Here are 64 books that If I Survive You fans have personally recommended if you like
If I Survive You.
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I’ve had a passion for poetry since my early childhood, when I fondly remember listening to my elders recite—specifically, my teachers reading rhymes by Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss. As I grew into my adolescence and adulthood, my interest in literature only amplified with my introduction to works by Maya Angelou, R.H. Sin, and Rupi Kaur. Now, as a self-published poet and self-proclaimed enthusiast of the genre, I continue to spend my time browsing shelves, attending readings, and supporting writers/artists debuting work into the world. I hope you enjoy the books on my list.
I love this book for many reasons, but to start, I love that the title is a poetic metaphor, I love that the story is almost a hundred years old but still speaks to the rebellious spirit alive within young readers, and I love that the book is loosely based on Zora’s real life and the real place of Eatonville, Florida.
I love that readers get to experience the past and can envision their own future while reading this book. I laughed, cried, and found pieces of myself within the quotes snitched to this story.
Cover design by Harlem renaissance artist Lois Mailou Jones
When Janie, at sixteen, is caught kissing shiftless Johnny Taylor, her grandmother swiftly marries her off to an old man with sixty acres. Janie endures two stifling marriages before meeting the man of her dreams, who offers not diamonds, but a packet of flowering seeds ...
'For me, THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD is one of the very greatest American novels of the 20th century. It is so lyrical it should be sentimental; it is so passionate it should be overwrought, but it is instead a rigorous, convincing and dazzling piece…
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
I’m a fifth generation Miami native, and Miami is my bad boyfriend. The traffic, the construction, the daily drama, and let’s not forget hurricanes—it could all make you crazy. But Miamians are never dull. We are passionate about everything. I kinda love that about us. While you may associate my city with glitz and bling, what’s glamourous about Miami happens naturally. It’s the water, the glorious weather, fresh ripe mangoes and avocadoes right off the tree, and our vibrant multicultural community. With this Shepherd list, and with my cookbook Miami Vegan, I want to give you a delicious taste of the tropics, a taste of my home. Without the hurricanes.
What makes Miami the Magic City isn’t in Miami. It starts about 40 miles south. It’s the Florida Everglades, 1.5 million acres of wilderness spread across three counties.
It’s much more than its storied swamp and alligators. The Everglades is also tangled hardwood hammock, pine rockland, sawgrass prairie, cypress stand, and Florida Bay.
I kinda grew up in the Everglades and feel a kinship with Douglas, who understood, loved, and articulated the Everglades to the world. I wish I could write about it with half her poetic language and passion. Because as urban sprawl eats away at the Everglades, we’re at risk of losing it.
Reading Douglas’ book reminds me how precious it is. I wish I could make it mandatory reading for every developer and tourist.
Before 1947, when Marjory Stoneman Douglas named The Everglades a "river of grass," most people considered the area worthless. She brought the world's attention to the need to preserve The Everglades. In the Afterword, Michael Grunwald tells us what has happened to them since then. Grunwald points out that in 1947 the government was in the midst of establishing the Everglades National Park and turning loose the Army Corps of Engineers to control floods--both of which seemed like saviors for the Glades. But neither turned out to be the answer. Working from the research he did for his book, The…
Not so long ago, I got paid to roam Florida and send back quirky dispatches to waiting newspaper editors. I’m fourth-generation, and like many Floridians, I have a love-hate relationship with my home state. I love the exotic beauty, the tumultuous weather, and the “end-of-the-road” mentality of the Sunshine State, but I hate the sprawl, the traffic and the “everything’s for-sale” greed that’s turning this once-pristine place into a steaming suburban parking lot. I enjoy books that capture the beauty, the strangeness, and the quirky characters who still haunt this pistol-shaped peninsula.
I met Lauren Groff at a book festival soon after this short story collection was released.
I was surprised that these dark and often jarring stories could come from the smiling, friendly women I encountered. As a Florida native, I love that she gets the descriptions and the scenery right. The weather and the wildlife are just as alive in these stories as the struggling humans. I’m thrilled that Groff is now living in Florida and has opened a bookstore in Gainesville.
From the universally acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of Fates and Furies and Matrix
Florida is a "superlative" book (Boston Globe), "frequently funny" (San Francisco Chronicle), "brooding, inventive and often moving" (NPR Fresh Air) --as Groff is recognized as "Florida's unofficial poet laureate, as Joan Didion was for California." (Washington Post)
In her thrilling new book, Lauren Groff brings the reader into a physical world that is at once domestic and wild—a place where the hazards of the natural world…
Coyote weather is the feral, hungry season, drought-stricken, and ready to catch fire. It’s 1967, and the American culture is violently remaking itself while the country is forcibly sending its young men to fight in a deeply unpopular war.
