Here are 97 books that Hygiene and the Assassin fans have personally recommended if you like Hygiene and the Assassin. 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 Carrie

Charlene Challenger Author Of Sister Dragon

From my list on boundary-pushing badass.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m tired of playing by the rules of a game I’m not allowed to win. I’m tired of being bound to a standard of being in the world that we know isn’t working but are too scared to confront head-on. I’m tired of being told to beat around the bush when pruning it, uprooting it, or burning it altogether would serve it better. I reject the tenet of white supremacy that claims a constant right to comfort. Brave and honest discourse matters. Our commitment to each other and to the future of every single creature on this earth matters. Bring on the badasses who love passionately, laugh loudly, and live bravely.

Charlene's book list on boundary-pushing badass

Charlene Challenger Why Charlene loves this book

You know what any misfit with telekinetic powers should do to her enemies after years of torment culminate into a single act of spiteful cruelty? Carrie does! I love how she gains awareness and control of her abilities. I love how she wields her power against her nasty, dim-witted bullies.

I cheer when she locks the door and slowly walks away, leaving them to their fate. I love how she takes revenge on her vicious mother in a way that flies in the face of her vindictive fundamentalist beliefs. A sweet-natured girl, maligned by an entire community, taking a final, violent stand against unbridled ignorance? BADASS.

By Stephen King ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Stephen King's legendary debut, about a teenage outcast and the revenge she enacts on her classmates, is a Classic. CARRIE is the novel which set him on the road to the Number One bestselling author King is today.

Carrie White is no ordinary girl.

Carrie White has the gift of telekinesis.

To be invited to Prom Night by Tommy Ross is a dream come true for Carrie - the first
step towards social acceptance by her high school colleagues.

But events will take a decidedly macabre turn on that horrifying and endless night as she
is forced to exercise her…


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Book cover of The High House

The High House by James Stoddard,

The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.

The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.

Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…

Book cover of Half of a Yellow Sun

Charlene Challenger Author Of Sister Dragon

From my list on boundary-pushing badass.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m tired of playing by the rules of a game I’m not allowed to win. I’m tired of being bound to a standard of being in the world that we know isn’t working but are too scared to confront head-on. I’m tired of being told to beat around the bush when pruning it, uprooting it, or burning it altogether would serve it better. I reject the tenet of white supremacy that claims a constant right to comfort. Brave and honest discourse matters. Our commitment to each other and to the future of every single creature on this earth matters. Bring on the badasses who love passionately, laugh loudly, and live bravely.

Charlene's book list on boundary-pushing badass

Charlene Challenger Why Charlene loves this book

When the world ends, who will you turn to? For me, I’d turn to someone like Kainene in this book. Kainene isn’t beautiful, doesn’t play by the ridiculous rules of the feminine mystique, and is righteously bitter about a lot of things in her life. She’s also a guileless straight shooter people can count on, to tell the truth in any situation. That truth is never sugar-coated; it’s exactly what the characters in her life need to hear.

I love the bravery of her choice to keep her innermost thoughts private. I admire how steadfast she holds on to her commitment to what she believes will be a better future.

By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked Half of a Yellow Sun as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE BAILEYS PRIZE BEST OF THE BEST

Winner of the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 2007, this is a heartbreaking, exquisitely written literary masterpiece

This highly anticipated novel from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is set in Nigeria during the 1960s, at the time of a vicious civil war in which a million people died and thousands were massacred in cold blood.

The three main characters in the novel are swept up in the violence during these turbulent years. One is a young boy from a poor village who is employed at a university lecturer's house. The other is a…


Book cover of The Lying Life of Adults

Charlene Challenger Author Of Sister Dragon

From my list on boundary-pushing badass.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m tired of playing by the rules of a game I’m not allowed to win. I’m tired of being bound to a standard of being in the world that we know isn’t working but are too scared to confront head-on. I’m tired of being told to beat around the bush when pruning it, uprooting it, or burning it altogether would serve it better. I reject the tenet of white supremacy that claims a constant right to comfort. Brave and honest discourse matters. Our commitment to each other and to the future of every single creature on this earth matters. Bring on the badasses who love passionately, laugh loudly, and live bravely.

Charlene's book list on boundary-pushing badass

Charlene Challenger Why Charlene loves this book

My aunt was a misunderstood social misfit who rode a bucking bronco bareback and held on for as long as she could. One of the two central characters of this book is just like the woman I remember my aunt being–brash, unapologetic, a little self-destructive, and possessing an unshakeable faith in a humanity that didn’t understand or deserve her.

