Here are 12 books that The Berry Pickers fans have personally recommended if you like The Berry Pickers. 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 Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses

Rebecca M. Pritchard Author Of Jeremiah Hacker

From Rebecca's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Rebecca's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Rebecca M. Pritchard Why Rebecca loves this book

Who would have thought that one of the best books of the year would be about moss. Yes, moss, the spongy stuff on the ground. Robin Wall Kimmerer is the best kind of nature writer, making her subject come alive and using it as a springboard to talk about other things. Part science, part history, part natural history, part memoir, this book defies categorization. Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of moss with this surprising page-turner.

By Robin Wall Kimmerer ,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Gathering Moss as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites readers to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses.

In this series of linked personal essays, Robin Kimmerer leads general readers and scientists alike to an understanding of how mosses live and how their lives are intertwined with the lives of countless other beings. Kimmerer explains the biology of mosses clearly and artfully, while at the same time reflecting on what these fascinating…


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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 The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Margaret Gardiner Author Of Damaged Beauty

From my list on working out who you really are.

Why am I passionate about this?

Ever had anyone say something about you with utter conviction that isn’t true? Have you ever looked at someone famous and thought their life looked perfect? Ever felt not enough because of the way you look? As a former Miss Universe, international model, fashion editor, and entertainment journalist with a degree in psychology, I’ve lived these truths vicariously. I’m fascinated with image, perception, and truth. What’s behind the smile? What happens when the lights dim? Who are you when no one is watching? What secrets do you hide, how do they damage you, and what will you do to keep them hidden? I’ve been the target. I know the cost.

Margaret's book list on working out who you really are

Margaret Gardiner Why Margaret loves this book

Nothing is accidental. Every word that you think is throwaway is part of the character build. Nothing is told. You have to link it. You have diverse characters without commentary. You have an understanding of motivation. You have illicit love. You have a challenging protagonist. What you think is true may not be true. You may glimpse real people, but you cannot say for sure. Unspoken truths. Secrets. Sex. Glamor.

Written from alternative viewpoints, it rounds out the real-life aspect that there is no truth because everyone’s truth is colored by their own bias. Again, it's unexpected and a fast read–and just like with my last recommendationyou don’t like her, then you do.

By Taylor Jenkins Reid ,

Why should I read it?

22 authors picked The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"If you're looking for a book to take on holiday this summer, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo has got all the glitz and glamour to make it a perfect beach read." -Bustle

From the New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & the Six-an entrancing and "wildly addictive journey of a reclusive Hollywood starlet" (PopSugar) as she reflects on her relentless rise to the top and the risks she took, the loves she lost, and the long-held secrets the public could never imagine.

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready…


Book cover of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

Sai Marie Johnson Author Of Embracing His Empire

From Sai's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Gothic author Screenwriter Poet Activist Humanitarian Earth Wanderer

Sai's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Sai Marie Johnson Why Sai loves this book

I read through this voraciously and then read through it again and again.

By Timothy Snyder ,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked On Tyranny as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**

'A sort of survival book, a sort of symptom-diagnosis manual in terms of losing your democracy and what tyranny and authoritarianism look like up close' Rachel Maddow

'These 128 pages are a brief primer in every important thing we might have learned from the history of the last century, and all that we appear to have forgotten' Observer

History does not repeat, but it does instruct.

In the twentieth century, European democracies collapsed into fascism, Nazism and communism. These were movements in which a leader or a party claimed to give voice to the people, promised…


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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 Wish You Were Here

Marianne Sciucco Author Of Blue Hydrangeas

From Marianne's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Marianne's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Marianne Sciucco Why Marianne loves this book

One of the things I've always enjoyed about a Jodi Picoult novel is that they're usually rich, with tightly coiled plots that always surprise me. This is no exception. It's one of the first novels with a COVID plotline, set during the early days of the lockdown, when our heroine escapes the chaos of New York City and winds up on an island in the Galapagos. No spoilers here. Read it for yourself. Rights sold to Netflix for adaptation as a feature film • Named one of the best books of the year by She Reads.

By Jodi Picoult ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Wish You Were Here as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Small Great Things and The Book of Two Ways comes “a powerfully evocative story of resilience and the triumph of the human spirit” (Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six)

Rights sold to Netflix for adaptation as a feature film • Named one of the best books of the year by She Reads

Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all…


Book cover of The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear

Kate Truitt Author Of Healing In Your Hands: Self-Havening Practices to Harness Neuroplasticity, Heal Traumatic Stress, and Build Resilience

From Kate's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Kate's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Kate Truitt Why Kate loves this book

As a psychologist and author, I deeply resonated with The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore because it highlights a powerful story of resilience, courage, and the systemic oppression faced by women who challenge the status quo. This book embodies the fight for autonomy and freedom in the face of overwhelming adversity—key themes that align with my work on trauma, healing, and personal empowerment.

