Here are 100 books that Islands in the Stream fans have personally recommended if you like Islands in the Stream. Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Old Man and the Sea

Chris Messner Author Of Cuba Open from the Inside: Travels in the Forbidden Land

From Chris' 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Chris' 3 favorite reads in 2024

Chris Messner Why Chris loves this book

I have always liked The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. When I went to Cuba, I was able to go to Cojimar, the fishing village that was Hemingway's inspiration for this novel. Many historic things in Cuba, including the village of Cojimar, have been relatively closed off to the outside world in a perpetual time capsule like state.

Ernest Hemingway lived for a lengthy period of time in Cuba. He kept his boat, The Pilar, moored in Cojimar Bay. The local village tavern, La Terraza is referred to in The Old Man and the Sea as "The Terrace." Hemingway bonded and became friends with the fishermen in Cojimar. Even though many years have passed since Hemingway wrote this novel, not much has changed over time in Cojimar. It is still very much like the setting described in The Old Man and the Sea.

Hemingway received the 1954…

By Ernest Hemingway ,

Why should I read it?

14 authors picked The Old Man and the Sea as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This powerful and dignified story about a Cuban fisherman's struggle with a great fish has the universal appeal of a struggle between man and the elements, the hunter with the hunted. It earned Hemingway the Nobel prize and has been made into an acclaimed film. Age 13+


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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 Cuba Confidential

Chris Messner Author Of Cuba Open from the Inside: Travels in the Forbidden Land

From Chris' 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Chris' 3 favorite reads in 2024

Chris Messner Why Chris loves this book

There was a lot of detailed information in this book. The author obviously spent a great deal of time and care to research her material. It was very well written and informative.

By Ann Louise Bardach ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

From America's number one Cuba reporter, PEN award–winning investigative journalist Ann Louise Bardach, comes the big book on Cuba we've all been waiting for. An incisive and spirited portrait of the twentieth century's wiliest political survivor and his fiefdom, Cuba Confidential is the gripping story of the shattered families and warring personalities that lie at the heart of the forty-three-year standoff between Miami and Havana.

Famous to many Americans for her cover stories and media appearances, Ann Louise Bardach has been covering Cuba for a decade. She's talked to the crooks, spooks and politicians who have made history, and to…


Book cover of A Moveable Feast

Stephen Rowley Author Of The Lost Coin: A Memoir of Adoption and Destiny

From my list on memoirs that will ignite your soul.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am captivated by memoirs that shed light on the deeper life experiences of their authors. My curiosity about inner life compelled me to learn about the psychological essence of memoir writers, resulting in my writing a memoir from an in-depth psychological perspective. My curiosity also led me to become a psychotherapist, which helped me better navigate dark and uncertain waters with my clients. By probing the inner psychological dynamics of such memoirs, I learned more about myself and became a writer with rare psychological insight. Such illumination served to ignite my very soul. My passion is fueled by tapping the mysteries of what lies within us all. 

Stephen's book list on memoirs that will ignite your soul

Stephen Rowley Why Stephen loves this book

At age 15, I was captivated by Ernest Hemingway and his depiction of Paris in the 1920s. This book today reignites the enchantment of those years. Hemingway's profound influence shaped my aspirations as a writer. Through his eyes, I can vividly see Paris's cafés, salons, and vibrant social scenes, which ultimately became the backdrop of my dreams.

This book, rich with lovemaking, drinking, writing, betting at the track, and the bohemian lifestyle of so many young artists in Paris, reawakens my desire to immerse myself in that world. Hemingway's narrative voice and his novels continue to speak to me in a language that feels intimately mine, reminding me of the undying impact of his work on my life and aspirations.

By Ernest Hemingway ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Published posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway's most beloved works. Since Hemingway's personal papers were released in 1979, scholars have examined and debated the changes made to the text before publication. Now this new special restored edition presents the original manuscript as the author prepared it to be published.

Featuring a personal foreword by Patrick Hemingway, Ernest's sole surviving son, and an introduction by the editor and grandson of the author, Sean Hemingway, this new edition also includes a number of unfinished, never-before-published Paris sketches revealing experiences that Hemingway had with his son Jack and…


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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 Sun Also Rises

ed

From Ed's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Unknown Author Why Ed loves this book

His prose is second to none. I’ve read several of his works, but for some reason I never read this classic.

By Ernest Hemingway ,

Why should I read it?

13 authors picked The Sun Also Rises as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Jake Barnes is a man whose war wound has made him unable to have sex—and the promiscuous divorcée Lady Brett Ashley. Jake is an expatriate American journalist living in Paris, while Brett is a twice-divorced Englishwoman with bobbed hair and numerous love affairs, and embodies the new sexual freedom of the 1920s. The novel is a roman à clef: the characters are based on real people in Hemingway's circle, and the action is based on real events, particularly Hemingway's life in Paris in the 1920s and a trip to Spain in 1925 for the Pamplona festival and fishing in the…


Book cover of For Whom the Bell Tolls

Theresa Brown Author Of The Shift

From Theresa's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Theresa's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Theresa Brown Why Theresa loves this book

I was living in Spain when I re-read this novel and wanted to learn more about the Spanish civil war. The book tells a great story with memorable characters, plus it's so very human.

By Ernest Hemingway ,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked For Whom the Bell Tolls as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Inspired by his experiences as a reporter during the Spanish Civil War, Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls tells the story of Robert Jordan, an American volunteer in the International Brigades fighting to defend the Spanish Republic against Franco. After being ordered to work with guerrilla fighters to destroy a bridge, Jordan finds himself falling in love with a young Spanish woman and clashing with the guerrilla leader over the risks of their mission.

