Here are 29 books that The Caretaker fans have personally recommended if you like The Caretaker. 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 Power and the Glory

Kim Janine Ligon Author Of Landing on Her Feet

From Kim's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Kim's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Kim Janine Ligon Why Kim loves this book

Graham Greene is an artist with words. The story sweeps you right to the priest's side and you are invested in what happens.

By Graham Greene ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Power and the Glory as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

During an anti-clerical purge in Mexico, a priest is hunted like a hare. Too human for heroism, too humble for martyrdom, the little worldly priest is nevertheless impelled towards his squalid Calvary as much by his own compassion for humanity as by the efforts of his pursuers.


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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 Judgment Prey

Dick Lochte Author Of Rockets' Red Glare

From Dick's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Dick's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Dick Lochte Why Dick loves this book

Sandford's earlier books were good solid crime novels, but the recent ones are all that and they're filled with genuinely funny hardboiled dialogue.

By John Sandford ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Judgment Prey as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers take on another challenging case in this thrilling new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author.


Book cover of Magic Hour

Kim Janine Ligon Author Of Landing on Her Feet

From Kim's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Kim's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Kim Janine Ligon Why Kim loves this book

It is about healing through helping others and the power of that kind of love.

By Kristin Hannah ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Magic Hour as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


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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 Demon Copperhead

Gill Arbuthnott Author Of The Keepers' Daughter

From Gill's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author History nut Science nerd Mystery lover Feminist

Gill's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Gill Arbuthnott Why Gill loves this book

It’s a fantastic re-imagining of David Copperfield, which I enjoyed much more than the original. It taught me a lot about a side of the USA which, as a Brit, I had never given much thought to. The characters were fresh and engaging - even when they were unlikeable - and I became really invested in them.
I know this is a book I’ll re-read and it might even tempt me to have another try at the Dickens,

By Barbara Kingsolver ,

Why should I read it?

118 authors picked Demon Copperhead as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Demon's story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking 'like a little blue prizefighter.' For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise.

In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty isn't an idea, it's as natural as the grass grows. For a generation growing up in this world, at the heart of the modern opioid crisis, addiction isn't an abstraction, it's neighbours, parents, and friends. 'Family' could mean love, or reluctant foster…


Book cover of Those We Thought We Knew

Culley Holderfield Author Of Hemlock Hollow

From Culley's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Culley's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Culley Holderfield Why Culley loves this book

Joy offers an unflinching look at modern Appalachia through a compelling narrative that twists through a small, mountain town's dark shadows. Joy knows this place and these people. This brave telling brings to light the seen, yet often unnamed undercurrent of racial animosity that persists among those we think we know. This can be a hard read for what it stirs up. But it is all-too-relevant, a work of fiction ripped straight from the headlines, and as well-told a story as you'll see anywhere.

By David Joy ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Those We Thought We Knew as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winner of the 2023 Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction
Winner of the 2023 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award
Winner of the 2024 Sir Walter Raleigh Award

From award-winning writer David Joy comes a searing new novel about the cracks that form in a small North Carolina community and the evils that unfurl from its center.

Toya Gardner, a young Black artist from Atlanta, has returned to her ancestral home in the North Carolina mountains to trace her family history and complete her graduate thesis. But when she encounters a still-standing Confederate monument in the heart of town, she sets…


Book cover of Karla's Choice

Martin Ash Author Of Enchantment's Reach Volumes 1 & 2

From Martin's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Traveller Nature-lover Gamer Dreamer

Martin's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Martin Ash Why Martin loves this book

Writing a new John le Carré novel when you are not John le Carré would be a daunting task for any author. Maybe even more so when he happened to be your dad. But Nick Harkaway has risen impressively to the challenge. Karla’s Choice is a return to the murky labyrinthine world of international Cold War chicanery and espionage. Murder, betrayal, deceit, clandestine ops and geopolitics - George Smiley and the Circus are back. It’s as if John le Carré never left us.

By Nick Harkaway ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Karla's Choice as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A gripping new novel set in the universe of John le Carre's most iconic spy, George Smiley, written by acclaimed novelist Nick Harkaway

Set in the missing decade between two iconic instalments in the George Smiley saga, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Nick Harkaway's Karla's Choice is an extraordinary, thrilling return to the world of spy fiction's greatest writer, John le Carre.

It is spring in 1963 and George Smiley has left the Circus. With the wreckage of the West's spy war with the Soviets strewn across Europe, he has eyes only…


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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 Prince of Tides

Nancy Klann-Moren Author Of The Clock of Life

From my list on southern novels that aren't "To Kill a Mockingbird".

Why am I passionate about this?

There are places one feels at home, even though not from there. The South does that to me. I'm drawn to its exotic beauty—the magnolias and moss. It's deep porches and melodic accents. There is a degree of tranquility that hangs over it, veiling the repulsive scars of years of master-slave culture. The South is the perfect backdrop for the themes that appeal to me—coming-of-age, political unrest, and social activism. These excellent Southern novels below all place the reader deep in the culture.

