Here are 6 books that The Names fans have personally recommended if you like The Names. 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 Excellent Women

Fran Hawthorne Author Of Her Daughter

From Fran's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Museum guide Foreign language student Runner Community activist Former health-care journalist

Fran's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Fran Hawthorne Why Fran loves this book

Beneath the descriptions of what would seem the drab life of a drab woman in shabby postwar England, author Barbara Pym dings with just one or two carefully chosen words. She can say paragraphs with one adjective, or one person's hand reaching for a cup of tea. (Honestly, I think she's better at this subtle revelation than Jane Austen.)

I also was fascinated by the portrait of a time and place I really haven't reach much about. Finally, it was that gut-punch of an endingOh!!

By Barbara Pym ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Cover design by Orla Kiely Mildred Lathbury is one of those 'excellent women' who is often taken for granted. She is a godsend, 'capable of dealing with most of the stock situations of life - birth, marriage, death, the successful jumble sales, the garden fete spoilt by bad weather'. As such, though, she often gets herself embroiled in other people's lives - and especially those of her glamorous new neighbours, the Napiers, whose marriage seems to be on the rocks. One cannot take sides in these matters, though it is tricky, especially when Mildred, teetering on the edge of spinsterhood,…


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Book cover of The High House

The High House by James Stoddard,

The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.

The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.

Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…

Book cover of Sea of Tranquility

Fran Hawthorne Author Of Her Daughter

From Fran's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Museum guide Foreign language student Runner Community activist Former health-care journalist

Fran's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Fran Hawthorne Why Fran loves this book

I was blown away by the complicated interweaving of times and story lines. The more I read, the more I had to rethink what I thought had happened earlier in the book (which might have actually happened later in the book's twisty, five-century timeline). Even the smallest details were carefully planted.

And it wasn't just the craft and plotting that were awesome: All of the individual stories were interesting in themselves. Underneath them allwhether in 1912 or 2401these were people trying to find their place in the world.

By Emily St. John Mandel ,

Why should I read it?

10 authors picked Sea of Tranquility as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The award-winning, best-selling author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel returns with a novel of art, time travel, love, and plague that takes the reader from Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon five hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and space.

One of the Best Books of the Year: The New York Times, NPR, GoodReads

“One of [Mandel’s] finest novels and one of her most satisfying forays into the arena of speculative fiction yet.” —The New York Times

Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old…


Book cover of The Bee Sting

Catherine Hokin Author Of The Secret Locket

From Catherine's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Cold War afficionado Movie buff Dreamer Lover of black hole research German speaker

Catherine's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Catherine Hokin Why Catherine loves this book

The structure is very clever and highly entertaining to read. All the characters are equally well drawn so you care about all of their stories. The end is superb.

By Paul Murray ,

Why should I read it?

17 authors picked The Bee Sting as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION 2023
WINNER OF AN POST IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WRITERS' PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR THE KERRY GROUP NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2024
ONE OF SARAH JESSICA PARKER'S BEST BOOKS OF 2023

Book of the Year 2023 according to New York Times, New Yorker, The Sunday Times, The Economist, Observer, Guardian, Washington Post, Lit Hub, TIME magazine, Irish Times, The Oldie, Daily Mail, i Paper, Independent, The Standard, The Times, Kirkus, Daily Express, City A.M.

'A tragicomic triumph. You won't…


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Book cover of The Guardian of the Palace

The Guardian of the Palace by Steven J. Morris,

The Guardian of the Palace is the first novel in a modern fantasy series set in a New York City where magic is real—but hidden, suppressed, and dangerous when exposed.

When an ancient magic begins to leak into the world, a small group of unlikely allies is forced to act…

Book cover of The Wedding People

Jennifer Salvato Doktorski Author Of Finding Normal

From Jennifer's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Jennifer's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Jennifer Salvato Doktorski Why Jennifer loves this book

I loved the crisp, witty dialogue and laugh-at-loud moments. Espach elevates the “outsider at the wedding” set up and continues to surprise the reader as we get drawn deeper into these characters lives.

By Alison Espach ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A Today Show #ReadwithJenna Book Club Pick

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming…


Book cover of Wild Dark Shore

Caroline Ebinger

From Caroline's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Unknown Author Why Caroline loves this book

Covers both climate and biodiversity loss masterfully. A beautiful, devastating, relatable book.

By Charlotte McConaghy ,

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked Wild Dark Shore as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world's largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers. But with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants, packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Despite the wild beauty, isolation has taken its toll on the Salts. Raff, eighteen and suffering his first heartbreak, can only find relief at his punching bag; Fen, seventeen, has…


Book cover of Zeal

Unknown Author

By Morgan Jerkins ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Named a Most Anticipated Book by Washington Post, People, Time

"A beautiful tale." -Jason Reynolds, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Twenty-four Seconds from Now

The New York Times bestselling author of This Will Be My Undoing and Caul Baby returns with an epic, multi-generational novel that illuminates the legacy of slavery and the power of romantic love.

Harlem, 2019. Ardelia and Oliver are hosting their engagement party. As the guests get ready to leave, he hands her a love letter on a yellowing, crumbling piece of paper . . .

Natchez, 1865. Discharged from the Union Army as…


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Book cover of Oaky With a Hint of Murder

Oaky With a Hint of Murder by Dawn Brotherton,

Aury and Scott travel to the Finger Lakes in New York’s wine country to get to the bottom of the mysterious happenings at the Songscape Winery. Disturbed furniture and curious noises are one thing, but when a customer winds up dead, it’s time to dig into the details and see…

Book cover of Excellent Women
Book cover of Sea of Tranquility
Book cover of The Bee Sting

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