I wish she wasn’t taken from me. I wish I knew her better. When I read this book, I can feel her spirit. 

By Elena Ferrante , Ann Goldstein (translator) ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Lying Life of Adults as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"AN INCENDIARY PORTRAIT OF THE VOLCANIC CURRENTS OF SEX AND BETRAYAL."-Mail on Sunday

THE INTERNATIONAL No. 1 BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF MY BRILLIANT FRIEND

A BBC2 Between The Covers Book Club Pick

BRITISH BOOK AWARDS 2021 - SHORTLISTED FOR FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR

Soon to be a NETFLIX original series

18M OF ELENA FERRANTE'S BOOKS SLOD WORLDWIDE


Giovanna's pretty face has changed: it's turning into the face of an ugly, spiteful adolescent. But is she seeing things as they really are? Where must she look to find her true reflection and a life she can claim as her…


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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 A Telling of Stars

Charlene Challenger Author Of Sister Dragon

From my list on boundary-pushing badass.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m tired of playing by the rules of a game I’m not allowed to win. I’m tired of being bound to a standard of being in the world that we know isn’t working but are too scared to confront head-on. I’m tired of being told to beat around the bush when pruning it, uprooting it, or burning it altogether would serve it better. I reject the tenet of white supremacy that claims a constant right to comfort. Brave and honest discourse matters. Our commitment to each other and to the future of every single creature on this earth matters. Bring on the badasses who love passionately, laugh loudly, and live bravely.

Charlene's book list on boundary-pushing badass

Charlene Challenger Why Charlene loves this book

I really resonate with the main character of this book because the author maintains her humanity while making her the hero of the story.

Jaele is allowed to be angry, sad, brave, grief-stricken, optimistic, pessimistic, and every other feeling under the sun while she’s on her quest; she’s not confined to the constant heroic stoicism you get from, say, Jedis or Elves. At one point in the book (my favorite part, actually), she admits that she’s resentful of her grief. I love when stories allow their characters to show their ugly sides.  

By Caitlin Sweet ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

At eighteen, Jaele's life is shattered when her family is murdered by a band of Raiders, members of a long-accursed race. Overwhelmed by rage and grief, alone for the first time in her life, and fuelled by childhood myths of a warrior queen, Jaele sets out on an epic quest for vengeance. Traveling through a kaleidoscope of cultures, some compassionate, some fierce, all remarkably fantastic yet potently real, she sheds her innocence, but none of her experiences prepare her for her ultimate confrontation with her enemy.

A Telling of Stars was recommended by the jury panel of the 2004 Sunburst…


Book cover of Scoop

Chris Stowers Author Of Shoot, Ask...and Run!

From my list on inspiring a passion for travel and life as a foreign correspondent.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was lucky to always know what I wanted to do–namely, to travel and observe. Picking up a camera early in my travels allowed me to justify these aimless wanderings under the guise of "photographer." Making any money at it took a while longer! The books in my list have been faithful companions along the way, offering inspiration and comfort at such times–and they were many–those qualities were in short supply. Over the years, I have visited many of the places mentioned in their pages and experienced the ups and downs faced by their authors and characters. And their message deepens every time I re-read them.

Chris' book list on inspiring a passion for travel and life as a foreign correspondent

Chris Stowers Why Chris loves this book

I first encountered Evelyn Waugh’s classic novel Scoop in a backpacker guesthouse in Kowloon in 1987. Some traveler had left it behind, and I read it insatiably, cover to cover, and then started again from the beginning. It was even more hilarious and bitingly satirical on the second read and is the one book I’d take along were I banished to a desert island where luggage allowance was severely restricted.

First published in 1938, Scoop delivers a timeless and elegant roasting of the profession of journalism and self-important foreign correspondents. I have to admit–up to a point–that the bumbling exploits of William Boot, the book’s reluctant protagonist, played more than a small role in my own decision to both pick up a camera and put pen to paper!

By Evelyn Waugh ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Evelyn Waugh's brilliantly irreverent satire of Fleet Street, now in a beautiful hardback edition with a new Introduction by Alexander Waugh

Lord Copper, newspaper magnate and proprietor of The Daily Beast, has always prided himself on his intuitive flair for spotting ace reporters. That is not to say he has not made the odd blunder, however, and may in a moment of weakness make another. Acting on a dinner party tip from Mrs Algernon Stitch, he feels convinced that he has hit on just the chap to cover a promising little war in the African Republic of Ishmaelia. But for,…


Book cover of Deadline

Randy C. Dockens Author Of Rebellion in the Stones of Fire

From my list on stories about angels and heaven.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been fascinated by science fiction and by Biblical Scripture. That may seem dichotomous to some, but not to me. I have a passion for science and for Scripture because both bring understanding about our world from the microcosm to the macrocosm. My writings are a mixture of science and mystery with a science fiction feel and a Christian perspective. I like stories that show how truth arises even from the dark, confusing, and ambiguity of life to help one discover something about God they may not have considered before, and at the same time enjoy a fun, fast-paced, and exciting journey as they read.

