Here are 88 books that The Other Wise Man fans have personally recommended if you like
The Other Wise Man.
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I’ve always been fascinated by the role that love plays in a satisfying life—from romantic love, to brotherly love, to friendship. Compassion and caring affect not only the recipient, but also profoundly change the life of the giver as well. That’s why I’m drawn to redemptive character arcs. I write women’s fiction, sweet Christmas stories, and literary fiction that revolve around these themes—sometimes with a hint of mystery/thriller/suspense for fun! My novella, The Christmas Club, was adapted for the screen in 2019 as a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie of the same name.
This story shines a spotlight on selfless love. I cried buckets when I read this as a child. I also wondered if I’d ever be willing to cut my hair, as Della did, to raise the money to buy Jim that watch chain. I’m still not sure I would. The story beautifully articulates the parameters of selfless love. I’ve always been fascinated by this theme.
"The Gift of the Magi" is a short story, about a young married couple and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. As a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving, it has been a popular one for adaptation, especially for presentation during the Christmas season.
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
With a graduate degree in Writing Popular Fiction (seriously, someone gave me a degree for writing an urban fantasy book), I know that genres are nothing more than marketing terms that tell bookstores which shelves to put the books on. As an author, combining genres and subverting their topes allows me to stretch their potential and tell fresh stories that might not find an easy home on a single shelf, so it’s also important for me to read and support those making the same attempts. Stories that adhere to strict reader expectations will always find a home, but I’ve always had way more fun exploring the other possibilities.
It seems logical that the few people with magic could openly rule in contemporary human society, which means it’s even more interesting with the opposite is true. I can easily imagine Mags and Cosmo in an entirely different setting and never crossing paths. In this world, however, the non-magical majority have oppressed the smaller populations of magi and shifters, pitting them against each other and giving them few options in life despite their significant personal power. Notaro provides plenty of engrossing story in this book while also giving readers just enough information about how this world came to be to leave me wanting more of the future and past.
Sometimes the worst scars are the ones you can’t see.
World War III broke out 130 years ago when humans found out that my people—magi—and shifters were real. They’ve been imprisoning and enslaving our two species since. But now humans need our help protecting the world from the strange monsters they let cross the veil between realms.
Eighteen years ago, my world changed. Suddenly I was allowed freedoms I’d never had before, but I was still at the Non-Human Specialties Operations’ beck and call. Which is how I found myself on a team with my best friend, five shifters, and…
Years ago, when I went to Montreal to get my Master's degree in Philosophy, I decided to become a stand-up comic at the same time. I soon realized that I had a lot more fun coming up with the funny bits than I did being ignored or heckled while on stage delivering them. So I became a sit-down comic. (Well, a sprawled-on-the-couch comic.) I've since written and published several novels, which contain a lot of funny bits, but I decided, in addition, to publish the leftover or funny-on-their-own bits in a separate book. Hence, Too Stupid to Visit.
Over twenty years old and still funny. This collection includes many 'traditional jokes'—the kind that start with a question, then provide an unexpected/funny answer (such as "How many men does it take to change a lightbulb? Ten—one to put it in and nine to congratulate him down at the bar."). But it also includes other bits ("Three wise men? You've got to be joking."). It also includes a section titled "Top Twenty Stupid Chat-up Lines and How to Retort."
Sine, a professor of creative writing, accompanies Sam, a neuroscientist, on a conference trip to a Hotel Castle. Sam wants to present a new device, the "monitor." Sine hopes to recover from tending to her mother who just passed away.
When they arrive, Sine is in a dream-like state. Real…
Author. Artist. Teacher. Faerie Changeling. My fascination with all things relating to the fantasy realms started as early as I can remember. I’ve studied in depth the lore and mythos of faeries, witches, elves, and vampires. There’s something so compelling about them, so it made sense I would grow up reading and writing about them. Now, as a full-time author, it remains my favorite subject to explore. The parallels between the world we see and the world of the unseen are enchanting. There is, after all, more to heaven and earth than meets the eye… and it’s in those unseen spaces in between that I find myself most at home.
