Here are 59 books that The Hero Code fans have personally recommended if you like The Hero Code. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of The Glass Castle

Babs Walters Author Of Facing the Jaguar

From my list on memorable memoirs of resilient women.

Why am I passionate about this?

Throughout my childhood and young adulthood, I escaped an abusive real life by reading stories that transported me away. They were written by female authors who seemed to speak directly to me. By their example, they told me to be brave and strong. To keep learning. They taught that if I rose to the challenges that presented themselves, I too would end up triumphant like them.

Babs' book list on memorable memoirs of resilient women

Babs Walters Why Babs loves this book

Walls’ recounts her unconventional childhood marked by poverty, instability, and the eccentric choices of her parents.

The memoir offers an unflinching but often tender portrait of a deeply flawed family and the complicated bonds of love and loyalty. Walls’s voice is both clear-eyed and compassionate as she revisits her past.

Wanting to make sense of my own dysfunctional family, I reread this book several times.

By Jeannette Walls ,

Why should I read it?

27 authors picked The Glass Castle as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Now a major motion picture starring Brie Larson, Naomi Watts and Woody Harrelson.

This is a startling memoir of a successful journalist's journey from the deserted and dusty mining towns of the American Southwest, to an antique filled apartment on Park Avenue. Jeanette Walls narrates her nomadic and adventurous childhood with her dreaming, 'brilliant' but alcoholic parents.

At the age of seventeen she escapes on a Greyhound bus to New York with her older sister; her younger siblings follow later. After pursuing the education and civilisation her parents sought to escape, Jeanette eventually succeeds in her quest for the 'mundane,…


If you love The Hero Code...

Ad

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 Educated: A Memoir

Babs Walters Author Of Facing the Jaguar

From my list on memorable memoirs of resilient women.

Why am I passionate about this?

Throughout my childhood and young adulthood, I escaped an abusive real life by reading stories that transported me away. They were written by female authors who seemed to speak directly to me. By their example, they told me to be brave and strong. To keep learning. They taught that if I rose to the challenges that presented themselves, I too would end up triumphant like them.

Babs' book list on memorable memoirs of resilient women

Babs Walters Why Babs loves this book

Raised in a survivalist family that rejected formal education and medical care, Westover never entered a classroom until age 17.

Her journey from rural Idaho to earning a PhD from Cambridge is a remarkable story of transformation through self-education, resilience, and the pursuit of truth, even when it means questioning your origins.

Like Westover’s father, my father held very strong beliefs separating us from others. But we both instinctively know there was more to life.

By Tara Westover ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

THE MULTI-MILLION COPY BESTSELLER

Selected as a book of the year by AMAZON, THE TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, NEW YORK TIMES, ECONOMIST, NEW STATESMAN, VOGUE, IRISH TIMES, IRISH EXAMINER and RED MAGAZINE

'One of the best books I have ever read . . . unbelievably moving' Elizabeth Day
'An extraordinary story, beautifully told' Louise O'Neill
'A memoir to stand alongside the classics . . . compelling and joyous' Sunday Times

Tara Westover grew up preparing for the end of the world. She was never put in school, never taken to the doctor. She did not even have a birth certificate…


Book cover of Teacher Man: A Memoir

Sherri Moshman-Paganos Author Of "Miss I Wish You a Bed of Roses: " Teaching Secondary School English in Greece

From my list on teachers who give their all to their students.

Why am I passionate about this?

I taught teenagers and young adults for 40 years. During these years, I always thought about what I could use to make my classroom an exciting place for learning. I would hear a new song about loneliness that I wanted to share with my students. Or I would think of a prompt they would laugh about in notebook writing. Too often, we take the dedication teachers give to their students for granted. I hope you enjoy the books on this list as much as I have and make you remember again a special teacher in your life who gave his/her all, and if you’re a teacher, here’s to you!

Sherri's book list on teachers who give their all to their students

Sherri Moshman-Paganos Why Sherri loves this book

I adored this book. I think every teacher should be given this book just to feel that although you might shut the door to the outside and be alone in the classroom with your students, you are not alone in what you face. This book convinced me that I needed to write my own teaching memoir. 

