Here are 100 books that In Black and White fans have personally recommended if you like In Black and White. 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 Talking Law

V. Charles Ward Author Of Legal Profession: Is It For You?: A No-Nonsense Guide to a Career in the Law

From my list on becoming a lawyer in the UK.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a lawyer for more than 50 years and I love what I do. I also want to share my enthusiasm for what I regard as the world’s most exciting profession, where every day is a little different. I am also a legal writer. But I don’t just write for other lawyers. I want to make the law accessible to everyone. That includes anyone who may be thinking seriously about a legal career but has yet to make the leap.

V. Charles' book list on becoming a lawyer in the UK

V. Charles Ward Why V. Charles loves this book

In one respect, entry into the UK legal profession was more accessible when I qualified in the 1970s than it is today. Back in the seventies, my legal training was grant-funded. So I didn’t have to worry about money. But that’s nothing compared to the barriers faced by many women whom, until 1919, were not even allowed to train as lawyers. Barrister Penni’s book contains inspirational first-hand accounts from women, from many backgrounds, who have overcome challenges to forge successful legal careers.

By Sally S-J Penni ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A book from Women in the Law UK.From the back cover: In this book, Sally Penni reviews the 100 years that have passed since the Sex Disqualification Removal Act 1919. She examines the past, celebrates the present and takes a long look at the challenges still facing women in the legal profession. Talking Law offers wellbeing and career advice in a series of interviews that Sally has conducted with woman and men who are working in the legal profession a hundred years after 1919.Sally offers a snapshot in time of how far women have come - and how far there…


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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 The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken

V. Charles Ward Author Of Legal Profession: Is It For You?: A No-Nonsense Guide to a Career in the Law

From my list on becoming a lawyer in the UK.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a lawyer for more than 50 years and I love what I do. I also want to share my enthusiasm for what I regard as the world’s most exciting profession, where every day is a little different. I am also a legal writer. But I don’t just write for other lawyers. I want to make the law accessible to everyone. That includes anyone who may be thinking seriously about a legal career but has yet to make the leap.

V. Charles' book list on becoming a lawyer in the UK

V. Charles Ward Why V. Charles loves this book

This anonymously written and entertaining book will tell you what your barrister is really thinking, behind the polite smile and measured language, when they are defending you against a criminal charge. An insider’s view of the UK criminal justice system and its failings. Ever wondered why there are so many miscarriages of justice? Not just those which make the headlines. The writer contrasts the professionalism of the crown court trial, with its judge and jury, with the wild west of the magistrates’ court, in which more than 91% of UK criminal prosecutions begin and end.

By The Secret Barrister ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

An anonymous barrister's darkly comic and moving first-hand account of life in the legal system, and how it's failing us all.

The Sunday Times number one bestseller.
Winner of the Books are My Bag Non-Fiction Award.
Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year.
Shortlisted for Specsavers Non-Fiction Book of the Year.

'Eye-opening, funny and horrifying' - Observer

You may not wish to think about it, but one day you or someone you love will almost certainly appear in a criminal courtroom. You might be a juror, a victim, a witness or - perhaps through no fault of your own -…


Book cover of Letters to a Law Student

V. Charles Ward Author Of Legal Profession: Is It For You?: A No-Nonsense Guide to a Career in the Law

From my list on becoming a lawyer in the UK.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a lawyer for more than 50 years and I love what I do. I also want to share my enthusiasm for what I regard as the world’s most exciting profession, where every day is a little different. I am also a legal writer. But I don’t just write for other lawyers. I want to make the law accessible to everyone. That includes anyone who may be thinking seriously about a legal career but has yet to make the leap.

V. Charles' book list on becoming a lawyer in the UK

V. Charles Ward Why V. Charles loves this book

The title of this book reminds me of a series of short articles which I read during my own lawyer training, more than 50 years ago and which was titled, "Twelve Letters to an Articled Clerk". It was those letters that gave me practical tips which I have carried with me throughout my career. So I was particularly interested to see a book with a similar title. But there the similarity ends. The letters in this book, which are written by university lecturer ‘Nick’ to aspiring law student ‘Jess’, contains the serious stuff which any would-be law student needs to know before embarking on their journey of legal education. Again, it is about practical tips to get the best out of that legal education.

