building a coffin for his wife— the men and women in these stories, hungry for connection, often find that everything hangs…


If you love Amity Gaige...

Book cover of Broken Boots, Redeemed Soul: A Veteran’s War with Sin and Salvation

Broken Boots, Redeemed Soul: A Veteran’s War with Sin and Salvation by Brian Lofton,

Broken Boots, Redeemed Soul: A Veteran’s War with Sin and Salvation, is a raw and faith-centered memoir about life after military service—and the internal battles many never see. Brian Lofton shares his journey through addiction, shame, identity loss, and spiritual distance, revealing how the hardest struggles often begin after…

Book cover of Amity

fran1

From Fran's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Fran loves this book

Coleman is a unique character an erudite, talkative and yet anxious and fearful young man who is exceeding loyal to both Oliver, his dog and June, his sister.

Amity is a story of a quest and journey which highlights family ties of many kinds. I didn't feel the emotional impact in this one as I did in Sweetness of Water, but I really loved the characters and have a soft spot in my heart for Oliver.

By Nathan Harris ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The highly anticipated second novel from the author of the Booker-longlisted THE SWEETNESS OF WATER

'Amity is deeply adventurous and astonishingly beautiful' Robert Jones, Jr., author of The Prophets
'A writer of great lyricism and power' i paper
'Harris will win over the hearts of many readers' Financial Times
'Masterful' Oprah Winfrey

Louisiana, 1869. The Civil War might be over, but former slaves Coleman and June have yet to find the freedom they've been promised. Two years ago, the siblings were separated when their old master, Mr Harper, took June away on a hair-brained scheme to Mexico, to escape the…


Book cover of Memorial Days
Book cover of The Night Watchman
Book cover of The Frozen River

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