McCourt (author of Angela’s Ashes) and his sense of humor and creativity at times get him into trouble but eventually endear him not only to the students but also to the school administration. I might not have agreed with everything he described, but I was overwhelmingly delighted with his approach and his great rapport with his students. 

By Frank McCourt ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Nearly a decade ago Frank McCourt became an unlikely star when, at the age of sixty-six, he burst onto the literary scene with Angela's Ashes, the Pulitzer Prize -- winning memoir of his childhood in Limerick, Ireland. Then came 'Tis, his glorious account of his early years in New York.

Now, here at last, is McCourt's long-awaited book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. Teacher Man is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises…


If you love William H McRaven...

Ad

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 The Adjunct Professor's Complete Guide to Teaching College: How to Be an Effective and Successful Instructor

Susannah C. Richards Author Of A Work of Heart: Connecting with Kids in a Chaotic World

From my list on that are not required in college - but should be.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a young student, my goal was to be invisible. I was the child who hid between the time-honored cracks in the floorboards of the antiquated school where – decades earlier – my mother also attended. I resided between the cracks (BTC); the not-so-fancy term for those students who faintly prick the adult senses that something is amiss. How ironic as I fast-forward to my initial career decision, I actually chose to become a teacher, a daily life path in the very environment I once despised. Yet, former BTC membership caused me to seek out those silent, self-marginalized students to bring them out of the floorboards and into the daylight.

Susannah's book list on that are not required in college - but should be

Susannah C. Richards Why Susannah loves this book

After more than thirty years of teaching college students, Dr. “Tony” Fredericks put pen to paper to create a practical and solution-based guide for adjunct professors.

First, the reader is guided to establish best teaching practices for this specialized group of students. The author also provides countless tools as he details how to select a textbook and design a syllabus, define first-day teaching expectations, pose effective questions to propel stimulating discussions, and teach diverse populations of students.

Meticulously constructed, the author composes the text in a well-organized and easy-to-read format. As an aside, Dr. Tony Fredericks currently is the author of over one-hundred-seventy books, comprised as adult non-fiction books, children’s books, pre-service teacher books, and teacher resource books. Not too shabby. 

By Anthony Fredericks ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Adjunct Professor's Complete Guide to Teaching College as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Ancillary Army.  Freeway Flyers.  Roads Scholars.  Turnpike Teachers.  These are some of the nicknames given to part-time college teachers.  They may teach one or two courses at a single institution, or, in some cases, they may teach multiple courses at multiple institutions.  Often their office consists of the front seat of their car, and their desk is a cardboard box.  Their lunch is whatever they can grab at McDonalds while zipping through traffic to their next scheduled class.

For many, the thought of teaching one or two courses in their area of specialty is most appealing.  Not only does…


Book cover of Lawman

Allison M. Azulay Author Of Propositions and Proposals

From my list on romance in any style and era.

Why am I passionate about this?

I freely admit to reading romances―"Nurse Janes," as one of my teachers used to call them―whenever I need a break from heavier material or just from life. While I have some favorite authors (who doesn't?), I do not limit myself to any particular era or style of romance. To me, romance has many shades and flavours, and I enjoy them all. Believe you me, choosing just five to recommend was no piece of cake.

Allison's book list on romance in any style and era

Allison M. Azulay Why Allison loves this book

Lawman was my introduction to the novels of Diana Palmer, which have become my go-to for contemporary romance. Perhaps I found Lawman compelling because the heroine's history of trauma stirred some memories of my own. The taut thriller quality of the tale certainly kept me reading, as well. And a happy ending is a must, even if I want to slap a stubborn hero upside the head from time to time. (Well, yes, the heroine sometimes needs an attitude check, too.)

By Diana Palmer ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

When San Antonio FBI agent Garon Grier buys a ranch in Jacobsville, Texas, the strong, silent loner is hoping to mend some broken family fences. He's not looking for love. Grace Carver grew up in this quiet Texas town, but because of her troubled youth, she's never married—hadn't even thought about it…until Garon.

These unlikely allies are brought together by the most difficult case of Garon's career: hunting an escaped child predator whose former victims are all dead. All except one.

Now a desperate lawman and the woman who is the lone survivor of a madman's twisted rampage have one…


Book cover of Rejected Princesses: Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics

Gigi Griffis Author Of The Wicked Unseen

From my list on history for those who find history intimidating.

