Here are 100 books that The Seer of Shadows fans have personally recommended if you like The Seer of Shadows. Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Lightning Thief

J.L. Kodanko Author Of Storyteller

From my list on fantasy books to ignite your stalled imagination.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a grown-up who struggles to stay in the here and now, vastly preferring to live in the stories in my head or in the book in front of me. I grew up in New England, Spain, and now have settled in Colorado after traveling around most of the lower 48 states. I’ve been a fan of well written fantasy since I learned to read, and at 35 I started writing my own fantasy stories. Now when I need a perfect getaway escape, I read my own books!

J.L.'s book list on fantasy books to ignite your stalled imagination

J.L. Kodanko Why J.L. loves this book

As someone who’s moved around a LOT and lived far from family most of my life, I’m a sucker for found family of any kind.

This story is one of the best. I loved reading about all these demi-god children working together and finding their connection through loyalty and depth of friendship.

As someone very familiar with Greek mythology, I really enjoyed the fresh and enjoyably new story with familiar players. 

By Rick Riordan ,

Why should I read it?

24 authors picked The Lightning Thief as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, 12, and 13.

What is this book about?

The Lightning Thief: the First book in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series.

The first bestselling book in Rick Riordan's phenomenally successful Percy Jackson series.

Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. I never asked to be the son of a Greek God. I was just a normal kid, going to school, playing basketball, skateboarding. The usual. Until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher. That's when things started really going wrong. Now I spend my time fighting with swords, battling monsters with my friends, and generally trying to stay alive.

This is the one where Zeus, God of the Sky,…


If you love The Seer of Shadows...

Book cover of What Does It Mean to Be American?

What Does It Mean to Be American? by Rana DiOrio,

An engaging picture book for children that celebrates what it means to be American!

What does it mean to be American? Does it mean you like apple pie or fireworks? Not exactly. This patriotic picture book is perfect for Memorial Day, Independence Day, Election Day, or any day you want…

Book cover of The Diviners

Susan McCormick Author Of The Antidote

From my list on middle-grade YA fantasies entertain and educate.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a doctor, writer, and mother of middle schoolers, I was ready to scintillate the sixth-graders when I volunteered for the chicken wing dissection class, demonstrating the exciting connection between muscles, tendons, and bones. I opened and closed the wing, placed it in their hands, and showed them the thin strips of tissue coordinating all the action. Did I see fascination? Excitement? Feigned interest of any sort? Sadly, no. They were much more enthusiastic about a different topic I volunteered for. Mythology. Greek gods. Beasts with multiple heads. They knew everything, and I knew books like Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief series were the reason. Books can entertain and educate.

Susan's book list on middle-grade YA fantasies entertain and educate

Susan McCormick Why Susan loves this book

Set in 1920s New York City, the story follows a girl with a hidden gift: the ability to read objects. She chooses to use her power for good and helps to solve a series of murders.

The setting is a character, and we learn all about the seamy side of Roaring Twenties New York, the fun and the feared.

By Libba Bray ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Diviners as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

It's 1920s New York City. It's flappers and Follies, jazz and gin. It's after the war but before the depression. And for certain group of bright young things it's the opportunity to party like never before.

For Evie O'Neill, it's escape. She's never fit in in small town Ohio and when she causes yet another scandal, she's shipped off to stay with an uncle in the big city. But far from being exile, this is exactly what she's always wanted: the chance to show how thoroughly modern and incredibly daring she can be.

But New York City isn't about just…


Book cover of The Red Pyramid

Susan McCormick Author Of The Antidote

From my list on middle-grade YA fantasies entertain and educate.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a doctor, writer, and mother of middle schoolers, I was ready to scintillate the sixth-graders when I volunteered for the chicken wing dissection class, demonstrating the exciting connection between muscles, tendons, and bones. I opened and closed the wing, placed it in their hands, and showed them the thin strips of tissue coordinating all the action. Did I see fascination? Excitement? Feigned interest of any sort? Sadly, no. They were much more enthusiastic about a different topic I volunteered for. Mythology. Greek gods. Beasts with multiple heads. They knew everything, and I knew books like Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief series were the reason. Books can entertain and educate.

Susan's book list on middle-grade YA fantasies entertain and educate

Susan McCormick Why Susan loves this book

Another great series from Rick Riordan. Set somewhat in the real world, a brother and a sister who don’t look alike discover they are descended from long line of a family of both Egyptian pharaohs and magicians. They have special talents to battle gods from Egyptian mythology and must save their father and the world.

Again, so much history and mythology packed into an exciting adventure story. Our whole family loved it.

By Rick Riordan ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The Red Pyramid: the first book in Rick Riordan's The Kane Chronicles.

Percy Jackson fought Greek Gods. Now the Gods of Egypt are waking in the modern world...

'I GUESS IT STARTED THE NIGHT OUR DAD BLEW UP THE BRITISH MUSEUM . . .'

CARTER AND SADIE KANE'S dad is a brilliant Egyptologist with a secret plan that goes horribly wrong. An explosion shatters the ancient Rosetta stone and unleashes Set, the evil god of chaos . . .

