Here are 12 books that How the Light Gets In fans have personally recommended if you like How the Light Gets In. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Watchers

Christopher Andrews Author Of Pulse of the Earth

From Christopher's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Sci-Fi lover Avid reader Amateur film-maker Board gamer Movie buff

Christopher's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Christopher Andrews Why Christopher loves this book

Technically a re-read from many, many moons ago, "Watcher" was every bit as good as I remembered. The primary reason I loved this book (again) was because of the genetically-enhanced golden retriever, Einstein.

Dean Koontz frequently features dogs in his works -- golden retrievers, in particular -- but in this instance, the dog is gifted with human-level intelligence, so Einstein was truly his own character alongside the humans, Travis and Nora. Perhaps more so.

If you like tense suspense/horror, it's worth your time. If you're a dog-lover, you really should give it a look.

By Dean Koontz ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The No.1 bestselling classic from Dean Koontz, the master of chilling suspense, that will thrill fans of Stephen King and the Odd Thomas series.

They escape from a secret government project: two mutant creatures, both changed utterly from the animals they once were. And no one who encounters them will ever be the same again.

A lonely widower, a ruthless assassin, a beautiful woman, a government agent.

Drawn together in a deadly hunt, all four are inexorably propelled towards a confrontation with an evil beyond human imagining.


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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 I Would Meet You Anywhere: A Memoir

Karen C.L. Anderson Author Of You Are Not Your Mother: Releasing Generational Trauma and Shame

From Karen's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Karen's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Karen C.L. Anderson Why Karen loves this book

I Would Meet You Anywhere is a heart-wide-open book...a compelling memoir about adoption, identity, mother-daughter relationships, and more. The author's deftness in portraying a daughter's primal need to be seen and known and accepted by her mother(s) brought me to tears of recognition. Brava!

By Susan Kiyo Ito ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked I Would Meet You Anywhere as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist

“Susan Kiyo Ito is like a surgeon operating on herself. She is delicate, precise, and at times cutting with her words. But it is all in service of her own healing and to encourage us all to be brave enough to do the same in our own stories.” —W. Kamau Bell

Growing up with adoptive nisei parents, Susan Kiyo Ito knew only that her birth mother was Japanese American and her father white. But finding and meeting her birth mother in her early twenties was only the beginning of her search for answers, history,…


Book cover of 11/22/63

Christina Dudley Author Of The Naturalist

From Christina's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Austen fangirl Regency author Romance writer Wisecracker

Christina's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Christina Dudley Why Christina loves this book

Stephen King is such an amazing writer, but if, like me, you don't read horror, your selection is limited. This incredibly inventive, incredibly researched, incredibly compelling book was one I couldn't stop talking about. My book club loved it too! And the ending--I couldn't guess how he was going to land that plane, but he did. Amazing.

By Stephen King ,

Why should I read it?

20 authors picked 11/22/63 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Now a major TV series from JJ Abrams and Stephen King, starring James Franco (Hulu US, Fox UK and Europe, Stan Australia, SKY New Zealand).

WHAT IF you could go back in time and change the course of history? WHAT IF the watershed moment you could change was the JFK assassination? 11.22.63, the date that Kennedy was shot - unless . . .

King takes his protagonist Jake Epping, a high school English teacher from Lisbon Falls, Maine, 2011, on a fascinating journey back to 1958 - from a world of mobile phones and iPods to a new world of…


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Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

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…

Book cover of Gone Girl

Leslie Liautaud Author Of Butterfly Pinned

From my list on beauty does not equal good.

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up in theatre, I was completely immersed in plays, which tend to be deep dives of the human psyche, and I latched on to those examinations like a dog with a bone. I’ve always loved the complexities of the human mind, specifically how we so desperately want to believe that anything beautiful, expensive, or exclusive must mean that the person, place, or thing is of more value. But if we pull back the curtain, and really take a raw look, we see that nothing is exempt from smudges of ugliness. It’s the ugliness, especially in regard to human character, that I find most fascinating. 