Why am I passionate about this?

I came to my passion for history later in life—when I realized I could trade in the endless date memorization I remembered from history class for an exploration of fierce lady pirates like Shek Yeung and unwilling empresses like Sisi of Austria. Historical stories that felt like thrillers, adventures, or mystery novels. Comedies. Tragedies. And most of all: books that didn’t require a history PhD to get swept up in the story. These are the books that made me fall in love with history, and they’re the kind of books I now write. I’m the author of three historical novels, all written first and foremost to sweep you away into a damn good story.

Gigi's book list on history for those who find history intimidating

Gigi Griffis Why Gigi loves this book

No list would be complete without the writer who changed my life. It was Jason’s blog (now turned into this book) that opened a whole new world of feminist history to me. 

The book is a collection of true stories of women from history who were probably a little too wild, too sketchy, or too murderous to make the Disney Princess cut. Each story is illustrated gorgeously and researched meticulously. It’s perfect for adults and also a great gift for any teenagers who you’d like to get more into history (because what teen doesn’t love the story of teen hell-raisers from the past?). 

By Jason Porath ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Blending the iconoclastic feminism of The Notorious RBG and the confident irreverence of Go the F**ck to Sleep, a brazen and empowering illustrated collection that celebrates inspirational badass women throughout history, based on the popular Tumblr blog. Well-behaved women seldom make history. Good thing these women are far from well behaved ...Illustrated in a contemporary animation style, Rejected Princesses turns the ubiquitous "pretty pink princess" stereotype portrayed in movies, and on endless toys, books, and tutus on its head, paying homage instead to an awesome collection of strong, fierce, and yes, sometimes weird, women: warrior queens, soldiers, villains, spies, revolutionaries,…


If you love The Hero Code...

Ad

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 High Deeds of Finn MacCool

Kieran Fanning Author Of Irish Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends

From my list on Irish fairytales, myths, and legends.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in Ireland, where I was surrounded by stories, modern and ancient. Irish myths and legends formed the basis of the history curriculum for most children beginning the subject. Irish children are incredibly familiar with "The Children of Lir" and legendary heroes like Cúchulainn – we even have a rollercoaster named after him in our only proper theme park! As a teacher, I continued to retell these stories to my young, receptive audiences. When I was given the opportunity to write my own book of fairy tales, myths, and legends, I jumped at the chance. The research, including the reading of the books on this page, was almost as much fun as writing my book! 

Kieran's book list on Irish fairytales, myths, and legends

Kieran Fanning Why Kieran loves this book

The renowned Rosemary Sutcliff examines the life and times of legendary hero, Finn MacCool in this modern and compelling book. Her descriptive writing and attention to detail makes the writing flow effortlessly across the page. The book doesn’t read like a collection of legends, but like a modern thriller. I highly recommend it, along with its companion book, The Hound of Ulster.

By Rosemary Sutcliff ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The High Deeds of Finn MacCool as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Set more than a thousand years ago in the soft green hills of Ireland, in a shifting time when enchanted creatures and the Fairy Kind still flickered in and out of the lives of men, the ancient stories of Finn MacCool and the brotherhood of the Fianna shimmer with magic. Here Rosemary Sutcliff breathes new life into adventures of these Irish heroes and their battles with strange and supernatural beings.


Book cover of America's White Table

Jeff Gottesfeld Author Of Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

From my list on for kids to inspire love for America.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve lived across America and have become acutely aware that our country, for all its checkered history, is the greatest multicultural experiment in the history of the planet, with a military that is a huge force for good. These beliefs were the impetus for my book, a book that has brought me into contact with people of all ages whose love for our country expresses itself in selfless service and sacrifice. They inspire me to be of service, too. Love for a nation that exists by social contract is not automatic. It has to be nurtured. I hope this booklist inspires kids and adults alike to cultivate that love. 

Jeff's book list on for kids to inspire love for America

Jeff Gottesfeld Why Jeff loves this book

I am also a sucker for rituals. We don’t have enough of them in this country, and this book is about a modern American ritual that makes me think about the specifics of American military service and why I should recall it. People will often ask me what they can do personally to help honor our service members.