Randy's book list on stories about angels and heaven

Randy C. Dockens Why Randy loves this book

This was quite an interesting take to see the relationship between those who have gone to heaven and those who are left behind. A tragic accident separates those who lived from those who died, but those in heaven are still able to look over the lives of their loved ones. This novel provides a lot for the reader to process and ponder as well as provide hope to those left behind suffering.

By Randy Alcorn ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The first book in the Ollie Chandler series, this rerelease of the Randy Alcorn bestseller is a heart-pounding murder mystery

When tragedy strikes those closest to him, Jake Woods must draw upon all his resources to uncover the truth about the suspicious accident. Soon he finds himself swept up in a murder investigation that is both complex and dangerous. Unaware of the threat to his own life, Jake is drawn in deeper and deeper as he desperately searches for the answers to the immediate mystery at hand and—ultimately—the deeper meaning of his own existence.

Deadline is a dramatic and vivid…


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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 Native Tongue

Richard Audry Author Of The Karma of King Harald

From my list on mysteries to tickle your funny bone.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since I was a kid, I've devoured books. But I have to be perfectly honest here and confess that my taste has always run to genre fiction. Mystery. Science fiction. Adventure. Fantasy. Suspense. That sort of thing. I’ve never been one for “serious” literature that addresses the miseries of modern life. Non-fiction, as well, is rarely on my reading docket. I prefer action…intrigue…humor. So when I started writing novels, that’s where I went. There are my three canine cozy mysteries, the first of which is noted below; and my historical mystery series. Under my real name, D. R. Martin, I wrote a ghost adventure trilogy. 

Richard's book list on mysteries to tickle your funny bone

Richard Audry Why Richard loves this book

If rolling on the floor laughing your ass off is your thing, then Carl Hiaasen is for you. This was my entry into whack-job Florida crime capers, and it still puts me in stitches.

The carousel of nuttiness starts spinning when two rare “blue-tongued voles” are nicked from Amazing Kingdom of Thrills, a low-rent theme park. Bouncing off each other is a crowd of madcap and/or menacing characters. The racketeer park owner. The two boneheaded thieves. An enviro-radical granny. An oversexed dolphin. A security chief hopped up on steroids. An actress who plays a goofy park critter. A gonzo former Florida governor turned eco-guerrilla. And, as the only normal person in sight, an ex-journo PR flak. Now, just climb aboard and hang on.

By Carl Hiaasen ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

From the New York Times bestselling author comes a novel in which dedicated, if somewhat demented, environmentalists battle sleazy real estate developers in the Florida Keys.

"Rips, zips, hurtles, keeping us turning the pages at breakfinger pace." —New York Times Book Review

When the precious clue-tongued mango voles at the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills on North Key Largo are stolen by heartless, ruthless thugs, Joe Winder wants to uncover why, and find the voles. Joe is lately a PR man for the Amazing Kingdom theme park, but now that the voles are gone, Winder is dragged along in their wake…


Book cover of Field of Blood

Brenda Chapman Author Of Blind Date: A Hunter and Tate Mystery

From my list on crime fiction with intriguing lead characters.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been addicted to reading mysteries and crime fiction since I was a kid, and I naturally fell into writing in these genres—I’m currently in the midst of penning my fourth series! There’s nothing better than discovering a new, well-written series and following along with interesting, complicated main characters over several books. These favourite recommendations of mine will take you to Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden, and my very own Canada without ever having to leave home. Hopefully, you’ll discover some new authors, and their main characters will bring you as much enjoyment as they’ve given me. 

Brenda's book list on crime fiction with intriguing lead characters

Brenda Chapman Why Brenda loves this book

I loved the main character Paddy Meehan’s voice in this series. Paddy is a lowly copygirl at a Glasgow newspaper with dreams of becoming an investigative journalist during a time when girls are expected to marry out of high school and have babies, not unlike the way things were when I entered the work world. Paddy is intelligent and driven and so outside the mold that her family and boyfriend, indeed the Scottish community, cannot understand her drive to be more than what society demands she should be. She’s someone I rooted for every step of the way as she navigates the old boys’ club in the 1980s and 1990s. Combine Paddy with Mina’s brilliant writing, realistic dialogue, and compelling plotlines, and this series is one to be savored. 

