Here are 100 books that More Than True fans have personally recommended if you like
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I’m passionate about strong female protagonists in YA and middle grade lit because through example, societies can change. Power dynamics can shift as young women are shown fictional ones whose strength and voice alter their lives and others. Being born in a heavily patriarchal home, I found courage and freedom through the lives of female protagonists in books, especially in series where the journey was long. Today, there are many novels working to right the scale, but here are a few of the first that captured my heart and gave me hope. One note, these works are of a specific time, and the content will reflect that period.
Patricia Wrede’s Dealing With Dragons empowered me to subvert societal roles which are not to my preference.
The fact Princess Cimorene could eschew her given position and become a dragon’s princess, rather than princess to a prince, was incredibly novel. At the time, it was as surprising as the future reveal, eleven years later, of Fiona to Shrek.
Cimorene’s characteristics of being immensely capable and clever, with a refusal to suffer fools, are qualities I continue to admire and aim to cultivate within myself.
Meet Princess Cimorene-a princess who refuses to be proper. She is everything a princess is not supposed to be: headstrong, tomboyish, smart . . . and bored. So bored that she runs away to live with a dragon. And not just any dragon, but Kazul-one of the most powerful and dangerous dragons around. With a new look and new introduction from the author, this story is sure to acquire a new generation of fans. AGES: 10-13 AUTHOR: Patricia C. Wrede has written many novels, including all four books in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles as well as 'Sorcery and Cecilia', 'The…
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…
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with fairy tales and love. I had imaginary friends and would pretend to be the “damsel in distress,” waiting for my prince to find me. I’ve never lost that love as an adult, but I’ve found that certain books can give me the same feelings I had as a child. And reading these stories always fills me with hope that there is good in the world and that love conquers all!
This book is so sweet, and I loved the epistolary format! My husband and I wrote each other many letters (yes, by hand) and emails while we were dating, so reading all the exchanges between Izzy and Brodie brought me back to those first fluttery feelings of falling in love. Izzy is such a sweet heroine, and Brodie really saw her, which I also loved!
Dear Reader, My name is Isabelle Louisa Edgewood-Izzy, for short. I live by blue-tinted mountains, where I find contentment in fresh air and books. Oh, and coffee and tea, of course. And occasionally in being accosted by the love of my family. (You'll understand my verb choice in the phrase later.) I dream of opening my own bookstore, but my life, particularly my romantic history, has not been the stuff of fairy tales. Which is probably why my pregnant, misled, matchmaking cousin-who, really, is more like my sister-signed me up for an online dating community.
These days, I’m an author, but that was long predated by being a reader. I’ve loved fairy tales all my life and spent most of my childhood lugging around a thick paperback copy of the Brothers Grimm's stories. My nationally bestselling second novel, Bear, is a reimagining of my favorite tale: “Snow-White and Rose-Red. " It is about two sisters who live in a cottage with their mother and whose lives are upended when a bear shows up at their door.
This collection of slim, clever, bleak, surprising short stories is as scary as it is fantastic. It’s a wonderful read. Plus, if you’re at all interested in Russian history, Petrushevskaya is an extraordinary recorder of Soviet and Russian life. Through her fiction—which was often censored by the Soviet government—she tells the truth about the world around her.
New York Times Bestseller Winner of the World Fantasy Award One of New York magazine’s 10 Best Books of the Year One of NPR’s 5 Best Works of Foreign Fiction
The celebrated scary fairy tales of Russia’s preeminent contemporary fiction writer—the author of the prizewinning memoir about growing up in Stalinist Russia, The Girl from the Metropol Hotel
Vanishings and aparitions, nightmares and twists of fate, mysterious ailments and supernatural interventions haunt these stories by the Russian master Ludmilla Petrushevskaya, heir to the spellbinding tradition of Gogol and Poe. Blending the miraculous with the macabre, and leavened by a mischievous…
In 1913, a 15-year-old pregnant girl was found dead of apparent suicide. Dr. James Wilson, a new graduate and the first doctor ever to start a practice in this rural town, feels guilty over her death because of his delayed intervention.
At the age of seven, already a devoted bookworm, I came upon a large stack of early-20th century children's magazines filled with stories, poems, and especially fairy tales, some the classic kind, and some weird, scary or unfamiliar. I don't know where those dog-eared, well-thumbed annuals came from, or what happened to them afterward – they were lost or given away when our family moved, I suppose. But I have never forgotten them, or the effect they had on my imagination and longings. I've been searching for those long-lost tales ever since... and it finally led me to decide I would just have to write a few of my own.
The 19th-century Scottish writer George MacDonald is said to be the father of the modern fairy tale, inspiring C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and many others. I chose The Light Princess because I find it his most charming tale: it's about a princess under a wicked spell who has been made weightless, unable to obey the laws of gravity. As in all good fairy tales, a prince eventually comes along to drag her back down to earth. He must sacrifice himself for her, but in the end, it is she who rescues him – from a feminist perspective, a most gratifying conclusion.
