34 Books Like The Lioness

This novel was an immersive journey through the English countryside, from Cornwall to the Cotswolds. I was so deep into this setting and story that I was always stunned to look up and see that I was at home in my own living room. Rosamunde Pilcher is from Scotland, and she knows this landscape so well. She takes us there with deft prose and page-turning skill. 

The story is about a woman named Penelope Keeling and her extended family. It is a novel of connections—mothers, daughters, husbands, and lovers—all revolving around a famous painting called The Shell Seekers. Through a bohemian childhood and a wartime romance, we come to love the complicated Keeling family. 

I’ve only been to Paris one time, but I feel as if I’ve been many times because I toured this city with Paula McLain and the story of Hadley Hemingway, Ernest’s first and most beloved wife. From the cafes to the cobbled streets to the parlors and apartments, I was engrossed. 

This is the wild story of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife. Hadley was a quiet twenty-eight-year-old woman who had given up on love until she met Ernest. Their whirlwind romance was ill-prepared for the fast living of Jazz Age Paris. It is a beautiful portrayal of love and loyalty, of art and heartbreak. 

Julia Whalen is also a renowned audiobook narrator, and I listened to this book in her melodic voice, being carried to Oxford. Julia attended Oxford for a year, and she takes us there in this beautiful story.

The story is about a young American woman named Ella Durran who has made it to Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship. Through twists and turns, Ella must decide whether to turn her back on the man she’s falling in love with or follow her political dreams, which are coming true. Can we change our dreams? Read to find out. 

This gorgeous and page-turning novel is mostly set in Australia, a place I’ve never been in real life, but Kate’s novel transported me there through imagery and language. I feel like I could walk straight into that setting and feel as if I’d been there before. 

The story is about a young journalist named Jess who is in search of a story. Jess is summoned back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother is ill in the hospital. What Jess discovers there about a baffling murder in the small town of Tambilla will upend her life. 

The Compass Rose is certainly less well-known than many other Ursula K. Le Guin books, but I think it’s a fantastic example of a book that takes you to unexpected places. It’s a fascinating and varied collection, but my favorite piece by far is “The Author of the Acacia Seeds and Other Extracts from the Journal of the Association of Therolinguistics.” It starts out wonderfully nerdy and weird, with a scholar’s detailed reporting of the “writings” of an ant as written, using touch-gland exudation, on seeds in an anthill. From there it gets weirder, and more esoteric, until it lands in a place sweeping and unimaginable. It’s one of those stories that did something a story had never done to me before, and because of that, it holds a very special place in my heart.

Gideon Sterer is my co-author and it is a pleasure to work with him! He is a fellow upstate New York native, and has been an active member of the community with his lovely children’s books.

This book provides children with a fun, aesthetically pleasing story about sharing. Great for children who love animals! 

I knew I’d love this book as soon as I read the first few lines. “Congratulations on your new lion! We know you ordered a kitten, but we ran out of those.” This hilarious how-to book provides the main character with all the instructions they need to care for their purrrrfect pet. The straightforward text pairs perfectly with the comical illustrations to show the chaotic reality of caring for an oversized feline friend. As someone whose own pets have brought both enormous destruction and enormous love, I found myself rooting for this fierce friendship. There are also tons of hilarious details in the illustrations. The pizza flavors alone will leave kids laughing and begging for more. This picture book is a roaring good time! 

A Lion in Paris is the story about a Lion who moves to Paris to find a job, love, and a future. The book is a beautiful portrayal of what it’s like to be a stranger in a new city, especially one as big and busy as Paris.  You may feel a bit lonely at first, but with time you’ll be able to find your own special place. 

This book is motivated by the global uproar over the killing of Cecil, an African lion, by an American trophy hunter. The author is the researcher who made it his purpose to learn about lions from Cecil’s life and about humans’ relationships with lions through Cecil’s death.

I love the book for demonstrating the power that is unleashed when we care enough to name a wild animal, and that caring is reinforced by subsequently discovering that they have story-filled lives. The book warmed my heart when I found the book’s author–who has the felt responsibility and privilege of telling these stories–to be as lion-hearted as Cecil. 

This powerful graphic novel illustrates—literally and figuratively—the many casualties of religious conflict. Set in Baghdad in 2003 and told from the perspective of a pride of lions, this book captures the struggle for survival, the loss of innocence, and the collateral damage inflicted by war. A clear allegory, this book has proven an excellent teaching tool. The Pride of Baghdad raises important questions about clashing viewpoints, loyalty, sectarian violence, the true price of war, and who, ultimately, pays it. Although narrated by four lions, the story offers a heartbreakingly realistic glimpse into Iraq during the US-led invasion, the consequences of which reverberate still. As I watch the terrible events playing out daily in Ukraine, my mind drifts back to this book, and I am reminded that past is prologue. We are witnesses right now. And may we all be on the right side of history.