Here are 18 books that The Correspondent fans have personally recommended if you like The Correspondent. 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 Midnight Library

Jordan Berk Author Of The Timestream Verdict

From my list on time travel as a therapy in disguise.

Why am I passionate about this?

The beauty of time travel stories is that under the tech, or the supernatural, they can be anything. And for me, they are everything. Paradoxes, puzzles, that oh-so-delicate space-time continuum: an infinite blank canvas for exploring human emotion, psychology, and choices. Just like everyone else, I have regrets, big and small, things that I wish I could change, sliding doors that may have taken me down the wrong fork in the road. With these books, each deeply personal and therapeutic in their own way, you may be able to see your own life choices anew, just like I did. Enjoy!

Jordan's book list on time travel as a therapy in disguise

Jordan Berk Why Jordan loves this book

Friendly tip: I do not recommend reading this novel while isolated from your family due to travel and illness, because this book hits hard in all the right ways.

It invites both the protagonist and the reader to explore the deepest wells of regret and the branching infinities that our life choices produce. In doing so, the novel beautifully confronts the seductive lure of “what could have been” while reminding us of the quiet beauty in what is.

As someone whose mind is often lost in the past or gazing into the future, this ultimate lesson of the book provided a much-needed sense of clarity.

By Matt Haig ,

Why should I read it?

40 authors picked The Midnight Library as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The #1 New York Times bestselling WORLDWIDE phenomenon

Winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction | A Good Morning America Book Club Pick | Independent (London) Ten Best Books of the Year

"A feel-good book guaranteed to lift your spirits."-The Washington Post

The dazzling reader-favorite about the choices that go into a life well lived, from the acclaimed author of How To Stop Time and The Comfort Book.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of…


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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 War and Peace

Judith Lissauer Cromwell Author Of Louise-Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun: Portrait of an Artist, 1755-1842

From Judith's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Judith's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Judith Lissauer Cromwell Why Judith loves this book

This is the second, or possibly third time I’ve read this gripping epic so I had some idea of the story, set in the revolutionary and war-ridden years immediately before and during Napoleon’s disastrous invasion of Russia, (1812) and the dramatic characters Tolstoy presents and makes his readers understand in such masterly fashion. Nonetheless, I found the readable new (Pevear and Volokhonsky) translation to be a page turner.

By Leo Tolstoy , Richard Pevear (translator) , Larissa Volokhonsky (translator)

Why should I read it?

14 authors picked War and Peace as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the award-winning translators of Anna Karenina and The Brothers Karamazov comes this magnificent new translation of Tolstoy's masterwork.

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

War and Peacebroadly focuses on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the most well-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves his family behind to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman who intrigues both…


Book cover of I Have Some Questions for You

winter

From Winter's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Winter loves this book

The characters' disintegration was so believable...no one was too good or too bad. I find that I like campus mysteries, and this one covers both school years and coming back in later life. I would definitely read other books by Makkai!

By Rebecca Makkai ,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked I Have Some Questions for You as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

**A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK FOR OPRAH DAILY, TIME, NPR, USA TODAY, BUSTLE, STAR TRIBUNE, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING AND MORE**

'Whip-smart and uncompromising' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

'Quietly riveting' IRISH TIMES

'It's the perfect crime' NEW YORKER

'Impressive and complex' GUARDIAN

'Addictive' OPRAH DAILY

The riveting new novel from the author of The Great Believers, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award

A successful film professor and podcaster, Bodie Kane is content to forget her past: the family tragedy that marred her adolescence, her four largely miserable years at a New Hampshire boarding school, and the 1995 murder…


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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 Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting: A Novel

jennifer10

From Jennifer's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Jennifer loves this book

So fun and touching. Rare to have a middle-aged woman as the main character. Highly recommend! I was giggling the whole way through and just fell in love with the characters and was so sad when the book ended. I wanted to hang with these people in real life!

By Clare Pooley ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting 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 Authenticity Project: Nobody ever talks to strangers on the train. It’s a rule. But what would happen if they did?

“A hilarious and sweet creation about a group of individuals who form a family with love at its core.” —USA Today

Every day Iona, a larger-than-life magazine advice columnist, travels the ten stops from Hampton Court to Waterloo Station by train, accompanied by her dog, Lulu. Every day she sees the same people, whom she knows only by nickname: Impossibly-Pretty-Bookworm and Terribly-Lonely-Teenager. Of course, they never speak. Seasoned commuters never do.…


Book cover of Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury

ck92bsce

From ck92bsce's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why ck92bsce loves this book

Wonderful remembrance of 1950s-1960s US, through the eyes of a historian.

By Drew Gilpin Faust ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A memoir of coming of age in a conservative Southern family in postwar America.

To grow up in the 1950s was to enter a world of polarized national alliances, nuclear threat, and destabilized social hierarchies. Two world wars and the depression that connected them had unleashed a torrent of expectations and dissatisfactions―not only in global affairs but in American society and Americans’ lives.

