Books like Messages — picked by fans

This novel is an immersive read with heaps of empathy for all its characters but especially for the two sisters whose perspectives are at the center of the story: the twin who disappears to live a secret life, passing as white, and the twin left behind.

We don’t get the perspective of Stella, the vanished twin, until 14 years after her disappearance, 150 pages into the book. By then, I was fully absorbed in the grief and unanswered questions of the people she’d abandoned, eager to finally know where she’d been all this time and to understand her complex motivations and the emotional and mental toll of relinquishing—and hiding—her racial identity, her community, her sister, and her past. I picked this book up and didn’t put it down until it was done.

First of all, Jen Sincero’s voice is hilarious, down-to-earth, and completely refreshing.

She basically grabs you by the shoulders and tells you to stop messing around. I remember laughing out loud while reading this. What I love most is that she shares her own journey in an honest, testimony-style way, so it doesn't feel preachy. Instead, it feels relatable.

Her writing style is great in that it makes you see the small ways you may be downplaying your ambition or talking yourself out of bigger goals. It’s the perfect reality check when you need to stop doubting yourself and start confidently going after what you want.

I can probably find a way to put this novel into every book category there is – I love it that much!

Elizabeth Zott is a brilliant chemist in the 1960s, a time when society accepted that only men could be brilliant or chemists. But through a series of opportunities and her defiance in the face of attempts to marginalize her, Elizabeth becomes a de facto leader of a small but mighty group of women who change their circumstances and thereby begin to change the world. 

This book showed me things that both thrilled me and made me look so deeply at myself, at times, it was painful. I love it because it shows me—on a soul level—that everything is listening. The idea that water, something so ordinary and taken for granted, yet so integral to life, could respond to words, emotions, and intention made me slow down and really consider the energy I carry and put out into the world.

It taught me that healing doesn't always have to be loud or dramatic—it can be as subtle as a whispered “thank you” to a glass of water. Reading this book changed how I speak to myself and others, how I bless my tea, and how I cry. It made me believe in words, thoughts, and emotions as a force of transformation. I keep it close for when I need to reconnect with the softness of… show more.

For those of us who lived through 9/11, it’s easy to forget that kids in school today weren’t even born in 2001; to them, the events of 9/11 are ancient history. I Survived is the kind of book that can jump-start their interest by dropping them right into the thick of the events of that day. Lucas is a football-obsessed teen who makes a series of completely relatable bad decisions that leave him right at Ground Zero just as the planes hit the towers. Told in age-appropriate but heart-stopping detail, this book captures a perfect snapshot of the confusion, fear, heroism, and resolve on display that extraordinary day. 

The September 11th terrorist attack is a difficult history to introduce.

Picture books can be a good way to start the conversation, especially with 8 and 9-year-olds. In This Very Tree, Sean Rubin broaches the topic through a remarkable Callery pear tree in the Twin Towers plaza which survived the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

Rubin’s poignant artwork conveys both the destruction of that terrible day in New York City and the rebuilding efforts afterwards. Informative and lengthy back matter provides more information to complement the brief illustrated text. This picture book leaves the reader with an ultimately hopeful outlook of resilience and renewal. 

In a book that was published before its time, Vince Flynn fictionalizes what some knew to be true many years ago: that the members of the Saudi royal family financed those who had a hand in the 9/11 attacks. Now that the curtains have been opened on these pieces of intelligence, this book is even more of a great read. Enemy of the State is written by perhaps one of the best spycraft authors of our time, and chronicles a former Special Operator who has been sent to Saudi Arabia to uncover the evidence of one of the greatest betrayals in history. Finding himself double-crossed and in a foreign land, he must fight and escape both the Saudi and American intelligence agencies & their networks to stay alive and bring the truth to the world.

The extreme length of Fall and Rise put me off until my agent Matthew Hamilton persuaded me to take the plunge.

Just as he’d promised, I found myself deeply engaged in the lives and ultimate fates of Mitchell Zuckoff’s large cast of real-life characters, whose personalities, back-stories, and ambitions are rendered with impressive immediacy.

Of course we already know the outcome of this tragic story, yet the book possesses remarkable narrative dynamism. Hovering over most of its pages is the unnerving question, “Which of these people will survive?”

"Wow!" becomes an understatement in this story. I enjoyed the challenge this author issued to the investigators called to a murder scene where more than enough DNA evidence to convict the suspect shouts, “Collect me and solve the case.” Not so fast. Twenty years later, the case remains unsolved.

I liked this story’s multiple secrets, but how might Avery Mason, a TV show host in search of a ratings boost, find the killer when the person of interest died in one of the Twin Towers on 9/11? The answer: a twist of fate.

Even though it was written in 2007, Wright’s book on the 9/11 terror attacks and their back story remains the single best work on the subject. Wright combines big-picture historical analysis with a journalist’s eye for detail and a novelist’s flair for psychology and storytelling.

I have read nothing since that draws together as well all the myriad strains of this complex and earth-shattering story. This is the book I go back to to help me think about the single most important event so far of the 21st century.