Leslie's book list on beauty does not equal good

Leslie Liautaud Why Leslie loves this book

I love love love an unreliable narrator! Especially when that narrator is a beautiful, elegant woman who turns out to have the ugliest soul imaginable. I think as a whole, our society tends to be extra afraid when they see conniving evil existing in a female’s mind, especially when she’s physically beautiful and well spoken.

At certain points in this book, I found myself weirdly rooting for Amy and chomping at the bit to see how far her “crazy” would take her. The twists and turns kept me racing through this book and left me wondering at the end, “What happens to them now?!”

By Gillian Flynn ,

Why should I read it?

33 authors picked Gone Girl as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE ADDICTIVE No.1 BESTSELLER AND INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON
OVER 20 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE
THE BOOK THAT DEFINES PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER

Who are you?
What have we done to each other?

These are the questions Nick Dunne finds himself asking on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they weren't made by him. And then there are the persistent calls on…


Book cover of The School for Good Mothers

Fran Hawthorne Author Of Her Daughter

From my list on mothers who risk losing their daughters.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a mother, and at one time, I was a single mother going through a very bitter divorce. I know what it's like to panic that your child will be in an accident, or that the other parent will kidnap the child (even if observers would say I'm overreacting). Looking back, my experience as a mother has permeated both my fiction and nonfiction writing in unplanned ways. Why does my second novel start with a mother kidnapping her own daughter? Why does the subtitle of my fourth nonfiction book cite "Parenting and Other Daily Dilemmas in an Age of Political Activism"? 

Fran's book list on mothers who risk losing their daughters

Fran Hawthorne Why Fran loves this book

For me, this novel combines the best of three sharply different types of books: It's a dystopian novel that paints an enthralling (and terrifying) portrait of an invented world. It's a page-turner.

And it's a story that hit some deep emotions in me. The basic narrative is that Frida, the harried and divorced mom of toddler Harriet, leaves Harriet alone while she dashes off to get herself a latte. Okay, that's stupid and risky, though Harriet is unharmed.

But in this book's world, that's enough to land Frida in a "reform school" from which it's almost impossible to prove yourself "perfect" enough to be released. As the story spiraled worse and worse, I couldn't believe this was happening.

I couldn't read another word; no, I couldn't put it down.

By Jessamine Chan ,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked The School for Good Mothers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
AN OBAMA'S 2022 SUMMER READING PICK

'A taut and propulsive take on the cult of motherhood and the notion of what makes a good mother. Destined to be feminist classic - it kept me up at night' PANDORA SYKES
'A haunting tale of identity and motherhood - as devastating as it is imaginative' AFUA HIRSCH
'Incredibly clever, funny and pertinent to the world we're living in at the moment' DAISY JOHNSON

'We have your daughter'

Frida Liu is a struggling mother. She remembers taking Harriet from her cot and changing her nappy. She remembers…


Book cover of Count the Ways

Fran Hawthorne Author Of Her Daughter

From my list on mothers who risk losing their daughters.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a mother, and at one time, I was a single mother going through a very bitter divorce. I know what it's like to panic that your child will be in an accident, or that the other parent will kidnap the child (even if observers would say I'm overreacting). Looking back, my experience as a mother has permeated both my fiction and nonfiction writing in unplanned ways. Why does my second novel start with a mother kidnapping her own daughter? Why does the subtitle of my fourth nonfiction book cite "Parenting and Other Daily Dilemmas in an Age of Political Activism"? 

Fran's book list on mothers who risk losing their daughters

Fran Hawthorne Why Fran loves this book

As the seemingly idyllic marriage between Eleanor and Cam unraveled, I kept wanting to scream at Eleanor.

Didn't she see what she was doing to her relationship with her kids, by either saying the wrong thing or doing nothing? Yes, it was because of Cam's carelessness that their son, Toby, was horribly injured in an accident, but why didn't she accept Cam's gestures of apology?