When I read this book about why we have white tables, what their elements should be, and what each of those elements represents, I had a much better idea of the right response. If I were a kid, I would have a lot of questions by the time I finished reading this book, and that is a very good thing. 

By Margot Theis Raven , Mike Benny (illustrator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked America's White Table as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 6, 7, 8, and 9.

What is this book about?

The White Table is set in many mess halls as a symbol for and remembrance to service members fallen, missing, or held captive in the line of duty. Solitary and solemn, it is the table where no one will ever sit. As a special gift to her Uncle John, Katie and her sisters are asked to help set the white table for dinner. As their mother explains the significance of each item placed on the table Katie comes to understand and appreciate the depth of sacrifice that her uncle, and each member of the Armed Forces and their families, may…


Book cover of The Bad Guys

Chrissie Krebs Author Of Bizard the Bear Wizard

From my list on graphic reads for young reluctant readers.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a child, I was obsessed with comics, whether it was Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes, or the Far Side, I would devour every one I could get my hands on. I discovered the joy of observing two storylines – the one the writing was telling me and one that the pictures were telling me. As I became a teacher, I realized the importance of pictures and stories working together to keep students engaged. The resurgence of graphic novels has now been a focus for me in my pedagogy practices as well as my pathway as an author-illustrator. 

Chrissie's book list on graphic reads for young reluctant readers

Chrissie Krebs Why Chrissie loves this book

The Bad Guys series which chronicles the adventures of some stereotypically dangerous animals trying to do good and save the world pulled me in from page one.

You have humor (especially around bodily functions which always gets a giggle) and well-developed characters that are oftentimes naughty but incredibly likable. In the first episode, the book has been broken down into manageable chapters, the dialogue is not too lengthy and the high-paced illustrations communicate action and humor perfectly.

Young readers will certainly feel accomplished after completing this 144-page graphic novel.

By Aaron Blabey ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Bad Guys as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 7, 8, 9, and 10.

What is this book about?

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE!

"I wish I'd had these books as a kid. Hilarious!" -- Dav Pilkey, creator of Captain Underpants and Dog ManThis New York Times bestselling illustrated series is perfect for fans of Dog Man and Captain Underpants.They sound like bad guys, they look like bad guys . . . and they even smell like bad guys. But Mr. Wolf, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Snake, and Mr. Shark are about to change all of that...Mr. Wolf has a daring plan for the Bad Guys' first good mission. They are going to break two hundred dogs out of the…


If you love William H McRaven...

Ad

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 Catwoman: Soulstealer

Kate Berberich Author Of Picture Imperfect

From my list on unpredictable protagonists.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m going to date myself horribly here, but…I’m an old-school fan of the guy in the grey hat. Think Kerr Avon of Blake’s 7. The guy you could never quite predict. Or Han Solo until about halfway through The Empire Strikes Back. Are they going to do the right thing? Are they going to follow their heart? And it’s so satisfying when they do! Of course, it’s equally satisfying when they go right ahead and sucker punch the bad guy, ‘cuz hey—only the good guys give warnings, right?

Kate's book list on unpredictable protagonists

Kate Berberich Why Kate loves this book

Selina Kyle, AKA Catwoman, is probably my all-time favorite “Whose side is she really on?” character.

Soulstealer is a brilliant reimagining of Gotham City and its denizens. Catwoman will always be a thief, but it’s her motivations and her heroine’s journey that make her so interesting to me.

By Sarah J. Maas ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Catwoman 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?

Sizzling with action and suspense, #1 New York Times bestselling author SARAH J. MAAS delivers with this DC Icons coming-of-age Selina Kyle who will steal readers' hearts in the YA blockbuster: CATWOMAN!

DC ICONS IS NOW A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES!

"A Catwoman story with Maas' signature touch. . . . Devilish." --Entertainment Weekly

When the Bat's away, the Cat will play. It's time to see how many lives this cat really has.

Two years after escaping Gotham City's slums, Selina Kyle returns as the mysterious and wealthy Holly Vanderhees. She quickly discovers that with Batman off on a…


Book cover of The Glass Castle
Book cover of Educated: A Memoir
Book cover of Teacher Man: A Memoir

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,210

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in heroes, ethics, and the United States Navy?

Heroes 117 books
Ethics 151 books