A privileged white girl in conservative, segregated Virginia was expected to adopt a willful blindness to the inequities of race and the constraints of gender. For Drew Gilpin, the acceptance of…


Book cover of The Cartographers

winter

From Winter's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Winter loves this book

I loved that it involved museums and mystery. I could never have predicted the existence of the alternate world, nor the development of the characters--esp the villain! I like science fiction that's rooted in the actual earth and is believable.

By Peng Shepherd ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'Exquisitely written ... Be prepared to be swept away on an incredible journey' Brad Thor, #1 bestselling author of Black Ice

'A story about magical maps that lead to your heart's desire [and] the people who would do anything to find them ... A vastly rich experience' Charles Soule, author of The Oracle Year

There are some maps you can lose yourself in...
Nell Young has lived her life in and around maps. Her father, Dr. David Young, was one of the most respected cartographers in the world. But this morning he was found dead - or murdered? - in…


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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 Birding to Change the World

Jeff Hardy Author Of Finding God in the Gulag: A History of Christianity in the Soviet Penal System

From Jeff's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Jeff's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Jeff Hardy Why Jeff loves this book

It's about birding and history and local politics and academia and enivronmental justice and social justice and Hurricane Katrina and so many other things, all bound together by the author's autobiographical narrative. Very informative and inspirational.

By Trish O'Kane ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Birding to Change the World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this uplifting memoir, a professor and activist shares what birds can teach us about life, social change, and protecting the environment.

Trish O'Kane never expected to be a birder. She was a world-traveled journalist with no science background who surprised herself in her forties by falling in love with birds. Cut to seventeen years later, and O'Kane is a highly qualified ornithologist who teaches at the University of Vermont and is the creator of the hugely popular course Birding to Change the World, on which this book is based.

It was a lone red cardinal and a bumptious cast…


Book cover of Raising Hare

Beth Haslam Author Of Fat Dogs and French Estates: Beyond the Forest Fringe

From my list on superbly written animal tales.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a lifelong animal lover who grew up on a country estate in North Wales and now lives in southwest France, where my husband and I care for a woodland domaine. 

Life at Le Palizac is anything but quiet: our forest is home to rambunctious wild boar, graceful deer, and a lively cast of smaller creatures. Our days are filled with forestry work and tending to an ever‑growing menagerie. As an author, I share stories from our wonderfully chaotic life whenever I can. We often end the day covered in dogs and cats, wondering where the hours went—and actually, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Beth's book list on superbly written animal tales

Beth Haslam Why Beth loves this book

A profoundly moving memoir.

Told with humility and grace, this story is recounted by the author, a high‑flying city professional whose life is transformed when she chooses to rescue and nurture a newborn hare.

As their unlikely bond deepens, the reader is taken on a journey of shared learning and raw emotion. I laughed, I was shocked, and at times I grieved. As someone who lives among animals, I recognised so many of Chloe Dalton’s feelings, and I was deeply impressed by her courage and compassion.

This book is a treasure.

By Chloe Dalton ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Raising Hare as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
SHORTLISTED FOR WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024
A TIMES and SPECTATOR BEST BOOK OF 2024
A WATERSTONES BEST NATURE WRITING BOOK OF 2024
A BOOKSHOP.ORG NATURAL HISTORY GIFT BOOK 2024

'A beautiful book' - ANGELINA JOLIE
'A glorious book - for its warmth, its precision, its joy' - KATHERINE RUNDELL
'I will be recommending this to everyone' - MATT HAIG

__

Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and lolloped around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your…


Book cover of The Instrumentalist

Cheryl Bulow

From Cheryl's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Cheryl loves this book

The depiction of Venice 1696 was atmospheric. Immersed in the world created by Constable.

By Harriet Constable ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

**THE PHENOMENAL TOP TEN BESTSELLER**

'An absorbing story of musical rivalry and ambition' SUNDAY TIMES, Best historical fiction
'Enthralling, passionate, vivid. The Instrumentalist is a marvel' KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE
'Historical fiction as it should be written' MAIL ON SUNDAY
'A captivating narrative as tightly tuned as a thriller' DAILY TELEGRAPH
'A compassionate coming-of-age tale ... Constable understands the power music has to sustain us' OBSERVER
_________________________________________

Anna Maria may have no name, no fortune, no family. But she has her ambition, and her talent.

Her best hope lies in her teacher, Antonio Vivaldi. Soon she is his star pupil.

But…


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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 Sunrise on the Reaping

Kristin Boyd Zeckman

From Kristin Boyd's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Kristin Boyd loves this book

Haymitch is an incredible character. You already know his story, but it’s still worth the read.

By Suzanne Collins ,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Sunrise on the Reaping as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

"Sunrise on the Reaping is a propulsive, heart-wrenching
addition to The Hunger Games, adding welcome
texture to the cruel world of Panem . This is the project of dystopian
fiction: to shine a light in tyranny's greasiest corners
and show how people - ordinary, determined human beings - might take
it apart" - New York Times

"Collins is an excellent writer, and there are
moments of surprising lyricism . Sunrise on the Reaping contains
enough both to snare new readers and to satisfy the most bloodthirsty
fan" - Guardian

When you've been set up to lose everything you love,
what…


Book cover of The Midnight Library
Book cover of War and Peace
Book cover of I Have Some Questions for You

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