Here are 7 books that Nineteen: A Daughter's Memoir of Reckoning and Recovery fans have personally recommended if you like Nineteen: A Daughter's Memoir of Reckoning and Recovery. 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 The Girls of the Glimmer Factory

Jennifer Silva Redmond Author Of Honeymoon at Sea: How I Found Myself Living on a Small Boat

From Jennifer's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Writer of Memoir Editor of everything Sailor of Seas Daily Dog Walker Intrepid Traveler

Jennifer's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Jennifer Silva Redmond Why Jennifer loves this book

Hannah is a Jewish prisoner in the “model” ghetto of Theresienstadt, created to try and convince the world that the Nazis are treating Jewish people humanely. Hilde, still a true believer, wants to make a propaganda film set in Theresienstadt; she makes us wonder how we ourselves would behave in the face of complete authoritarian rule and the resultant ignoring of all facts detrimental to the ruling government. This novel should be required reading for Americans, as our current administration and many countries around the world once again embrace authoritarianism, we can hopefully learn timely lessons from the dreadful history of the German Nazi Party, with its state-sponsored alternate reality.

By Jennifer Coburn ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Girls of the Glimmer Factory as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the author of Cradles of the Reich comes a poignant and inspiring tale of resistance, friendship, and the dangers of propaganda, based on the real story of Theresienstadt, for fans of The Forest of Vanishing Stars and The German Wife.

Hannah longs for the days when she used to be free, but now, she is a Jewish prisoner at Theresienstadt, a model ghetto where the Nazis plan to make a propaganda film to convince the world that the Jewish people are living well in the camps. But Hannah will do anything to show the world the truth. Along with…


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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 A Fine Layer of Dust

Jennifer Silva Redmond Author Of Honeymoon at Sea: How I Found Myself Living on a Small Boat

From Jennifer's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Writer of Memoir Editor of everything Sailor of Seas Daily Dog Walker Intrepid Traveler

Jennifer's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Jennifer Silva Redmond Why Jennifer loves this book

Jake and Sophia already have a beautiful healthy teenage daughter when Sophia decides she wants to become a surrogate for a couple unable to conceive. Jake isn’t happy, but he tries to support her to the best of his abilities (you may well want to yell at him a few times). The family dynamics shift and re-shift multiple times, and Jake makes many a mistake along the way. Sophia seems almost unbelievably good, but turns out to be very human indeed. And Emily, their changeable, idealistic teenager is written as believably as all of the adults, which is always a pleasant surprise. This is no thriller, but A Fine Layer of Dust made me gasp aloud, which I don’t do often. All this, and there’s two rescue beagles—just sayin.’

By Barbara Conrey ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Fine Layer of Dust as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Attorney Jake Trenton’s perfectly ordered life unravels when he loses a promotion and his wife announces she wants to become a surrogate. While he spends even more time at the office to prove his worth, he worries about the effects on their family if Sophia carries a baby for a stranger.Once Sophia explains how important it is to her to bear a child for someone who can’t, Jake reluctantly agrees. However, when the embryo transfer is successful, Jake’s carefully constructed world crumbles beneath the memory of his brother’s death, which occurred years ago in the same month the baby is…


Book cover of Under the Wide and Starry Sky

Leslie Johansen Nack Author Of The Blue Butterfly: A Novel of Marion Davies

From my list on powerful women in the 1920s and 1930.

Why am I passionate about this?

First, I'm a woman and I'm inspired by women from the past who overcame the rules of the day in which they lived. It doesn’t matter where they lived, or what they tried to overcome, but to have bucked the patriarchal system and achieved some measure of success, is phenomenal. Second, I became inspired by silent film star Marion Davies, and I wrote a book about it. I never intended to write historical fiction. My first book was a memoir about sailing to Tahiti at fourteen with my father and two sisters. But life has a funny way of directing us where we need to go. Here I am: inspired by women from the past! 

Leslie's book list on powerful women in the 1920s and 1930

Leslie Johansen Nack Why Leslie loves this book

I grew up reading Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, and found this book about the woman who changed his life riveting.

I also loved it because Stevenson sails to French Polynesia and I have sailed to French Polynesia and written a book about it. So there are many connections for me. Plus, it’s about the real life of scorned woman, Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne who flees San Francisco and her philandering husband and eventually falls in love with Stevenson.

An adventure that is history. Yes please! 

By Nancy Horan ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Under the Wide and Starry Sky as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'FABULOUS' The Times
'FASCINATING' New York Times

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

At the age of thirty-five, Fanny van de Grift Osbourne leaves her philandering husband in San Francisco and sets sail for Belgium to study art, with her three children and nanny in tow. Not long after her arrival, however, tragedy strikes, and Fanny and her brood repair to a quiet artists' colony in France where she can recuperate. There she meets Robert Louis Stevenson, ten years her junior, who is instantly smitten with the earthy, independent, and opinionated belle Americaine.

A woman ahead of her time, Fanny does…


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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 Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post

Kyle Ann Robertson Author Of White Picket Fences

From Kyle's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Kyle's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Kyle Ann Robertson Why Kyle loves this book

This is one of my most favorite books. I love this time period as our country prospered and this woman was there to help! She came from nothing, and rose to great heights with humility and smarts. I love historical fiction and this was darn near all truth. LOVED IT!