Wow, it is nearly impossible to choose just one of my faves from Holly Black’s faerie stories. They are all amazing! Seriously…. Every. Last. One. But what grabbed me with this book was the way it started. This story has an eerie feel to it from the very first page. I love how Holly weaves reality into her fantasy and the way the Fae are already known and accepted in their world, but also feared (because hello, they’re Fae!). There's everything in this story, romance, adventure, and coming-of-age badassery, which again bodes well if you ever find yourself face to face with the Faire Folk.
Faeries. Knights. Princes. True love. Think you know how the story goes? Think again ... From the New York Times bestselling author of The Spiderwick Chronicles comes a dark, dangerous and utterly beautiful faerie tale, guaranteed to steal your heart.
Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries' seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.
In the forest of Fairfold, lies a glass casket. Inside the casket lies a…
I’m a Panamanian American author and mother of two bilingual and bicultural children. I live a life between two beautiful languages and cultures, but that intersection is not always easy. In Squawk of Spanish, I explore the issue some children face when they don’t feel comfortable speaking the language of their grandparents. On this list, I’ve included a sample of books that celebrate some of the day-to-day joys and challenges of growing up Latine in the US. I hope you enjoy it!
A beautiful book about preserving traditions. This book follows a girl who anticipates a beloved holiday but worries about not being able to celebrate it in her new home. Where will she find grass for the camels in the midst of the Midwest snow?
This book helped our family discuss the different traditions we celebrate and answer some of my children’s questions: Can the three kings visit us in the US? And will Santa find his way to us if we move? I appreciate how the book introduces Three Kings Day and serves as a reminder that we carry our heritage and traditions wherever life takes us.
In this story about Dia de los Reyes, or Three Kings' Day, a girl and her family discover new ways to celebrate their Puerto Rican heritage in Ohio.
It's eleven days after Christmas and Lucia yearns to be in lush Puerto Rico celebrating Dia de los Reyes with family and friends. But this year, instead of dancing and singing in the parrandas of her Puerto Rican neighborhood, she is surrounded by cold and silence in snow-blanketed Ohio. How will she ever be able to guide the Three Kings to her new home in the frosty Midwest? This picture book is…
I’m a MM romance author who loves Christmas. Except, living in Australia means my Christmas Day us spent lazing about in a pool in the middle of a summer heatwave. That’s why I love reading all the romance books about holidays where there’s snow, wintry nights, hot cocoa, and of course, all the love and feels we’ve come to expect at this magical time of year. There are too many MM holiday romances to mention, but I hope this list gives you a taste of what you can expect!
Lilly Morton is such an exceptional writer, she’s able to transport readers smack-bang to Christmas in Amsterdam. I loved that. I also loved the two characters, Arlo and Jack. So different in so many ways, and yet utterly perfect together. Expect plenty of laughs, great conversations, and of course, a happily ever after!
Arlo Wright’s introduction to his sexuality came when he saw his older brother’s best friend, Jack Cooper, in his sweaty football kit. Unfortunately, he didn’t have long to enjoy the revelation because he promptly knocked himself out on a table.
Relations between them have never really moved on from that auspicious beginning. Arlo is still clumsy, and Jack is still as handsome and unobtainable as ever.
However, things look like they’re starting to change when Arlo finds himself sharing a room with Jack while on holiday in Amsterdam at Christmas. Will the festive spirit finally move them towards each other,…
In an age of splendor, a heretic king strips Egypt bare—forcing his queen to quell rebellion and plunging his children into a conspiracy against the crown.
Salvation in the Sun follows Nefertiti as she ascends the throne beside Pharaoh Amenhotep—soon to become Akhenaten—just as he declares war on Egypt’s ancient…
When our two boys hit their difficult years around age seven or eight and the other kids at school were starting to doubt Santa Claus, they began to ask questions about how he operated. Luckily I had answers, which became, eventually, The Christmas Chronicles. Now that I was outed as a Santa supporter, I started doing Christmas readings here and there, including every year on a radio holiday show for Access Utah, a PBS affiliate. That’s given me the delightful task of seeking out all kinds of Yuletide literature. These are a few of my favorites.