George MacDonald (1824-1905), the great nineteenth-century innovator of modern fantasy, influenced not only C. S. Lewis but also such literary masters as Charles Williams and J. R. R. Tolkien. Though his longer fairy tales Lilith and Phantastes are particularly famous, much of MacDonald’s best fantasy writing is found in his shorter stories. In this volume editor Glenn Sadler has compiled some of MacDonald’s finest short works―marvelous fairy tales and stories certain to delight readers familiar with MacDonald and those about to meet him for the first time.
As a life-long lover of fairy tales, I believe the reason these timeless stories resonate so deeply is because they speak to an unquenchable desire in the center of each of our souls: the hope for a grand romantic adventure that will change our lives from the inside out. As an author, I strive to create those kinds of soul-speaking stories, crafting characters my readers relate to as friends... and respect as heroes. When my readers adventure alongside these fictional friends, I hope they are encouraged to bravely face the real-life challenges of our modern world, while being emboldened toward acts of everyday and exceptional heroism.
Wolves and Roses is a fun and snarky start to a big series in which humans exist in a modern world alongside shifters, witches, and fairies. Sounds fun, right?
Bryar Rose is expected to follow the Sleeping Beauty story template for her life. Unfortunately, something glitched in her personality, because no part of that story appeals to who she truly is, or what she wants out of life. When Bryar meets Knox, a powerful werewolf shifter in the midst of his own identity crisis, sparks fly.
If you enjoy strong, rebellious female leads and bad-boy heroes (yes, please!), this book has all those vibes, plus intrigue, witty banter (my fave), and action. Fans of alternate-history fantasy, paranormal romance, and modern-set fairy tale retellings should add this book to their TBR.
Seventeen-year-old Bryar Rose has a problem. She’s descended from one of the three magical races—shifters, fairies, or witches. That makes her one of the Magicorum, and Magicorum always follow a fairy tale life template. In Bryar’s case, that template should be Sleeping Beauty.
Should being the key word.
Trouble is, Bryar is nowhere near the sleeping beauty life template. Not even close. She doesn’t like birds or woodland creatures. She can’t sing. And she certainly can’t stand Prince Philpot, the so-called “His Highness of Hedge Funds” that her aunties want her to…
I’ve always been drawn to stories that feature mysterious locales and secret objects and strange or magical occurrences, so books with these elements—particularly when the main characters in the books are young people learning about themselves and the world around them—are often very satisfying to me. There’s something naturally engaging, I believe, in tales where someone is thrust into a disorienting situation and has to make sense of the uncertainty he or she faces. The books I’ve written for young readers all tend in this direction, and so I’m always on the hunt for stories along these same lines.
Bizarre, misshapen, and sweet, this is the Roald Dahl book I find most alluring. A much-beloved tale, the plot sounds phantasmagoric in distillation: a house-sized peach sprouts overnight from a tree outside the shack where young James is essentially kept imprisoned by two cruel aunts; the boy tunnels into the fruit’s pit, befriends the band of enormous talking insects within, and the whole gang embarks on an adventure where the peach bobs out to sea, is carried through the air by hundreds of seagulls, is attacked by creatures who live on clouds, and eventually comes to rest on the spire of the Empire State Building. Intrigue, humor, and rambunctious versifying abound—and the once-forlorn James is not only unvanquished but happy. Nice ending.
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl in magnificent full colour.
James Henry Trotter lives with two ghastly hags. Aunt Sponge is enormously fat with a face that looks boiled and Aunt Spiker is bony and screeching. He's very lonely until one day something peculiar happens. At the end of the garden a peach starts to grow and GROW AND GROW. Inside that peach are seven very unusual insects - all waiting to take James on a magical adventure. But where will they go in their GIANT PEACH and what will happen to the horrible aunts if they stand…
Voyager 1 was launched on September 5, 1977, and Voyager 2 was launched on August 20, 1977. Both began a historic journey with unique 'time capsules' on board intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials. The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record 12-inch gold-plated disk…
I am a Wolfhound parent and the author of books about this majestic breed. I have studied everything I could find about the Wolfhound since I first lost my heart to one many years ago, meeting breeders and owners alike to learn everything I could about their temperament and health. I have attended many dog shows and symposiums to further my knowledge of my breed. Having shared my life with this dog, unlike any other, I devour books written by other Wolfhound owners.
A beautifully written book that brings the magic of the Irish Wolfhound to the reader.
This collection of fairy tales and poems invites us into the mystical world where the Wolfhound was king. A heartwarming tribute to the enormous heart of this gentle giant. It speaks to the soul of anyone who has met one of these loving, kind creatures. I could read it again and again.
