Here are 73 books that The Empusium fans have personally recommended if you like The Empusium. 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 Windswept

K F

From K's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why K loves this book

I liked all the stories about women walking.

By Kaitlin Bellamy ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Windswept as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 13, 14, 15, and 16.

What is this book about?

"Somewhere to the north, something terrible was happening. In the same way that he could smell the snow, and the same way he knew when the caravan would arrive, he could feel something in the air. A fire, in some town a day or so away. And there was a hint of fear in the air, the wild panic of a trapped animal before the slaughter."

The wind has always spoken to Fox, but it was just instinct, wasn't it? Not a god's Blessing ... not magic. But his powers are growing, and soon, he cannot ignore it anymore: he…


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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 When I Sing, Mountains Dance

K F

From K's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why K loves this book

There are some chapters written from a natures point of view, one chapter is written from a storms point of view, another from a mushrooms point of view.

By Irene Sola ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked When I Sing, Mountains Dance as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Sola pushes past the limits of human experience to tell a story of instinct and earth-time that is irresistible in its jagged glory." - C Pam Zhang, author of How Much of These Hills is Gold

When Domenec - mountain-dweller, father, poet, dreamer - dies suddenly, struck by lightning, he leaves behind two small children, Mia and Hilari, to grow up wild among the looming summits of the Pyrenees and the ghosts of the Spanish civil war.

But then Hilari dies too, and his sister is forced to face life's struggles and joys alone. As the years tumble by, the…


Book cover of Nuclear War: A Scenario

Leo McCann Author Of The Paramedic at Work: A Sociology of a New Profession

From Leo's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Leo's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Leo McCann Why Leo loves this book

Annie Jacobsen is an acute observer of the absurdities of the defence industry. In this timely and very lively book, she turns her attention to the issue of nuclear catastrophe. Like movies such as 'Fail Safe', she narrates 'A Scenario', which, while at times stretching credulity, is highly readable. Her writing style is spare and precise, creating a fast-paced narrative that is difficult to put down. The terrible scenes of destruction, and the decisions and reactions that are put in motion by the various 'programs' and 'operational plans' are horribly vivid, and difficult to purge from memory. While I'm sure many experts in nuclear operations and strategy will deny that such a 'Scenario' could ever develop (could a diesel-powered North Korean sub really get to within striking range of the West Coast of the U.S.?), the book is a great contribution to literature on the horrific prospect of nuclear war…

By Annie Jacobsen ,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked Nuclear War 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 Modern Nature

Hugh Warwick Author Of Cull of the Wild: Killing in the Name of Conservation

From Hugh's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Hugh's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Hugh Warwick Why Hugh loves this book

I should have read this years ago - it was originally published in 1991 - but just had not got around to it ... and then I found a copy in a secondhand bookshop and wow - magical, moving - nature, yes, but so much more as this amazing artist builds his garden in the wildness of Dungeness. I had the pleasure of meeting him around the time this book came out - I was looking for hedgehogs (no surprise there) and was knocking on doors. He was charming and a little bemused. The world lost a supreme artist when he died.

By Derek Jarman ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Derek Jarman tells the story of his discovery that he is HIV+ and, in a series of flashbacks, looks at his life - his difficult relationship with his father, his discovery of his homosexuality and the dramatic exposure of his first homosexual relationship, his university days and his coming out at art school in the company of contemporaries such as David Hockney and Patrick Proctor. He goes on to describe his early work as a stage designer , his affair with Robert Mapplethorpe and his early encouragement of David Lynch. The cast list also includes Francis Bacon, Andy Warhol, Kenneth…


Book cover of Creation Lake

Jacinta Halloran Author Of Dissection

From Jacinta's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Jacinta's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Jacinta Halloran Why Jacinta loves this book

Such an original concept

By Rachel Kushner ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

From Rachel Kushner, Booker Prize finalist and two-time National Book Award finalist, comes a new novel about a seductive and cunning American woman who infiltrates an anarchist collective in France

'The most exciting writer of her generation' BRET EASTON ELLIS

'Reinvents the spy novel in one cool, erudite gesture' HERNAN DIAZ

'Compulsively readable... Kill Bill written by John le Carre' OBSERVER

Sadie Smith - a thirty-four-year-old American undercover agent of ruthless tactics and bold opinions - is sent by her mysterious but powerful employers to a remote corner of France. Her mission: to infiltrate a commune of radical eco-activists influenced…


Book cover of Prophet

Hugh Warwick Author Of Cull of the Wild: Killing in the Name of Conservation

From Hugh's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Hugh's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Hugh Warwick Why Hugh loves this book

Helen Macdonald's is famous for H is for Hawk - a groundbreaking piece of writing about nature ... I am sure I was one of many eager to see what came next. When I met her at an event Helen was a little reserved when I asked about the next book ... 'oh, I don't know whether it will be your sort of thing,' they said ... well it could not be more different. Prophet is a fast paced techno-thriller and is so good that I nearly wet myself... seriously, I was so absorbed that for the first time in many years I realised (almost) too late that I was desperate! No point in trying to share much of the plot, it is so original ... happy memories getting weaponised with lethal consequences... oh - just read it.