By Nicholas J. McBride ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Letters to a Law Student as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What does it take to succeed as a law student? This book will show you how.



Voted one of the top 6 books that all future law students should read by The Guardian's studying law website*, Letters to a Law Student is packed full of practical advice and helpful answers to the most common questions about studying law at University across every stage of taking, or thinking about taking, a law degree.



Discover:

* Whether reading law at University is the right thing for you;

* What law students do;

* How to get the best marks in exams;

*…


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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 The Successful Law Student: An Insider's Guide to Studying Law

V. Charles Ward Author Of Legal Profession: Is It For You?: A No-Nonsense Guide to a Career in the Law

From my list on becoming a lawyer in the UK.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a lawyer for more than 50 years and I love what I do. I also want to share my enthusiasm for what I regard as the world’s most exciting profession, where every day is a little different. I am also a legal writer. But I don’t just write for other lawyers. I want to make the law accessible to everyone. That includes anyone who may be thinking seriously about a legal career but has yet to make the leap.

V. Charles' book list on becoming a lawyer in the UK

V. Charles Ward Why V. Charles loves this book

For me, this provides an easy and informative read for someone who has made a decision to go into a legal career and wants to know more about how to get there. The authors write from their own experience as former law students and admit that there are things they might have done differently, such as spending less time at the pub. Because of its easy narrative, this would be the first book I would read about qualifying as a lawyer, before moving on to the heavy stuff.

By Imogen Moore , Craig Newbery-Jones ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The Successful Law Student: An Insider's Guide to Studying Law is the ultimate companion for all prospective and current law students. Packed full of insights, advice and perspectives from current and past law students it is the only student guide to offer you the inside track on how to make the most of your law degree and your time at university.

The Successful Law Student: An Insider's Guide to Studying Law is perfect for you whether you're taking a one-, two-, three- or four-year degree course or planning to take a year abroad, whether you're a full-time, part-time, or mature…


Book cover of Three Bullets

Peter Kalu Author Of One Drop

From my list on bleak urban futures that give you a sense of hope.

Why am I passionate about this?

I spent most of my childhood hiding under the table reading science fiction and fantasy books to avoid having to communicate with the weird people claiming to be my family up in the world above. After a while, the local library turned me away saying they had no more books left on those shelves, so I started writing my own. I like a mix of urban themes like in Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give and dystopias like George Orwell’s 1984. That said, I love most futurist novels that have a love story at their centre, because despite everything I’m a romantic.

Peter's book list on bleak urban futures that give you a sense of hope

Peter Kalu Why Peter loves this book

This book is family. And like family, the main character, Marti is both maddening (choose any from heartless, obnoxious, selfish, cruel, deluded, vain…) and yet somehow also loveable.

Marti makes no effort to have you the reader like her, in fact she goads you to hate her, to reject her, to join the rest of society in putting her out with the trash. Despite herself, she emerges from the trauma of her awful journey with a completely unexpected heroic status. That’s the central paradox of this book and the genius of Melvin Burgess: Forget the dystopian ultra-right wing takeover plot.

You will scratch your head at the end of the story and think, how did I end up loving Marti? 

By Melvin Burgess ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Three Bullets as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 13, 14, 15, and 16.

What is this book about?

The Bloods are in control and they're desperate to turn Britain into the world they want to see: right, white, Christian supremist. Anyone who they call abnormal is a target. Amidst the chaos of civil war the country is on the move as small militia groups fight each other and a sea of refugees escapes the cities and the pursuing Bloods.

When her home is destroyed in a bombing raid, Marti must strike out on a mission of her own - to save her father and get his vital software into the right hands. But Marti is mixed race and…


Book cover of In the Country of Women

William F. Deverell Author Of Kathy Fiscus: A Tragedy That Transfixed the Nation

From my list on family in California.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a historian of the American West and a professor at the University of Southern California. I also direct the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West. I love the way very smart and ambitious family histories illuminate the fascinating (or sometimes mundane) lives of people in the past and, at the same time, use those stories to help us understand bigger-picture issues, eras, and all the turbulence of American life. That little-girl-in-the-well book I wrote is the first time I’ve attempted family history. It was so hard to try to get it right but, at the same time, exhilarating to think that maybe I did.