I always longed for a wolfhound. I watched documentaries about them, read books about them, and finally, traveled to Ireland and met my first real ones. They were my fairy tales, until a living flesh and fur giant came to share my home and heart. There is really no way to describe to someone what it is like to share your home with these gentle, goofy, stubborn, and loving friends. I hope these fairy tales bring a little bit of their magic into each reader’s heart. They truly have the strength of lions while possessing the souls of lambs.
Two books that I read as a young child were very important to me. The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Dr. Seuss made me think about riches, poverty, and the power that rich people have to make stupid rules; and poor people have no choice but to obey them. The Japanese Twins from Lucy Fitch Perkins' series on twins from different cultures gave me a life-long interest in cultural differences. Not only did they think differently, depending on their culture, they also had different skin colours. Later I learned about racism when I worked with unhappy displaced children and interpreted for asylum-seekers. I write from a child's perspective, making books accessible to all ages.
I was captivated by this picture book. The first two illustrations I have never forgotten: Bartholomew living at the bottom of a hill looks up at King Derwin's Castle at the top of the hill -- a mighty view, and it makes Bartholomew feel mighty small. King Derwin in his castle looks down at Bartholomew sees the houses down below: a mighty view, that makes King Derwin feel mighty important. Bartholomew is told to obey a stupid rule made by the King which leads to surprising consequences.
I learned from this story about the difference between riches and poverty, and the power that riches bring. Later I realised that King Derwin was a Dictator.
What a lot of hats Bartholomew has in this imaginative and clever tale! Find out what happens when the king asks him to remove them...one by one.
Bartholomew Cubbins is in trouble, and all because he won't take his hat off for the king! But he has, hasn't he...? Find out what happens in this clever tale of magic and mayhem!
With his unique combination of hilarious stories, zany pictures and riotous rhymes, Dr. Seuss has been delighting young children and helping them learn to read for over fifty years. Creator of the wonderfully anarchic Cat in the…
I’m an American author and writing teacher both at Harvard and Oxford’s online programs. I've mostly written poetry and nonfiction, then in 2021 I published my first novel, She Never Told Me about the Ocean. I started writing the book when my daughter was born as a way to explore the complicated feelings and fears that suddenly washed over me. The book—like a daughter—outgrew my plans and expectations for it. It became, unexpectedly, a mythology of mothers and daughters. For two decades I've studied fairy tales and myths. Fairy tales deal in fears and the stories we tell ourselves to feel safe—which is why I read them and use them in my writing.
I just discovered this book and want to teach it in every one of my classes! Folkis a series of stories about the villagers in a tiny, closed-off island filled with strange rituals and a cacophony of alliances and grudges. Her language is simply thrilling, and the fairy tales are shocking in all different ways. We hear a different perspective in each story, so the book results in a fairy tale about how small communities work and what the ‘folk’ in them must do—and believe—in order to get along.
A captivating, magical and haunting debut novel of breathtaking imagination, from the winner of the 2014 Costa Short Story Award LONGLISTED FOR THE 2019 INTERNATIONAL DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE 'That rare thing: genuinely unique' OBSERVER 'Will win you over ... Magical' THE TIMES 'Absolutely stunning. I loved it' MADELINE MILLER, AUTHOR OF CIRCE On the remote island of Neverness, the villagers' lives are entwined with nature: its enchantments, seductions and dangers. There is May, the young fiddler who seeks her musical spirit; Madden Lightfoot, who flies with red kites; and Verlyn Webbe, born with a wing for an arm. Over the…
Deputy Jenna Hart has only been working in her sleepy hometown of Pearl Springs for seven months when city officials begin to be targeted by a killer. Twenty years ago, the construction of a dam caused people to lose their land to eminent domain. That wound has not healed with…
I have a passion for fairy tale stories especially ones for adults because they are often the first stories we learned as kids. The ability to look back at how we interpreted them and how our understanding changes over time and culture makes for something that is truly timeless, and therefore like a beloved trope is never the exact same thing twice. Each time only builds on our enjoyment and the many possibilities we can imagine. Not only in worlds of magic, but our own.
While my series tend to be on the shorter end, if you want something to really sink your teeth into try Angela J. Ford’s interracial romance collection full of action, adventure, and steam. Celtic Mythology is the theme for this six standalone novel collection that tops out at over 600 hundred pages! In a world like it is now, sometimes I just want to escape into a fantasy world a fantasy series is so perfect for that.
This collector's edition includes six stand-alone adult fairy tales blending fantasy action-adventure with steamy fantasy romance.Tales of the Enchanted Forest is a collection of six fantasy romance short stories. The series is inspired by fairy tales with a hint of Celtic Mythology and a nod to the TV show, Once. However, you won’t find your traditional damsels in distress. The women you’ll meet in these tales take the future into their own hands, regardless of the challenges. They also have magic. Some of it beautiful, like the magic of the healer, but others have dark magic which torments them as…