By Allison Pataki ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Marvelous . . . I just had to be there with the Post cereal heiress through every twist and turn.”—Martha Hall Kelly, New York Times bestselling author of Lilac Girls

“New-money heiress Marjorie Post isn’t content to remain a society bride as she remakes herself into a savvy entrepreneur, a visionary philanthropist, a presidential hostess, and much more.”—Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code

Mrs. Post, the President and First Lady are here to see you. . . . So begins another average evening for Marjorie Merriweather Post. Presidents have come and gone,…


Book cover of The Age of Light

Leslie Johansen Nack Author Of The Blue Butterfly: A Novel of Marion Davies

From my list on powerful women in the 1920s and 1930.

Why am I passionate about this?

First, I'm a woman and I'm inspired by women from the past who overcame the rules of the day in which they lived. It doesn’t matter where they lived, or what they tried to overcome, but to have bucked the patriarchal system and achieved some measure of success, is phenomenal. Second, I became inspired by silent film star Marion Davies, and I wrote a book about it. I never intended to write historical fiction. My first book was a memoir about sailing to Tahiti at fourteen with my father and two sisters. But life has a funny way of directing us where we need to go. Here I am: inspired by women from the past! 

Leslie's book list on powerful women in the 1920s and 1930

Leslie Johansen Nack Why Leslie loves this book

I love to read about artists in Paris in the 1930s. And this book is about a woman who tries to leave the world of modeling to become a photographer, and then she morphs again into one of the only WW2 journalists.

Lee Miller was a real person and she fell in love with Surrealist Man Ray in Paris. 

By Whitney Scharer ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Age of Light as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Scharer captures the thrill of artistic creation and the swirling hedonism of Paris's beautiful people.' The Times

Model. Muse. Lover. Artist.

'I'd rather take a picture than be one,' Lee Miller declares, as she arrives in Paris one cool day in 1929. Lee has left behind her life in New York and a successful modelling career at Vogue to pursue her dream of becoming a photographer. She soon catches the eye of renowned Surrealist artist Man Ray and convinces him to hire her as his assistant. Man is an egotistical, charismatic force, and as Lee becomes both his muse and…


Book cover of Circling the Sun

Leslie Johansen Nack Author Of The Blue Butterfly: A Novel of Marion Davies

From my list on powerful women in the 1920s and 1930.

Why am I passionate about this?

First, I'm a woman and I'm inspired by women from the past who overcame the rules of the day in which they lived. It doesn’t matter where they lived, or what they tried to overcome, but to have bucked the patriarchal system and achieved some measure of success, is phenomenal. Second, I became inspired by silent film star Marion Davies, and I wrote a book about it. I never intended to write historical fiction. My first book was a memoir about sailing to Tahiti at fourteen with my father and two sisters. But life has a funny way of directing us where we need to go. Here I am: inspired by women from the past! 

Leslie's book list on powerful women in the 1920s and 1930

Leslie Johansen Nack Why Leslie loves this book

Wild Africa is romantic and daring and I loved the danger and inspiration of 1920s Africa, when British born real life woman Beryl Markham becomes one of the first female pilots. It’s a bit of Out of Africa and riveting.

Markham encounters many obstacles and has several disastrous relationships but eventually she overcomes and succeeds. She becomes the first person (not woman) to fly solo from Britain to North America. 

By Paula McLain ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Circling the Sun as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The New York Times bestseller

As a young girl, Beryl Markham was brought to Kenya from Britain by parents dreaming of a new life. For her mother, the dream quickly turned sour, and she returned home; Beryl was brought up by her father, who switched between indulgence and heavy-handed authority, allowing her first to run wild on their farm, then incarcerating her in the classroom. The scourge of governesses and serial absconder from boarding school, by the age of sixteen Beryl had been catapulted into a disastrous marriage - but it was in facing up to this reality that she…


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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 Girls in the Picture

Laini Giles Author Of The Forgotten Flapper

From my list on capturing the magic of old Hollywood.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an old movie fan and a novelist who has been writing historical fiction about show business since 2010. As a stickler for detail, I use oodles of old Hollywood biographies and other research sources to learn everything I can about my subjects and weave as accurate a tale as I can. My Forgotten Actresses series is up to four books, with plenty more under construction. 

Laini's book list on capturing the magic of old Hollywood

Laini Giles Why Laini loves this book

As someone who adores all things Pickford (and has written about Mary’s sister-in-law, Olive Thomas), there’s no way I couldn’t include this book, which covers the association between silent star Mary Pickford and her scenarist Frances Marion. 

I love the dynamic between these two powerful women, and Benjamin does a good job of establishing their relationship. There is a lot to love about this book: the writing, the dialog, and the detail. I love this book!

My only quibble is the picture they used for the front cover. I’d have picked it up long before I did if they’d actually used a picture of Mary and Frances because I would have recognized instantly who it was about.  

By Melanie Benjamin ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Girls in the Picture as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue and The Aviator’s Wife, a “rich exploration of two Hollywood friends who shaped the movies” (USA Today)—screenwriter Frances Marion and superstar Mary Pickford

“Full of Old Hollywood glamour and true details about the pair’s historic careers . . . a captivating ode to a legendary bond.”—Real Simple

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY REAL SIMPLE

It is 1914, and twenty-five-year-old Frances Marion has left her (second) husband and her Northern California home for the lure of Los Angeles, where she is determined to…


Book cover of The Girls of the Glimmer Factory
Book cover of A Fine Layer of Dust
Book cover of Under the Wide and Starry Sky

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