And when divorce became inevitable, why did she let Cam keep the farm that their three children loved? Why did she have to fight over every little thing with their elder daughter?

These characters were vividly real to me, and I felt like I was watching helplessly while the wrong person unfairly won the whole prize. 

By Joyce Maynard ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Count the Ways as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In her most ambitious novel to date, New York Times bestselling author Joyce Maynard returns to the themes that are the hallmarks of her most acclaimed work in a mesmerizing story of a family-from the hopeful early days of young marriage to parenthood, divorce, and the costly aftermath that ripples through all their lives

Eleanor and Cam meet at a crafts fair in Vermont in the early 1970s. She's an artist and writer, he makes wooden bowls. Within four years they are parents to three children, two daughters and a red-headed son who fills his pockets with rocks, plays the…


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Book cover of The Duke's Christmas Redemption

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…

Book cover of The Only One Left

Gerri Bauer Author Of At Home in Persimmon Hollow

From Gerri's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Sewing nerd Domestic history fan

Gerri's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Gerri Bauer Why Gerri loves this book

The Only One Left has a lot of twists and turns that kept me reading. I had checked out several reader reviews before picking up the book, and I was on high alert to look for clues as the story unfolded. I only guessed a few — a very few — and enjoyed every page and the surprises along the way. This is Gothic Suspense at its best. And it also shows you don’t need to include explicit sex or graphic violence to spice up a book. A great story wins every time. This one is a page-turner.

By Riley Sager ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Only One Left as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE BRAND NEW HEART-POUNDING GOTHIC THRILLER FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

Everyone believes that Lenora Hope is a mass murderer.

When the Hope family was massacred decades ago, she was the only one left after that tragic night.

Mute, paralysed and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora has never been able to tell her side of the story.

Until her new live-in caregiver Kit brings her a typewriter.

And with one working finger Lenora begins to type:

I want to tell you everything.

Book cover of How to Love Your Daughter

Fran Hawthorne Author Of Her Daughter

From my list on mothers who risk losing their daughters.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a mother, and at one time, I was a single mother going through a very bitter divorce. I know what it's like to panic that your child will be in an accident, or that the other parent will kidnap the child (even if observers would say I'm overreacting). Looking back, my experience as a mother has permeated both my fiction and nonfiction writing in unplanned ways. Why does my second novel start with a mother kidnapping her own daughter? Why does the subtitle of my fourth nonfiction book cite "Parenting and Other Daily Dilemmas in an Age of Political Activism"? 

Fran's book list on mothers who risk losing their daughters

Fran Hawthorne Why Fran loves this book

I was hooked by the unexpected opening sentence: "The first time I saw my granddaughters, I was standing across the street, didn't dare go any closer."

What had gone wrong? Why was a grandmother so estranged from her own grandchildren?

As the novel unspooled, it double-backed into other surprise twists, and the characters and motivations weren't as clear-cut as they'd seemed. Leah, the mother of the two granddaughters, wasn't being juvenile, impulsive, or heartless when she broke off contact with her parents. Yoella, the grandmother, wasn't as loving and innocent as she thinks she wasand how much does she realize, in fact?

I loved the way the book sometimes said more between the lines than in the actual words. 

By Hila Blum ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked How to Love Your Daughter as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE SAPIR PRIZE 2022 'A mesmerising, disquieting tale of family estrangement ... Unforgettable' OBSERVER 'A striking and memorable novel' MEG WOLITZER 'A stone-cold masterwork of psychological tension. Its final pages had me holding my breath' NEW YORK TIMES 'Hila Blum is my new favourite writer' LOUISE KENNEDY ------------------------------------------- What damage do we do in the blindness of love? Thousands of miles from her home, a woman stands on a dark street, peeking through well-lit windows at two little girls. They are the daughters of her only daughter, the grandchildren she's never met. At the centre of this mesmerising…


Book cover of To Die For

Dana Perry Author Of The Nowhere Girls

From my list on books that are ripped from the headlines by a headline writing journalist.