Nancy's book list on southern novels that aren't "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Nancy Klann-Moren Why Nancy loves this book

Pat Conroy once said, "Great words arranged with cunning and artistry could change the perceived world of some readers." This book did that for me. Throughout the read, I felt wrapped in a velvet cloak of beauty and struggle woven by a master.   

Throughout the book, Conroy sets me in the narrator's struggle with how much someone can love their family despite the pain and anger they've caused. Especially with his mother, Lila, because he loves her as much as he hates her. It's a family epic of the highest order. I found it beautiful, brilliant, and brutal.

By Pat Conroy ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Pat Conroy's inspired masterpiece relates the dark and violent chronicle of an astounding family: the Wingos of Colleton, South Carolina. No reader will forget them. And no reader can remain untouched by their story.

All Wingos share one heritage ... shrimp fishing, poverty and the searing memory of a single terrifying event - the source of Tom Wingo's self-hatred and of his sister Savannah's suicidal despair.

To save himself and Savannah, Tom confronts the past with the help of New York psychologist Susan Lowenstein.

As Tom and Susan unravel the bitter history of his troubled childhood, in episodes of grotesque…


Book cover of Serena

Angela C. Halfacre Author Of A Delicate Balance: Constructing a Conservation Culture in the South Carolina Lowcountry

From my list on southern stories of nature and society.

Why am I passionate about this?

As an American Southerner, I know things that can be the most nurturing ever, but there's always a cost—emotional, physical, or other. The landscape and nature are where I can always go when I feel heartbroken. And my heart is renewed. Always. Being in tandem with nature calls me. It might be time to look a little closer. If we don't, we might lose more habitat and humanity. This topic or theme haunts me every day. This won't be all I write about, and I hope to have at least another five decades to see more. How amazing to have a sense of history while looking to the future? That walkabout is such a blessing.

Angela's book list on southern stories of nature and society

Angela C. Halfacre Why Angela loves this book

What can pain be when you are trying to be free? Who is safe from that when you are trying to be a compassionate person? This book will quell your questions. A girl with scares and scars. Do not be faint of heart on this one. And especially stay away from wells. Really. But also know there is that light that might free us all. 

By Ron Rash ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

George and Serena Pemberton arrive in the wilds of the North Carolina mountains to build a life together in a rural logging town. But Serena Pemberton is unlike any woman this town has ever seen: overseeing crews, hunting rattlesnakes and even saving her husband in the wilderness. So when Serena learns that she will never bear a child, she is determined that her intensely passionate marriage will not unravel. A course of events unfolds that will change the lives of everyone in their rural community and bring this riveting tale of love and revenge to its shocking reckoning.


Book cover of Moby-Dick

Mary Maurice Author Of The Dreams of Stellar Martin

From Mary's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Humorous Perceptive Articulate Kind Smart

Mary's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Mary Maurice Why Mary loves this book

Herman Melville's MOBY DICK is a story with a deep and rhythmic flow that swallows the reader into the depths of a man verses beast saga. The beauty of his words transfixes the story into one that emphasizes the confusing emotions of love and hate. Can one exist without the other? The novel takes a person into emotional turmoil as the quest to conquer rises above any common sense as Ahab throws his crew into an ill-fated adventure.

By Herman Melville ,

Why should I read it?

30 authors picked Moby-Dick as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Melville's tale of the whaling industry, and one captain's obsession with revenge against the Great White Whale that took his leg. Classics Illustrated tells this wonderful tale in colourful comic strip form, offering an excellent introduction for younger readers. This edition also includes a biography of Herman Melville and study questions, which can be used both in the classroom or at home to further engage the reader in the work at hand.


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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 Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

Michele C. Hollow Author Of Jurassic Girl: The Adventures of Mary Anning, Paleontologist and the First Female Fossil Hunter

From Michele's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Michele's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Michele C. Hollow Why Michele loves this book

I loved everything about this book, which was inspired by true events. I didn’t know about the Pack Horse Library initiative, which brought books, newspapers, and magazines to people in remote communities in Kentucky during the Great Depression.

The central character is Cussy Mary Carter, a 19-year-old librarian with a genetic condition that turned her skin blue. Blues, as they were called, often faced bigotry and were blamed for many problems in the community.

She faced fierce prejudice. That didn’t stop her. Her love of books and her determination to bring stories to people in isolated communities was stronger than her fears.

Carter believed books unite people from all walks of life and that literature leads to hope and change.
President Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) created this program to help lift Americans out of the Great Depression; by 1933, unemployment had risen to 40 percent in Appalachia. Carter…

By Kim Michele Richardson ,

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER
A LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER
AN OKRA PICK
The bestselling historical fiction from Kim Michele Richardson, this is a novel following Cussy Mary, a packhorse librarian and her quest to bring books to the Appalachian community she loves, perfect for readers of Lee Smith and Lisa Wingate. The perfect addition to your next book club!
The hardscrabble folks of Troublesome Creek have to scrap for everything-everything except books, that is. Thanks to Roosevelt's Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, Troublesome's got its very own traveling librarian, Cussy Mary Carter.
Cussy's not only…


Book cover of The Power and the Glory
Book cover of Judgment Prey
Book cover of Magic Hour

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