82 Books Like The Giants

When I first encountered Harry Dresden, a professional wizard solving a double homicide in Chicago, I was instantly hooked by its noir, fantasy, and traditional mystery with dollops of humor. This novel—the first in The Dresden File series—kept me engaged the entire time with a fast-moving plot and interesting characters.

I could see in my mind’s eye Chicago’s skyscrapers and their reflection in Lake Michigan as Harry dug deeper into the crimes and the supernatural world. This was my first urban fantasy read, and Butcher’s ability to blend a private investigator story with the supernatural ensured it was not my last.

This science fiction novel, written by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck under the pen name James S. A. Corey, was the beginning of the Expanse series (now totaling 9 novels and additional stories). It is one of the best space science fiction novels of the 21st century and became the basis for one of my favorite TV/streaming series, The Expanse.

The books dive deep into the political, social, and cultural complexities of sending humans to live on the Moon, Mars, and the asteroid belt, and it’s a nuanced reflection of our current ideas and ambitions when it comes to spaceflight. I am particularly drawn to the depiction of humans who, after multiple generations off Earth, consider their primary identity to be Martian.

Harry Potter has done wonders for young people's reading. But that’s not why I love the final book. We have a hero dueling against a villain, courageous allies united against evil, and supporting characters killed off because they’re not all that important, and someone has to die. So far, it's a typical fantasy.

But I love this book because for a whole bunch of eleven-year-old witches and wizards, this was their first year at Hogwarts, and everything goes to hell! And I love that. They’re caught between overwhelming forces, forced to fight when they hardly know how to swish a wand, and everything blows up at the end. If this isn’t a great example of what real life is like then I don’t know what is.

I love Western movies and TV shows. I don’t read as much in the genre unless we’re talking about modern Westerns. Craig Johnson’s Longmire series ranks among the best. As strong a protagonist as Sheriff Walt Longmire is, I find his sidekick Henry Standing Bear to be the real star.

The Cheyenne Nation, as Walt likes to call him, is as indispensable to the stories as Watson is to Sherlock Holmes. And the setting of the Wyoming Rockies makes me long for a road trip. With its strong characters and satisfying plot twists, this book drew me into the Longmire series from the first page.

Once you’ve opened yourself up, gotten a few instructions and are reminded that nothing is holding you back, you’re ready to connect with your own internal mechanisms. Hillman re-positions psychology in the context of soul-making, where it makes most sense and is most useful for us.

We get hung up on so many things, and Hillman fearlessly wades into every one of them with great intention. I think Hillman is one of the smartest, most perceptively radical writers not named Jung, and this book grapples with the uneasy humility that is creative work: your own soul-making.

I've always heard there are two sides to every story. Generally, this means a good side and a bad, or at least one with some sort of a redeeming perspective. But what does a person do when both sides are equally hellish? For Maiya, it means she truly is Daydream's Daughter and Nightmare's Friend. It seems as though the insufferable miseries will never end. This book is deeply emotional and compelling. The author describes the events in vivid detail creating a sense for the reader of being there in the midst of it all. The book immediately captures your attention, and page after page keeps you wondering what will happen next. An excellent story by an excellent author.

I bought this book on a whim, intrigued by the cover. It’s a hard-hitting, fast-paced thriller that is like nothing I’ve ever read before. The approach to the genre and the narrative was original, and this book single-handedly inspired me to start writing myself. I remember reading it and thinking, I could do something like this… but I would do it a little differently. I then found out the author was the first self-published author on Amazon to sell a million copies. That’s when I decided to start to write and publish my own work.

This book taught me that ultimately it’s up to you to make yourself happy and that we all have a right to be happy. 

I always say that this was the book that changed my life. It’s about a lady who reads a feature in a magazine about clutter clearing and starts doing it in her house, then realises that it’s her life that needs a huge overhaul, not just her house.

I wrote to the author after reading it and we’ve become firm friends with her being a huge inspiration to me in both my publishing and author journey. I would like to think that my books have similar messages, through a romantic comedy setting and plot. 

Over a number of decades, Schein has been one of the guiding thinkers in professional services and consultancy. His books are always worth reading as the advice is sounds and practical. In this book he talks about how it is better, and more productive, to help people by the practice of asking questions rather than giving answers. The model in the book goes completely against the stereotype of the consultant as a brash and overconfident individual pretending to be an expert who can tell anyone the answer to any question. Instead, Schein proposes a model that would be more familiar to those with a coaching background. It is brilliant advice.

David Brooks thinks deeply and writes thoughtfully. He challenges me through this book to be a better person and to live a more courageous, authentic life. 

As I conducted interviews with scores of social entrepreneurs and development leaders for my book, several commented on the toxic hero culture that exists in this space. 

People want to change the world for a variety of reasons–and some of these reasons have more to do with what success would do for them rather than for the people they are trying to serve. This book shines a light on this problem, and I appreciate David’s courage in writing what he did.