Why am I passionate about this?

I know a lot about “ripped from the headlines” news stories because I’ve been around a lot of news stories and headlines most of my life. I’m a longtime New York City journalist who has worked as a top editor at both the NY Post and the NY Daily News. Believe me, I’ve seen a lot of wild headlines in these places (e.g., Headless Body in Topless Bar!). So you can understand why I now like ripping from news headlines for fiction books as an author. 

Dana's book list on books that are ripped from the headlines by a headline writing journalist

Dana Perry Why Dana loves this book

I loved the movie with Nicole Kidman, and I loved the book by Joyce Maynard, too!

It’s not exactly a true factual account of how New Hampshire school teacher Pamela Smart got her teenage lover to murder her husband in 1990. But the book is clearly inspired by that sensational news event. Sex, murder, betrayal, adultery–this book has it all.

It's an even better fictional story than the real story it came from.  

By Joyce Maynard ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

"A seductive page-turner" about a murderously ambitious cable-news star by the New York Times-bestselling author of Labor Day (The New York Times Book Review).

Local weather reporter Suzanne Maretto craves nothing more than to transcend life at her suburban cable television news station and follow in the footsteps of her idol: Barbara Walters. When she concludes that her unglamorous husband is getting in the way of her dream of stardom, the solution seems obvious: Get rid of him. She seduces a fifteen-year-old admirer, Jimmy, and persuades him to do her dirty work. Mission accomplished, Suzanne takes to the airwaves in…


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Book cover of Old Man Country

Old Man Country by Thomas R. Cole,

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…

Book cover of Trust Me

Dana Perry Author Of The Nowhere Girls

From my list on books that are ripped from the headlines by a headline writing journalist.

Why am I passionate about this?

I know a lot about “ripped from the headlines” news stories because I’ve been around a lot of news stories and headlines most of my life. I’m a longtime New York City journalist who has worked as a top editor at both the NY Post and the NY Daily News. Believe me, I’ve seen a lot of wild headlines in these places (e.g., Headless Body in Topless Bar!). So you can understand why I now like ripping from news headlines for fiction books as an author. 

Dana's book list on books that are ripped from the headlines by a headline writing journalist

Dana Perry Why Dana loves this book

I love Hank Phillippi Ryan’s books, and I love big court trials, so it makes perfect sense that I loved this book.

Ryan–who is an award-winning TV journalist as well as a best-selling thriller author–started covering the murder trial of Casey Anthony, the mother who made headlines for allegedly killing her two-year-old daughter Caylee and hiding the body for months, with the idea of doing a non-fiction book about the case.

But, when Anthony was found not guilty by the jury, Ryan switched gears and came up with the idea of doing a mesmerizing fictional novel inspired by a case such as Casey Anthony. The result is a must-read!

By Hank Phillippi Ryan ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Trust Me is the chilling novel of psychological suspense and manipulation that award-winning author and renowned investigative reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan was born to write.
"Ryan dazzles―a must read."―Mary Kubica 
"Mesmerizing!" ―Lisa Gardner

**Now an AGATHA AWARD nominee** Best Contemporary Novel

"A knockout."―Booklist (starred review)Now a Criminal Element Best Book  of 2018! Now an >>AMAZON Editors' Pick BEST MYSTERY/THRILLER OF THE MONTH!BOOKLIST  Starred review!  "A knockout." Now a Criminal Element  Best of 2018! Now a REAL SIMPLE Magazine Top Thriller of 2018!Now a Book Bub Top Summer Thriller of 2018!Now a POPSUGAR  Top Summer Thriller!Now a CrimeReads Most Anticipated Thriller…


Book cover of Watchers
Book cover of I Would Meet You Anywhere: A Memoir
Book cover of 11/22/63

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