One of the great novels of the twentieth century, For Whom the Bell Tolls was first published in 1940. It powerfully explores the brutality of…


Book cover of The Great Gatsby

Jacinta Halloran Author Of Dissection

From Jacinta's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Jacinta's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Jacinta Halloran Why Jacinta loves this book

Perfectly plotted, perfectly evocative of an age, and exquisitely written. My third read of this novel and its appeal and beauty certainly hasn’t faded with time.

By F. Scott Fitzgerald ,

Why should I read it?

34 authors picked The Great Gatsby as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

As the summer unfolds, Nick is drawn into Gatsby's world of luxury cars, speedboats and extravagant parties. But the more he hears about Gatsby - even from what Gatsby himself tells him - the less he seems to believe. Did he really go to Oxford University? Was Gatsby a hero in the war? Did he once kill a man? Nick recalls how he comes to know Gatsby and how he also enters the world of his cousin Daisy and her wealthy husband Tom. Does their money make them any happier? Do the stories all connect? Shall we come to know…


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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 A Farewell to Arms

Gioia Diliberto Author Of Coco at the Ritz

From my list on the complicated choices facing women in war.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a writer of seven historically themed books, fiction and nonfiction, I’ve loved the intense, deep dive into World War I, World War II, the Civil War, and the Paris Commune that researching my books entailed. It’s been particularly fascinating to explore how women, whether on or near the front lines, or on the home front, negotiate life during war and how their behavior illuminates character. My protagonists are all women, and I’ve found that writing their lives offers a sharp opportunity to see the moral ambiguities of war. What’s more, their stories often transcend the personal to symbolize the spirit of a particular time and place at war.

Gioia's book list on the complicated choices facing women in war

Gioia Diliberto Why Gioia loves this book

My favorite of Hemingway’s books, this great anti-war novel about a passionate love affair between a young, wounded soldier and the beautiful nurse who cares for him, never loses its power for me despite repeated readings.

I admire not only the book’s lyrical writing, exquisite observations and heartbreaking story, but also how the horror of what men are experiencing on the battlefield is mirrored in the tragedy of Catherine’s death in childbirth.

By Ernest Hemingway ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked A Farewell to Arms as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Ernest Hemingway's classic novel of love during wartime.

Written when Ernest Hemingway was thirty years old and lauded as the best American novel to emerge from World War I, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Set against the looming horrors of the battlefield, this gripping, semiautobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war and the pain of lovers caught in its inexorable sweep.

Hemingway famously rewrote the ending to A Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times to get the words right. A…


Book cover of The Lord of the Rings

N. J. Edwards Author Of The Soul Whisperer and the Blue Phoenix

From N.'s 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

N.'s 3 favorite reads in 2025

N. J. Edwards Why N. loves this book

The wit, the world, the meaning it invoked.

By J.R.R. Tolkien ,

Why should I read it?

58 authors picked The Lord of the Rings as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

From Sauron's fastness in the Dark Tower of…


Book cover of The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway

Norrin M. Ripsman Author Of Song Book

From my list on short stories for a cottage trip.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love a good short story that can convey character, emotion, and complexity. While a novel allows the writer (and the reader) to delve into the chaotic complexity of a single set of characters, a good short story collection can explore a range of humanity and a diversity of moods or feelings.  This was my motivation in writing my book. I believe a good short story collection on a well-grounded theme (such as the contributions to this list by Doerr, Kundera, and Munro) can often reveal more about human nature than an excellent novel.

Norrin's book list on short stories for a cottage trip

Norrin M. Ripsman Why Norrin loves this book

This is the quintessential short story collection by a minimalist who doesn’t write just to write. I love the fact that the stories are not contrived. He doesn’t force anything.

The characters, the setting, and the story just interact and produce real, believable results. Hemingway doesn’t stretch credulity, the ridiculous, or the fantastic, yet transports you to his world with a few efficient lines.

By Ernest Hemingway ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The complete, authoritative collection of Ernest Hemingway's short fiction, including classic stories like "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber," along with seven previously unpublished stories.

In this definitive collection of the Nobel Prize-winning author’s short stories, readers will delight in Hemingway’s most beloved classics such as "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," "Hills Like White Elephants," and "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," and will discover seven new tales published for the first time in this collection, totaling in sixty stories. This collection demonstrates Hemingway’s ability to write beautiful prose for each distinct story,…


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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 Cold Mountain

T.R. Napper Author Of The Escher Man

From T.R.'s 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

T.R.'s 3 favorite reads in 2024

T.R. Napper Why T.R. loves this book

An American Civil War novel that follows Inman, a deserter from the Confederate Army, and Ada, a minister’s daughter who he knew briefly before going to war.

Historical fiction is one of my least favourite genres, but this really blew me away. Perfect prose, descriptions of the wilderness, and character depth. Frazier details the transformative brutality and pointlessness of war, and the desperate longing of love denied.

The final few chapters are both inevitable and breathtaking.

By Charles Frazier ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In 1997, Charles Frazier’s debut novel Cold Mountain made publishing history when it sailed to the top of The New York Times best-seller list for sixty-one weeks, won numerous literary awards, including the National Book Award, and went on to sell over three million copies. Now, the beloved American epic returns, reissued by Grove Press to coincide with the publication of Frazier’s eagerly-anticipated second novel, Thirteen Moons. Sorely wounded and fatally disillusioned in the fighting at Petersburg, a Confederate soldier named Inman decides to walk back to his home in the Blue Ridge mountains to Ada, the woman he loves.…


Book cover of The Old Man and the Sea
Book cover of Cuba Confidential
Book cover of A Moveable Feast

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