Jerry has stubbornly made no plans for the future because he…
I’m a fifth generation Miami native, and Miami is my bad boyfriend. The traffic, the construction, the daily drama, and let’s not forget hurricanes—it could all make you crazy. But Miamians are never dull. We are passionate about everything. I kinda love that about us. While you may associate my city with glitz and bling, what’s glamourous about Miami happens naturally. It’s the water, the glorious weather, fresh ripe mangoes and avocadoes right off the tree, and our vibrant multicultural community. With this Shepherd list, and with my cookbook Miami Vegan, I want to give you a delicious taste of the tropics, a taste of my home. Without the hurricanes.
Chef Norman Van Aken is one of the first chefs to celebrate South Florida’s delicious mix of cultures and cuisines and bring that party to the plate. He’s also an exuberant, wild writer and raconteur (I mean, the guy started out as a carnie, okay?).
While he’s perhaps best known for his seminal cookbook New American Cuisine, I prefer this more recent book, written with his son. Here Norman doesn’t go for cheffy, elaborate recipes—he presents Key West living and eating in all its laidback, sweaty, and slightly wacky splendor.
Recipes like Five Bros. Black Eye’d Pea Bollos, and Forbidden Fruit Cocktail are doable for most home cooks and give the tropical flavor of the Keys. So does his delicious storytelling. It’s like catching up with your favorite bro over a couple of beers..
Award-winning chef Norman Van Aken has been cooking in Florida for 40 years. My Key West Kitchen is his love letter to Key West, where he first found the passion to cook, and where the unique cultural makeup of the island influenced his cuisine today. Follow Chef Van Aken as he strolls through Key West, reminiscing and re-creating dishes from little joints" and restaurants both past and present. Organized by well-known Key West neighborhoods, the chapters include Duval and Downtown Crawlin'," Places in the Hoods," Places on the Water," and Around Town These Days." In each, Norman includes recipes for…
When my teenage daughter was going through an excruciatingly hard time, she taught me something that has stayed with me forever. She said, "Don't try to fix it, just listen." Maybe Tomorrow? is about that superpower. I'm the author of many books for children and young adults, and one professional development book for fellow teachers. I'm originally from Sweden, but grew up in Canada and Hong Kong. I made my way to Maine, USA, where I have spent all of my adult life so far. I have an Ed.M from the Harvard Graduate School of Education but think some my most enduring lessons have come from the students in my public school classrooms.
Jamaican American author/illustrator Rohan Henry, in a deceptively simple sweet book, illustrates the gift of true understanding and friendship. I first met Rohan at a book fair here in Maine, when we traded books - one of my early picture books (Dancing Feet) for his self-published The Perfect Gift. I happened to be having lunch with my agent the next day. I showed her this book and she sold the rights almost immediately. It's now out in several languages and is, in my estimation, the perfect gift.
In the tradition of Shel Silverstein's beloved stories, Jamaican artist Rohan Henry presents a simple and touching story of love and friendship. Leo and Lisa are long-time best friends and Leo wants to give her that one special gift to show her how he feels. The first leaf of autumn, the most delicate snowflake ever, an exquisite spring butterfly - but none of them endures. So Leo sets off in search of the perfect gift.With charming black-and-white illustrations accented with a second colour, the book conveys its message with simplicity and grace. Rohan has created a timeless parable of friendship…
Not so long ago, I got paid to roam Florida and send back quirky dispatches to waiting newspaper editors. I’m fourth-generation, and like many Floridians, I have a love-hate relationship with my home state. I love the exotic beauty, the tumultuous weather, and the “end-of-the-road” mentality of the Sunshine State, but I hate the sprawl, the traffic and the “everything’s for-sale” greed that’s turning this once-pristine place into a steaming suburban parking lot. I enjoy books that capture the beauty, the strangeness, and the quirky characters who still haunt this pistol-shaped peninsula.
A lot of my favorite Leonard books are set in Detroit, where he lived, but I’m particularly drawn to his books set in the Sunshine State.
I picked Rum Punch, because it inspired one of my favorite movies, Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. Leonard’s crooks are as colorful and often as likable as his good guys. In fact, what I love about Leonard is that all his characters have some good and bad blended together. His dialogue cracks like a loaded Luger, and his low-life tales are often laugh-out-loud funny.
From America's top writer of hardboiled crime, the novel that became Tarantino's hit film JACKIE BROWN
Jackie, a flight attendant with a serious side hustle, is about to get grounded...
She's just got busted smuggling large amounts of hot money on the Caribbean-Florida run, and now the Feds are pressuring her to turn informant - but Ordell Robbie, the highly dysfunctional arms-dealer she works for, is not getting any more functional. With the help of disillusioned bail bondsman Max Cherry, could she outsmart her pursuers and walk away from the whole wreckage, happy and rich in the process? In a…
Homeless following the death of his adoptive parents in a car crash and the subsequent loss of their farm tenancy, Seb decides to enrol as a residential student at the Asklepios Foundation, a College of Natural Medicine, boasting a sanctuary modelled on an ancient Greek healing temple. Spending a night…
I’ve been writing about the Mafia since the 1990s, when my cover story, The Mob on Wall Street, appeared in BusinessWeek magazine. My first book, Born to Steal, was an exposé on the Mafia on Wall Street. Since then, I’ve been following the subject closely, and my most recent book, on the Crazy Eddie scam, is consistent with that theme.
