Here are 23 books that The Fresco fans have personally recommended if you like
The Fresco.
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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.
"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…
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…
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,
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…
Reading was my one true refuge in a childhood marked by uncertainty and chaos, which was also my gateway to writing; I wanted to create the kinds of stories that also saved me, and I found the novel to be my form. Fortunately, I grew up a feral GenXer in Northern California in the 70s and 80s, before computers and video games were handheld, with plenty of time to dream. I was drawn to fierce and outspoken characters, girls and women standing up against powerful forces, and parallel or alternate realities where bad guys are beaten. I hope you’ll find power and inspiration in the badass protagonist of these books!
I’m just a sucker for books where characters who don’t seem to have power or agency within their society wind up sneakily subverting power for their own ends while letting the “power-hungry” think they are in charge.
In this case, women once again have figured out a way to get what they want and essentially take down patriarchy (in a dystopian setting) without using the tools of the aggressor. It’s a surprising, potent, and beautiful book (though there are some outdated concepts/ideologies, given that it was published in 1988).
THE GATE TO WOMEN'S COUNTRY tells of a society that exists three hundred years after our own has nearly destroyed itself. Now, male warriors are separated from women at an early age and live in garrisons plotting futilely for the battles which must never be fought again. Inside the women's towns, education, arts and science flourish. But for some like Stavia, there is more to see. Her sojourn with the man she is forbidden to love brings into sharp focus the contradictions that define their lives.
And when tragedy strikes, Stavia is faced with a decision she never thought she…
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…
I’m drawn to science fiction that forces characters to confront the limits of their own understanding, especially when faced with someone labeled as an enemy. These are the stories that taught me how fragile judgment can be, and how costly it is to mistake difference for threat. I return again and again to books where communication across cultures, species, or systems is difficult, incomplete, and often arrives too late. What fascinates me most is not conflict itself, but the moral effort required to truly see the other. These novels shaped how I think about empathy, memory, and responsibility, and they continue to influence the kinds of stories I write.
Reading this book reminded me that understanding another person is a continuous struggle, and that we lose the most when we mistake appearances for truth. Even for someone like Genly, an emissary whose role is to bridge cultures, truly understanding Estraven proves painfully difficult.
What stayed with me was the tragedy of that gap: how insight often arrives too late.
Estraven’s sacrifice, made so that Genly could reach safety, and Genly’s decision to visit Estraven’s family afterward, left me with a lingering sense that remembrance itself carries moral weight. Sometimes understanding cannot undo loss, but memory—how the living choose to carry it—can still salvage a trace of good from tragedy.
Le Guin’s novel taught me that empathy is not a destination, but an act that must be fought for, again and again.
50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION-WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY DAVID MITCHELL AND A NEW AFTERWORD BY CHARLIE JANE ANDERS
Ursula K. Le Guin's groundbreaking work of science fiction-winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards.
A lone human ambassador is sent to the icebound planet of Winter, a world without sexual prejudice, where the inhabitants' gender is fluid. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters...
Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an…
One of the very best must-read novels of all time - with a new introduction by Roddy Doyle
'A well told tale signifying a good deal; one to be read again and again' THE TIMES
'The book I wish I had written ... It's so far away from my own imagination, I'd love to sit at my desk one day and discover that I could think and write like Ursula Le Guin' Roddy Doyle
'Le Guin is a writer of phenomenal power' OBSERVER
The Principle of Simultaneity is a scientific breakthrough which will revolutionize interstellar civilization by making possible instantaneous…
I’ve
been wanting to dive more deeply into Ted Chiang’s fiction since seeing the
movie Arrival and reading his essays in The New Yorker. This
collection did not disappoint.
I happened to be reading it in the hours and
days after the birth of my second child, stealing minutes to do so while breast pumping.
I kept remarking to my husband, “This man’s mind…his mind!” Dazzling. And
when, a few days after birth, our baby had a serious health scare, the message
of “The Story of Your Life”—that if given the chance to see a horrible future
in which you outlive your child, you’d make that baby anyway—gave me the
strangest, most profound comfort.
'A science fiction genius . . . Ted Chiang is a superstar.' - Guardian
With Stories of Your Life and Others, his masterful first collection, multiple-award-winning author Ted Chiang deftly blends human emotion and scientific rationalism in eight remarkably diverse stories, all told in his trademark precise and evocative prose.
From a soaring Babylonian tower that connects a flat Earth with the firmament above, to a world where angelic visitations are a wondrous and terrifying part of everyday life; from a neural modification that eliminates the appeal of physical beauty, to an alien language that challenges our very perception of…
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…
I read this book decades ago and although I never forgot how it startled me, I had forgotten the basic plot and premise. It made me recognize that the power of a compelling book is the feelings you remember, not necessarily the plot.
One of America's greatest writers gives us his unique perspective on our fears of nuclear annihilation
Experiment.
