Here are 2 books that Separate Things fans have personally recommended if you like Separate Things. 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 Cloud Cuckoo Land

leah

From Leah's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Leah loves this book

Doerr weaves together stories from 1492 Babylon, modern day Idaho, and a space station on the far future. In each, the power of words and story are what get the characters through and help them find meaning and insight. The book is expectedly paced - I was never annoyed when switching from one storyline to another. A common “lost” book is a thread deeply woven into each story. I was immersed in the worlds, taken in by each perspective character, and fascinated by the common thread of the story of “Cloud Cuckoo Land”, and how it came to be lost and found. Loss, knowledge, change (big and small), and the nature of truth and power are key thematic elements. Even though this book is quite a tome, the writing style is actually quite spare. Each paragraph is so evocative. I drew out reading the last 50 pages because I didn’t…

By Anthony Doerr ,

Why should I read it?

22 authors picked Cloud Cuckoo Land as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

On the New York Times bestseller list for over 20 weeks * A New York Times Notable Book * A National Book Award Finalist * Named a Best Book of the Year by Fresh Air, Time, Entertainment Weekly, Associated Press, and many more

“If you’re looking for a superb novel, look no further.” —The Washington Post

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of All the Light We Cannot See, comes the instant New York Times bestseller that is a “wildly inventive, a humane and uplifting book for adults that’s infused with the magic of childhood reading experiences” (The New York Times…


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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 Thief of Souls

Don Sawyer Author Of The Burning Gem

From Don's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Don's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Don Sawyer Why Don loves this book

I really enjoyed this book. I haven't been a student of China for 40 year and haven't been there for even longer, but Klingbourg hits all the right notes in this exciting murder mystery set in modern Chinese society. While the case itself is fascinating, the glimpses we get into contemporary politics and lifestyle ring absolutely true.

An Asian academic and former resident of the region, Klingbourg shows us a society that is riven with corruption, influenced by political and monied interests, has a population more interested in soap operas (along with other fascinating facts, Klingbourg seamlessly informs us that 90% of Chinese households have televisions and that China produces more films than the US) then social change. That has a more-or-less functioning legal system populated by personnel and bureaucrats, some of whom are highly principled and others that are inept and motivated by greed and ambition. It is neither…

By Brian Klingborg ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Thief of Souls as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Brian Klingborg's Thief of Souls, the brutal murder of a young woman in a rural village in Northern China sends shockwaves all the way to Beijing―but seemingly only Inspector Lu Fei, living in exile in the small town, is interested in justice for the victim.

Lu Fei is a graduate of China’s top police college but he’s been assigned to a sleepy backwater town in northern China, where almost nothing happens and the theft of a few chickens represents a major crime wave. That is until a young woman is found dead, her organs removed, and joss paper stuffed…


Book cover of Cloud Cuckoo Land
Book cover of Thief of Souls

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