The story of Elizabeth Packard, who was unjustly confined in an asylum by her husband for her beliefs, mirrors many of the dynamics I see in my clinical work, where systems of power attempt to silence and control those who seek to reclaim their voice. The emotional and psychological journey Moore captures is one of profound resilience, which speaks to the neurobiological capacity for survival and recovery, even when faced with unimaginable hardship.

I highly recommend this book to others not only for its…

By Kate Moore ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Woman They Could Not Silence as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Radium Girls comes another dark and dramatic but ultimately uplifting tale of a forgotten woman hero whose inspirational journey sparked lasting change for women's rights and exposed injustices that still resonate today.
1860: As the clash between the states rolls slowly to a boil, Elizabeth Packard, housewife and mother of six, is facing her own battle. The enemy sits across the table and sleeps in the next room. Her husband of twenty-one years is plotting against her because he feels increasingly threatened-by Elizabeth's intellect, independence,…


Book cover of Horse

Jinny Webber Author Of Serpent Visions

From Jinny's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Historical Novelist Shakespeare Mythology Professor

Jinny's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Jinny Webber Why Jinny loves this book

I love how the different time periods work, all connected to the real stallion Lexington and Jarrett, the slave who’s with him since the day he foaled (and named him Darley). Insights on slavery from slaves’ POV, the Civil War and Reconstruction, horse racing and the owners and plantations, horse art and a Smithsonian search—and more. Beautifully written.

By Geraldine Brooks ,

Why should I read it?

38 authors picked Horse as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Brooks' chronological and cross-disciplinary leaps are thrilling." -The New York Times Book Review

"Horse isn't just an animal story-it's a moving narrative about race and art." -TIME

A discarded painting in a junk pile, a skeleton in an attic, and the greatest racehorse in American history: from these strands, a Pulitzer Prize winner braids a sweeping story of spirit, obsession, and injustice across American history

Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an…


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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 Women

Linda Naughton Author Of Blackout Trail

From Linda's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Linda's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Linda Naughton Why Linda loves this book

The first half of the book was absolutely enthralling, packed with tense drama and emotional depictions of front-line medical care during the Vietnam War. The second half, after the main character returns home from war, drags a bit in places and fixates on some toxic relationships. Despite those rough patches, I picked it as a favorite this year for its unique take on the nurses' story, an often-overlooked part of history.

By Kristin Hannah ,

Why should I read it?

62 authors picked The Women as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The missing. The forgotten. The brave… The women.

From master storyteller Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds, comes the story of a turbulent, transformative era in America: the 1960s. The Women is that rarest of novels—at once an intimate portrait of a woman coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided by war and broken by politics, of a generation both fueled by dreams and lost on the battlefield.

“Women can be heroes, too.”

When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these unexpected…


Book cover of North Woods

Peggy Jenkins

From Peggy's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Peggy loves this book

Great perspective

By Daniel Mason ,

Why should I read it?

34 authors picked North Woods as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A sweeping novel about a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those who inhabit it across the centuries—“a time-spanning, genre-blurring work of storytelling magic” (The Washington Post) from the Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Piano Tuner and The Winter Soldier.

“With the expansiveness and immersive feeling of two-time Booker Prize nominee David Mitchell’s fiction (Cloud Atlas), the wicked creepiness of Edgar Allan Poe, and Mason’s bone-deep knowledge of and appreciation for the natural world that’s on par with that of Thoreau, North Woods fires on all cylinders.”—San Francisco Chronicle

New York…


Book cover of The Other Valley

Susan E. Wadds Author Of What the Living Do

From Susan's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Amherst Writers Certified Facilitator Rebalancing Massage Therapist Traveller Yoga lover Nature lover

Susan's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Susan E. Wadds Why Susan loves this book

I found this to be the most unique “time travel” exploration I’ve ever read. It was a head-scratcher with a very satisfying end.

By Scott Alexander Howard ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Other Valley as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Astonishingly brilliant. My book of the year.' Liz Nugent, Sunday Times-bestselling author of Strange Sally Diamond

For fans of Emily St John Mandel and Kazuo Ishiguro, an exhilarating novel about an isolated town neighboured by its own past and future, and a young girl who faces an impossible choice...

Would you sacrifice the future for love?

Sixteen-year-old Odile vies for a coveted seat on an elite council that decides who may cross her town's heavily guarded borders. To the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, it's twenty years behind. The towns repeat in an…


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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 The Story She Left Behind

Linda Rosen Author Of The Emerald Necklace

From Linda's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Novelist Swimmer Public Speaker Reader Lover of gardens

Linda's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Linda Rosen Why Linda loves this book

As with The Secret Book of Flora Lee, Callahan Henry's other book I read, I was drawn in immediately by the prose, tone, and atmosphere, not to mention the mystery and setting.

How can you not love a story about a legendary book, a lost mother, and a daughter's search for both of them? Throw in London, England's lake district, and South Carolina's low country, and you've got me hooked!

By Patti Callahan Henry ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Story She Left Behind as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
Book cover of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Book cover of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

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