By Helen Macdonald , Sin Blaché ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Prophet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

YOUR HAPPIEST MEMORY IS THEIR DEADLIEST WEAPON


'Prophet is a blast' Sunday Times

'Brilliant. Hypnotically enthralling... I loved it' CHRIS WHITAKER

***

A mysterious event
An all-American diner appears overnight in a remote British field. More and more objects materialise: toys, fairground rides, pets and other treasured mementos of the past.

A weapon like no other
The deaths quickly follow. A devastating weapon - Prophet - is bringing these memories to life, then stifling innocent people with their own joy. But nobody knows who created it, or why.

A fight for the future
Sunil Rao and Adam Rubenstein are tasked…


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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 Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

Abhinaba Mitra

From Abhinaba's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Unknown Author Why Abhinaba loves this book

The witty writing is extraordinary

By Olga Tokarczuk , Antonia Lloyd-Jones (translator) ,

Why should I read it?

15 authors picked Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

With DRIVE YOUR PLOW OVER THE BONES OF THE DEAD, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Olga Tokarczuk returns with a subversive, entertaining noir novel. In a remote Polish village, Janina Duszejko, an eccentric woman in her sixties, recounts the events surrounding the disappearance of her two dogs. She is reclusive, preferring the company of animals to people; she's unconventional, believing in the stars; and she is fond of the poetry of William Blake, from whose work the title of the book is taken. When members of a local hunting club are found murdered, Duszejko becomes involved in the investigation. By…


Book cover of Flights

Clifford Garstang Author Of The Last Bird of Paradise

From Clifford's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Fiction writer Globalist Lawyer Philosopher Seeker

Clifford's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Clifford Garstang Why Clifford loves this book

The author's literary style of writing is brilliant and the themes she addresses in the book are both curious and significant.

By Olga Tokarczuk , Jennifer Croft (translator) ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
 
WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST FOR TRANSLATED LITERATURE

A visionary work of fiction by "A writer on the level of W. G. Sebald" (Annie Proulx)

"A magnificent writer." — Svetlana Alexievich, Nobel Prize-winning author of Secondhand Time

"A beautifully fragmented look at man's longing for permanence.... Ambitious and complex." — Washington Post

From the incomparably original Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk, Flights interweaves reflections on travel with an in-depth exploration of the human body, broaching life, death, motion, and migration. Chopin's heart is carried back to Warsaw in…


Book cover of The Books of Jacob

Gordan Djurdjevic Author Of India and the Occult

From Gordan's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Gordan's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Gordan Djurdjevic Why Gordan loves this book

Fascinating characters and a great writing style.

By Olga Tokarczuk , Jennifer Croft (translator) ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In the mid-eighteenth century, as new ideas begin to sweep the continent, a young Jew of mysterious origins arrives in a village in Poland. Before long, he has changed not only his name but his persona; visited by what seem to be ecstatic experiences, Jacob Frank casts a charismatic spell that attracts an increasingly fervent following. In the decade to come, Frank will traverse the Hapsburg and Ottoman empires, throngs of disciples in his thrall as he reinvents himself again and again, converts to Islam and then Catholicism, is pilloried as a heretic and revered as the Messiah, and wreaks…


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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 Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

Aymar Jean Escoffery Author Of Reparative Media

From my list on finding your personal AI: Ancestral Intelligence.

Why am I passionate about this?

I used to think of television as a third parent. As a child of immigrants, I learned a lot about being an American from the media. Soon, I realized there were limits to what I could learn because media and tech privilege profit over community. For 20 years, I have studied what happens when people decide to make media outside of corporations. I have interviewed hundreds of filmmakers, written hundreds of blogs and articles, curated festivals, juried awards, and ultimately founded my own platform, all resulting in four books. My greatest teachers have been artists, healers, and family—chosen and by blood—who have created spaces for honesty, vulnerability, and creative conflict.

Aymar's book list on finding your personal AI: Ancestral Intelligence

Aymar Jean Escoffery Why Aymar loves this book

This book helped me release shame after a colleague of mine told me my work wasn’t “science.”

Here’s the truth: to create a healing platform, I needed to tap into ways of thinking that academia sees as “woo woo” and “savage.” I looked to the stars. I meditated. I did rituals and read myths.

Dr. Kimmerer, trained as a traditional botanist, realized that the Indigenous myths and stories she was told as a child contained scientific knowledge passed down for generations by her tribe.

She realized there were scientific truths her community knew for millennia that traditional scientists only discovered within the last 100 years. This is the power of Ancestral Intelligence, disregarded by the same science that ultimately created AI.

What stories, fables, and myths have taught you valuable lessons about the world?

By Robin Wall Kimmerer ,

Why should I read it?

59 authors picked Braiding Sweetgrass as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Called the work of "a mesmerizing storyteller with deep compassion and memorable prose" (Publishers Weekly) and the book that, "anyone interested in natural history, botany, protecting nature, or Native American culture will love," by Library Journal, Braiding Sweetgrass is poised to be a classic of nature writing. As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer asks questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces indigenous teachings that consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers. Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take "us on a journey that is…


Book cover of Windswept
Book cover of When I Sing, Mountains Dance
Book cover of Nuclear War: A Scenario

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