William's book list on family in California

William F. Deverell Why William loves this book

Novelist as genealogist, genealogist as novelist. A fiercely loyal portrait of a range of amazing women whose lives feel as if they were fictional, but they were and are not. A tender portrait of several generations of smart and loving mothers, wives, and daughters whose California is not the place of wealth and glamor but rather of making do, getting by, and loving your people and landscapes.

By Susan Straight ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

One of NPR's Best Books of the Year

“Straight’s memoir is a lyric social history of her multiracial clan in Riverside that explores the bonds of love and survival that bind them, with a particular emphasis on the women’s stories . . . The aftereffect of all these disparate stories juxtaposed in a single epic is remarkable. Its resonance lingers for days after reading.” —San Francisco Chronicle

In the Country of Women is a valuable social history and a personal narrative that reads like a love song to America and indomitable women. In inland Southern California, near the desert and…


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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 Keeper of Night

Elisa A. Bonnin Author Of Dauntless

From my list on protagonists that are part of two worlds.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m half-Filipino and half-Spanish. Growing up in the Philippines, I had to deal with many of the same emotions that the characters on this list go through. My identity made sense to me, but I found that I often had to explain it to other people, and I also found that outside my own house, people made their own opinions about whether I was more Filipino, more Spanish, or something else entirely. I’ve always been fascinated by how characters in fiction deal with this struggle, and I’ve always related more to characters who feel out of place.

Elisa's book list on protagonists that are part of two worlds

Elisa A. Bonnin Why Elisa loves this book

The Keeper of Night’s protagonist Ren Scarborough is the epitome of a character trapped between two worlds. Half-British Reaper, half-Japanese Shinigami, Ren starts off the book living in London but never quite feels like she belongs there. When she travels to Japan for the first time, she finds out that Japan isn’t quite as she expected it and ends up getting tangled in the affairs of Yomi, the Japanese underworld. Although a bit on the darker side, this is a fantastic book for anyone interested in Japanese mythology, anyone who likes their fantasy a little on the dark side, and anyone who’s felt the frustration of never quite fitting in anywhere. 

By Kylie Lee Baker ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Keeper of Night as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

“Sharp and seductive…a fantasy with teeth.” —Julie C. Dao, author of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

A girl of two worlds, accepted by none… A half Reaper, half Shinigami soul collector seeks her destiny in this haunting and compulsively readable dark fantasy duology set in 1890s Japan.

Death is her destiny.

Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami, Ren Scarborough has been collecting souls in the London streets for centuries. Expected to obey the harsh hierarchy of the Reapers who despise her, Ren conceals her emotions and avoids her tormentors as best she can.

When her failure to control her Shinigami…


Book cover of Edge of Eternity

Daniela Tully Author Of Hotel on Shadow Lake: A Spellbinding Mystery Unravelling a Century of Family Secrets

From my list on East Germany from an insider's point of view.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in Germany and have been living all over the globe since I was 18, including the US. I married a New Yorker 15 years ago. I am drawn to stories that combine both the German and American cultures — two worlds I feel at home in — and as reflected in my debut novel. The next one will take place between the US and East Germany - we had relatives on the other side of the Iron Curtain whom we visited frequently. I will never forget surprising my 17-year-old cousin sitting alone in the garden, crying… over a can of Coke that we had smuggled over the border to him.

Daniela's book list on East Germany from an insider's point of view

Daniela Tully Why Daniela loves this book

Not a hidden gem, for sure — for me, Follett is always the usual suspect to revert to whenever I need to do historical research and find myself too lazy to read a non-fiction book about the period. I’ve read a lot of books about the Stasi, but nothing beats being reminded, through one individual’s account - even if fictional, still based on true events - of how ruthless the Stasi was. Imagine finding out that you’ve been spied on for years by the Stasi - and then to top this off, finding out that the one spying on you was no less than your own husband? Sounds like the German version of the film Sleeping with the Enemy with Julia Roberts playing the abused wife, right? This role in Follett’s novel is played by Rebecca Hofmann, who flees when the Wall goes up in 1961 — causing insurmountable troubles…

By Ken Follett ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Ken Follett's extraordinary historical epic, the Century Trilogy, reaches its sweeping, passionate conclusion.