One of the best books I’ve read on the drug trade. This book examines how Cuban organized crime was in some respects like the Mafia, how it achieved dominance in cocaine by corruption as well by violence. A fantastic book!
I found that the narrative drew me in, as English always does in his books, as he provided fascinating portraits of the major characters.
I love including social issues and controversial topics in my plots. I love underdogs and the downtrodden. I enjoy unique and quirky characters with excellent, appropriate, and sometimes noir-ish voices. Twists and major reveals in genre books and movies are also very important to me. I’m not a subject matter expert in much of anything I write about (thank goodness for the internet), except for one novel yet to be published, which is a major catharsis for me.
According to the story, a certain “double whammy” fishing lure is guaranteed to produce outlandish success in pro bass fishing tournaments. The characters in this water-logged action/murder mystery were wonderful and outlandish, and there were many of them, part of Hiaasen’s appeal as an author.
This is an ensemble of crazy “Florida” people before “Florida man” became a thing. I loved the delivery, the slick prose, the humor, and the plot, and it made me read other novels by Hiaasen. It introduced me to one of the most memorable fictional characters I have ever read: Skink, no last name, a half-blind hermit, a roadkill delicacy aficionado, and an eco-terrorist. He perseveres through a lot on the way to becoming a great character in seven novels in the series.
"Follow the adventures of a news-photographer-turned-private-eye as he seeks truth, justice, and an affair with his ex-wife" (The New York Times) in this hilarious caper from bestselling author Carl Hiaasen.
R.J. Decker, star tenant of the local trailer park and neophyte private eye is fishing for a killer. Thanks to a sportsman's scam that's anything but sportsmanlike, there's a body floating in Coon Bog, Florida-and a lot that's rotten in the murky waters of big-stakes, large-mouth bass tournaments.
Here Decker will team up with a half-blind, half-mad hermit with an appetite for road kill; dare to kiss his ex-wife while…
I’m a historian who recently started writing historical fiction. A few years ago, while writing my most recent academic book about 19th C Dublin, I became frustrated with the limitations of what I felt I could write about. I had a lot of sense of the atmosphere of the city that didn’t really fit into the way an academic book is constructed. So, I ended up trying my hand at historical fiction, wanting to give a real sense of place that I felt to be true but which was also a product of my imagination. One of my favorite things about reading novels has always been this sense of place.
This book is the definition of atmospheric. You can almost taste the swampy air of the Florida Everglades as you wend your way through a landscape of ruthless chancers and escaped slaves. I love the sense of menace and mystery that Mathieson captures in this, as well as the deep sense of place.
I have never been to the Everglades, but I suspect that if I did, I’d be disappointed that it didn’t live up to the place of my imagination after reading this book. If you liked Where the Crawdads Sing, I urge you to try this book, which is much better written and more interesting!
Drawn from fragments of historical fact, Matthiessen's masterpiece brilliantly depicts the fortunes and misfortunes of Edgar J. Watson, a real-life entrepreneur and outlaw who appeared in the lawless Florida Everglades around the turn of the century.
Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS
by
Amy Carney,
When I was writing this book, several of my friends jokingly called it the Nazi baby book, with one insisting it would make a great title. Nazi Babies – admittedly, that is a catchy title, but that’s not exactly what my book is about. SS babies would be slightly more…
I am a multi-award-winning African Australian writer, and have a deep passion for stories by people of colour, stories that engage with difference. I write across genres and forms, and my award-winning works are mostly Afrocentric. I am especially curious about unique voices in black speculative fiction in transformative stories of culture, diversity, climate change, writing the other, and betwixt.
The tales in Tananarive Due’s The Wishing Pool and Other Stories have a certain linger and enchantment that touch the reader across many levels.
It casts Black protagonists with revolutionary focus in the everyday, in poignant tellings deeply engraved with humanity and what else. Due journeys the reader across a personal odyssey infused with Black horror real as touch.
In her first new book in seven years, Tananarive Due further cements her status as a leading innovator in Black horror and Afrofuturism; featuring the 2023 World Fantasy Award–winning story, “Incident at Bear Creek Lodge”!
“In these 14 powerhouse stories, Due probes history, the grim present moment, and not so far-flung futures, delivering an expansive collection that still hits close to home . . . There are no false notes; every piece is a study in tension, showcasing Due's mastery at balancing action, suspense, and emotion. Centering Black characters and often Black experiences, this is a standout in both Black…