By Denise Mina ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'The most exciting crime writer to have emerged in Britain for years' Ian Rankin
'Denise Mina is Britain's best living crime writer' Sunday Express

FROM THE COSTA-SHORTLISTED BESTSELLING AUTHOR

In Glasgow, a child goes missing, taken from the front garden of his home. The investigation leads the police to the doors of two young boys.

Paddy Meehan has just started work at a local newspaper where she dreams of becoming an investigative journalist. Although everyone around her believes the boys acted on their own, she is certain there is more to it and begins to ask awkward questions.

But Paddy's…


Book cover of The Wicked Girls

Alexia Casale Author Of The Best Way to Bury Your Husband

From my list on a historic crime driving the current story.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always loved books where something in the past of the main storyline surges into its present, demanding that an old wrong be righted or an old mystery solved. It’s why my first degree was in Social and Political Sciences (Psychology major) instead of English Literature or Creative Writing: I knew that learning how to write would be useless if I didn’t understand the things I wanted to write about. The role of the past in shaping our present – our behaviours, sense of self, relationships – is endlessly fascinating, and stories that unpick this are often the ones that surprise me the most with their insight into the human condition.

Alexia's book list on a historic crime driving the current story

Alexia Casale Why Alexia loves this book

Vivid, surprising, and psychologically astute, The Wicked Girls stands out among a plethora of books with a similar premise.

There are no easy answers or pat solutions here. This is a book that asks interesting questions and offers a range of answers, through the characters, for readers to ponder. On the police procedural side, Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories treads a similar line, but Marwood’s protagonist is a journalist, which offers a less common ‘way in’ to the investigation along with a less familiar set of challenges.
[If you love Children’s fiction, check out the phenomenal Diana Wynne Jones’ Eight Days of Luke to match this theme (then, if you love it, Charmed Life and Howl’s Moving Castle), plus Jenny Nimmo’s The Rinaldi Ring and Berlie Doherty’s White Peak Farm.]

By Alex Marwood ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

“The suspense keeps the pages flying, but what sets this one apart is the palpable sense of onrushing doom.” —Stephen King, “The Best Books I Read This Year”

The Edgar Award-winning psychological thriller that asks the question: how well can you truly know anyone?

On a fateful summer morning in 1986, two eleven-year-old girls meet for the first time. By the end of the day, they will both be charged with murder. Twenty-five years later, journalist Kirsty Lindsay is reporting on a series of sickening attacks on young female tourists in a seaside vacation town when her investigation leads her…


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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 Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman

Joan D. Heiman Author Of Life with an Impossible Person: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Transformation

From my list on by women grieving the loss of a quirky partner.

Why am I passionate about this?

My mom handed me one of those little girl diaries with a lock and key when I was in third grade. I wrote my heart into those diaries until I needed more space and shifted to regular-sized notebooks. Writing is my way to know myself and make sense of my life. The journal I kept in the last months of my husband’s life helped me reassemble the trauma-blurred memories of his dying, and then, it supported my emotional rebirth during the year of intense grieving. It is with surprise and delight that I hear from readers who say I articulate their innermost emotions related to love and loss.

Joan's book list on by women grieving the loss of a quirky partner

Joan D. Heiman Why Joan loves this book

Without Reservations gave me hope following the death of my beloved husband of 37 years. Living with his unique and nontraditional worldview, I’d grown into and inhabited a wider, less conventional way of being than my suburban middle-class upbringing had prepared me for. But once he was gone, what and who was I going to be? Steinbach’s travelogue goes to many of the places my husband and I traveled in England and Europe, and that brought reminiscences of great pleasure. But it was her inner journeying in search of her soul that gave me the courage to embark on the inner travels toward self-discovery and the independence I faced in a newly widowed existence.

By Alice Steinbach ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Without Reservations as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

American journalist Alice Steinbach took a year off to live in four cities - Paris, Venice, London and Oxford - when she realized she had entered a new phase of life. Her sons had graduated from college; she had been divorced for a long time; she was a successful journalist. While there was nothing really wrong with her life, she felt restless. Could she live independently of her family, her friends, her career?
Steinbach searches for the answer to this provocative question firstly in Paris, where she finds a soul mate in a Japanese man; in Milan, where she befriends…


Book cover of Carrie
Book cover of Half of a Yellow Sun
Book cover of The Lying Life of Adults

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