In Fall of Giants and Winter of the World, Ken Follett followed the fortunes of five international families-American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh-as they made their way through the twentieth century. Now they come to one of the most tumultuous eras of all: the 1960s through the 1980s, from civil rights, assassinations, mass political movements, and Vietnam to the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, presidential impeachment, revolution-and rock and roll.

East German teacher Rebecca Hoffmann discovers she's been spied on by the Stasi for years and…


Book cover of Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Sylvia Vetta Author Of Not so Black and White

From my list on insights into Kenya.

Why am I passionate about this?

EM Forster said, "Only Connect." That has inspired my life and work. The Oxford Times published my Oxtopian castaway series, and those life stories were turned into three books. The castaways, with links to Oxford, were from five continents. One of those castaways was Kenyan-born Nancy Mudenyo Hunt. Nancy founded the Nasio Trust, which has transformed the lives of hundreds of disadvantaged young people in West Kenya and Oxfordshire. With friends, I’m currently fundraising to build the first community library in West Kenya. Nancy asked if we could write a book together, and we did. We wrote a novel inspired by her life.

Sylvia's book list on insights into Kenya

Sylvia Vetta Why Sylvia loves this book

Barack Obama’s father was part of the story of Kenya’s road to freedom, and yet his son, Barrack, hardly knew him. His father met Barack’s mother while on a scholarship to the USA but abandoned her and his son when he returned to Kenya in 1964 and became a senior economist in the Kenyan Ministry of Finance.

We researched his life when writing our book. My co-author, Nancy Mudenyo Hunt, is also of Luo ancestry. Her father attended Obama’s funeral. This memoir is a testimony to the struggle of children of mixed heritage to decide on their identity. I find it sad that the young Obama is identified by the father who left him and not by his mother who cherished him.

By Barack Obama ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Dreams from My Father as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • ONE OF ESSENCE’S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS

In this iconic memoir of his early days, Barack Obama “guides us straight to the intersection of the most serious questions of identity, class, and race” (The Washington Post Book World).
 
“Quite extraordinary.”—Toni Morrison 
 
In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father—a figure he knows more…


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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 The House of Broken Bricks

Julie Ma Author Of Love Letters

From my list on diverse characters as main characters, not just stereotypes or sidekicks.

Why am I passionate about this?

If I were a supermarket pie, my label would say, ‘Made in the UK with Chinese ingredients.’ Born in Wales to parents from Guangzhou and Hong Kong, my Cantonese is appalling, I’m bad at maths, and I can barely ride a bike without falling off. In short, I am an example of a real-life person and not a cliché or stereotype from the sorts of books we used to have to read if we wanted to see diverse characters. It’s about time the stories we read and the shows we watch become so effortlessly diverse that we don’t even notice. I hope my novels are playing a part in making that commonplace.

Julie's book list on diverse characters as main characters, not just stereotypes or sidekicks

Julie Ma Why Julie loves this book

This is the most beautiful, poetic book packed with exquisite descriptions of the English countryside as we meet the seemingly perfect country family of mother and homemaker, Tess; her gardener husband, Richard; and the very non-identical twins, Sonny and Max.

Because Tess is a Londoner of Jamaican heritage–a pregnant bride that Richard brought back to his West Country family home after their student love affair–Sonny is dark and curly-haired like his mother while Max could ‘pass’ because he looks so much like his father.

This was an uncomfortable read for me–the micro-aggressions and casual racism of rural life stirred up unhappy memories–but it is also a hopeful story about what really counts and those times when actions speak louder than words.

By Fiona Williams ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The House of Broken Bricks as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'An almanac for the heart.'
EVIE WOODS, author of The Lost Bookshop

'Haunting prose that cracks the English pastoral novel and lets the darkness in. A pleasure to read.'
SARAH MOSS, author of Ghost Wall

'A clever, heartbreaking, heartwarming depiction of family love, grief and the possibility of hope.'
JO BROWNING WROE, author of A Terrible Kindness

'Poignant and unexpected . . . brave and subtle.'
EMMA HEALEY, author of Elizabeth is Missing

'Wonderful . . . brave in its deep truths about loss and love.'
INGRID PERSAUD, author of Love After Love

Ain't nothing wrong with being broken. Nothing…


Book cover of Talking Law
Book cover of The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken
Book cover of Letters to a Law Student

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Interested in multiracial people, discrimination, and lawyers?

Discrimination 39 books
Lawyers 93 books