Told with deadpan humour and bitter irony, Kurt Vonnegut's cult tale of global destruction preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon and, worse still, surviving it.
Solution.
Dr Felix Hoenikker, one of the founding fathers of the atomic bomb, has left a deadly legacy to the world. For he is the inventor of ice-nine, a lethal chemical capable of freezing the entire planet. The search for its whereabouts leads to Hoenikker's three eccentric children, to a crazed dictator in the Caribbean, to…
I’m a pragmatist and a problem-solver. As a student of innovation, I draw inspiration from a risk-taker’s approach to attacking a problem. I’ve changed my life drastically from a farmland kid to a global technology CEO and then author. Along the way, I’ve had opportunities to struggle. I’ve found conventional wisdom seldom fixes the problem, so I’ve refined the ability to look for unique paths. I believe women provide the best examples to learn from because they don’t walk into the room bluffing their way to the solution. They credit the resources they tapped for their solution and bring others along in the journey to raise the education level.
Shocking reversal of fortunes exposes the lines of assumed gender-based reactions to power and human reactions to power. (Pun intended)
I’m fascinated by both the format Alderman used to tell her story and the way she exposed me to the psychology of human nature. I aspire to this level of storytelling.
I realized the reason men and other demographics of power fear women or other minorities gaining power is that they understand the underbelly of decisions made from positions of power. They’re scared of the tables being turned. Those people might escalate their fear to terror if they see how clearly we see their actions and consider using them ourselves.
WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S BEST BOOKS OF 2017
'Electrifying' Margaret Atwood
'A big, page-turning, thought-provoking thriller' Guardian
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All over the world women are discovering they have the power. With a flick of the fingers they can inflict terrible pain - even death. Suddenly, every man on the planet finds they've lost control.
The Day of the Girls has arrived - but where will it end?
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'The Hunger Games crossed with The Handmaid's Tale' Cosmopolitan
'I loved it; it was visceral, provocative and curiously pertinent . . . The story has stayed…
My passion for mythic stories began as early as the age of five, when my father had me tested and found I was reading over two hundred words a minute. He quickly saw the need to feed my thirsty young mind and placed epic fantasy books (most beyond my comprehension) in my tiny hands. As for my absorption with stories that impact the soul, I'd have to say my strongest interest came from my need for it. That need has shaped me and shaped my writing, much more than any list of qualifications, which include being a licensed minister, a professional pianist and cinematic composer, and now a published author.
This book was like a fisherman with bait on the hook. I was the fish; the fantasy setting and the author’s magnificent ability with words were the bait.
Mary Stewart was, of course, the sportswoman out to snag something in my soul. I was prepared to be entertained, but the story carried a surprising amount of weight, asking questions like What do we live for? Can humanity ever be enough? Merlin came into an understanding of his place in the world — not through romance or fantasy adventures as we so typically read — but through internal revelation.
With his journey, I was invited into soulful reflection and some uncomfortable truths of my own. In the end, I decided Mary Stewart knew very well what she was doing. The stinker.
Vivid, enthralling, absolutely first-class - Daily Mail
So begins the story of Merlin, born the illegitimate son of a Welsh princess in fifth century Britain, a world ravaged by war. Small and neglected, with his mother unwilling to reveal his father's identity, Merlin must disguise his intelligence - and hide his occasional ability to know things before they happen - in order to keep himself safe.
While exploring the countryside near his home, Merlin stumbles across a cave filled with books and papers and hiding a room lined with crystals. It is…
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…
Hi, I’m E.C. Glynn. I love writing stories that tackle the messiness of religious societies and belief systems through a fantasy lens. What qualifies me for such an endeavour? Well, with a Master's in International Relations, a decade as a Recovering Catholic, a career as an Officer in the Army, and an unhealthy fascination with cults, I think that’s not a bad place to start for developing a nuanced and interesting perspective on the topic. I am a very picky reader and need to read books that have beautiful prose, interesting worlds, complex and convoluted concepts, and believable dialogue to enjoy my reading experience.
I read this book over a decade ago, and it still has its claws in me.
The writing prose is lyrical and gorgeous. The world-building, centered around a blend of Christianity and Jewish cultures and religions, is beautiful and spellbinding. The characters are each so creatively written, and the sex – oh my god – is just both tastefully and devastatingly written.
This book is a cult classic. I have recommended it to others so many times over the years.
The lush epic fantasy that inspired a generation with a single precept: Love As Thou Wilt
The first book in the Kushiel's Legacy series is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. A world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, deposed rulers and a besieged Queen, a warrior-priest, the Prince of Travelers, barbarian warlords, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess...all seen through the unflinching eyes of an unforgettable heroine.
A nation born of angels, vast and intricate and surrounded by danger... a woman born to servitude, unknowingly given access to the secrets of the realm...