Yes, that J.R.R. Tolkien. Each year he took a break from Middle-earth to write and illustrate incredible letters from Father Christmas to his and Edith’s four children, John, Michael, Christopher, and Priscilla. Being Tolkien, he created an entire polar world and history in the letters, which feature elves, goblins—who launch a major attack one year—and Father Christmas’s great assistant and companion, North Polar Bear. Here is a high Yuletide adventure from the fantasy Master, himself. And somehow reading it makes you feel more creative yourself.
This beautiful, deluxe slipcased edition of Tolkien's famous illustrated letters from Father Christmas to his children includes for the first time every available letter, picture and envelope that he sent them, reproduced in glorious colour. The perfect Christmas gift for Tolkien lovers of all ages.
This classic festive book of Tolkien's amazing Father Christmas letters written to his children between the 1920s and the 1940s has been reworked into a sumptuous, new deluxe edition. It contains brand new high-quality digital reproductions of his wonderful letters and pictures, including a number of them that have never been printed before, a revised…
As a child, I was captivated by Christmas's traditions, rituals, meaning, and magic, which always signaled a time for introspection and hope. These books capture all of that. For me, the holiday is a time to pause and reflect, and revisiting these works helps remind me of what is important in life and where we should be pointed, where our humanity lies.
Dylan Thomas’s compressed and lyrical account of a young lad’s Christmas has always enchanted me, and it continues every time I read it or hear it read. I recommend listening to the author reading it, available on YouTube. It is delightful poetic prose, moving, amusing, and always surprising. I envy his style here and his wit, feeling, and language proficiency. I wish I could write like that.
Dylan Thomas's classic account of his childhood Christmases, with full colour illustrations by Peter Bailey. The special gift edition for Thomas's centenary now in paperback, with a beautiful gold-foiled cover.
All the Christmases roll down toward the two-tongued sea, like a cold and headlong moon bundling down the sky that was our street...
Dylan Thomas's lyrical account of his childhood Christmases in a small Welsh town, featuring wolves, bears, hippos and Mrs Prothero's cat, has become deservedly famous. This re-designed edition celebrates the centenary of his birth, and features full colour artwork from illustrator Peter Bailey.
I was such a die-hard fan of Santa Claus as a kid, my mom had to debunk the myth two years in a row! Because, yeah, I heard you, but surely that was a bad attempt at humor last year. I won’t lie. It was traumatic. I wrote this book as a way to ease kids into the knowledge without anyone in the family feeling bad about it. It puts a great positive spin on this childhood rite of passage and empowers kids to get the info when they’re ready for it.
This is the whole fantasy…Santa Claus in action. The man, The myth, The Big Guy, doing what he does. Every kid should be read this book at least once on Christmas Eve before being shooed off to bed. And this is a gorgeous edition. Beautiful illustrations throughout capture the imaginations of young and old.
Since it was first published anonymously in 1823, the poem "The Night Before Christmas" has enchanted children with the story of St. Nicholas climbing down the chimney and filling all the stockings before springing back to his sleigh. Many families read the poem every year, and now they have an edition to treasure. The poem, faithfully reproduced here, is accompanied by Charles Santore's lavish illustrations.
Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…
I’m a MM romance author who loves Christmas. Except, living in Australia means my Christmas Day us spent lazing about in a pool in the middle of a summer heatwave. That’s why I love reading all the romance books about holidays where there’s snow, wintry nights, hot cocoa, and of course, all the love and feels we’ve come to expect at this magical time of year. There are too many MM holiday romances to mention, but I hope this list gives you a taste of what you can expect!
The holidays are all about love and goodwill, but has anyone ever spared a thought for the person at the center of it all? In this delightful MM romance, Mia imagines a version of life where a single Santa pines for his secret crush, Luca. A unique and thoroughly enjoyable story that I devoured in a single session.
One night every year, I deliver gifts to all the good people around the world. I have everything I could want—a beautiful private home, loving friends and family, and the most amazing job in existence. All my needs are more than met, and the other 364 days of the year are mine to spend how I wish.
The only thing I don’t have is a love of my own. I’ve been hopelessly in love with Luca Vincent for years, watching him from afar, but he has a full life and it would be…