Set imprisons Dr Kane in a golden coffin and Carter and Sadie must run for their lives. To save their dad,…


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Book cover of Marvelous Jackson

Marvelous Jackson by Laura Anne Bird,

Since losing his mom, thirteen-year-old Jack Wilson has spent most of his time seeing just how much trouble he can get away with so that he feels like a winner at something. But he takes his mischief too far and is faced with the possibility of unbearable consequences. He…

Book cover of The Copernicus Legacy: The Forbidden Stone

Susan McCormick Author Of The Antidote

From my list on middle-grade YA fantasies entertain and educate.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a doctor, writer, and mother of middle schoolers, I was ready to scintillate the sixth-graders when I volunteered for the chicken wing dissection class, demonstrating the exciting connection between muscles, tendons, and bones. I opened and closed the wing, placed it in their hands, and showed them the thin strips of tissue coordinating all the action. Did I see fascination? Excitement? Feigned interest of any sort? Sadly, no. They were much more enthusiastic about a different topic I volunteered for. Mythology. Greek gods. Beasts with multiple heads. They knew everything, and I knew books like Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief series were the reason. Books can entertain and educate.

Susan's book list on middle-grade YA fantasies entertain and educate

Susan McCormick Why Susan loves this book

Four kids and a dad are thrown into a dangerous quest to find the pieces of Copernicus's ancient invention while being chased by a scary mob with a beautiful boss.

Featuring information about Copernicus and his time, the sky and constellations, encryption, codes, and puzzles, this book is an action-packed international and intellectual adventure.

By Tony Abbott , Bill Perkins (illustrator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Copernicus Legacy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

RICK RIORDAN meets DAN BROWN in this epic historical adventure series packed full of puzzles, clues and edge-of-your-seat excitement!

Legend has it that Copernicus found twelve powerful relics that could harness the cosmos and transport people through time when assembled in the shape of an astrolabe. Recognising the astrolabe's terrible power, Copernicus hid the relics in far-flung corners of the globe and assigned loyal Guardians to pass down the duty of protecting the relics across the ages.

In the wrong hands, the astrolabe could control the world. That's exactly what Galina Krauss and her powerful Teutonic Order plan…


Book cover of Eleanor, Alice, and the Roosevelt Ghosts

Laura Segal Stegman Author Of Summer of L.U.C.K.

From my list on magical middle-grade books set in the real world.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love middle-grade books (for eight to twelve-year-olds), which is why I write in that genre. My Summer of L.U.C.K. trilogy is sprinkled with magical adventures, but each one has real-life kids struggling with real-life problems and finding real-world solutions. I believe that books whose characters experience magical elements along with themes of friendship, perseverance, and self-acceptance will help them learn, as I did when I was a young reader, that whatever troubles they're experiencing, other kids have those troubles too, that they're not alone, and that help is possible.

Laura's book list on magical middle-grade books set in the real world

Laura Segal Stegman Why Laura loves this book

I’m interested in anything Roosevelt family-related (Theodore and/or Franklin), so I had to read this book by Dianne K. Salerni, a supernatural mystery set in an alternate history. While this fast-paced ghost story is the author’s creation, the family situations of the two fourteen-year-old cousins circa 1898 reflect the realities of their lives at the time.

If I hadn’t already known so much about Eleanor’s inspiring life and Alice’s unconventional one, I absolutely would have wanted to after reading this entertaining book.

By Dianne K. Salerni ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Eleanor, Alice, and the Roosevelt Ghosts as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

Murderous ghosts and buried family secrets threaten young Eleanor and Alice Roosevelt in this thrilling middle-grade novel that puts a supernatural spin on alternate history.

It's 1898 in New York City and ghosts exist among humans.

When an unusual spirit takes up residence at the Roosevelt house, thirteen-year-old Eleanor and fourteen-year-old Alice are suspicious. The cousins don't get along, but they know something is not right. This ghost is more than a pesky nuisance. The authorities claim he's safe to be around, even as his mischievous behavior grows stranger and more menacing. It's almost like he wants to scare the…


Book cover of Photography Changes Everything

Peter Buse Author Of The Camera Does the Rest: How Polaroid Changed Photography

From my list on the history of popular photography.

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up in the 1970s, I loved my family’s cheap plastic Polaroid OneStep camera and the magic pictures that developed right before my eyes. Thirty years later, I was incredibly lucky to be the first researcher to get access to the Polaroid archive just as the company was going bust.  For me, the key to Polaroid photography is that it is fun, and all the books on my list are, in one way or another, about the lighter, playful side of photography.  I hope that they take you off the beaten track of the history of popular photography and into some quirky and interesting corners.

Peter's book list on the history of popular photography

Peter Buse Why Peter loves this book

When I was writing my book on Polaroid photography, people often asked me about Polaroid as an art form. I gave some examples but said there’s so much more to it than that. I’m interested in the ways that photography isn’t just something we look at but something that makes things happen, changing who we are, what we do, and where we go. 

This book shows us how much more there is to photography than art. I especially like how the book does this in short, stylish essays, introducing lots of different voices and perspectives, including photographers, curators, scientists, publishers, writers, and anthropologists.

By Marvin Heiferman (editor) ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Photography Changes Everything-drawn from the online Smithsonian Photography Initiative-offers a provocative rethinking of photography's impact on our culture and our lives. It is a reader-friendly exploration of the many ways photographs package information and values, demand and hold attention, and shape our knowledge of and experience in the world. At this transitional moment in visual culture, Photography Changes Everything provides a unique opportunity to better understand the history, practice, and power of photography. The publication harnesses the extraordinary visual assets of the Smithsonian Institution's museums, science centers, and archives to trigger an unprecedented and interdisciplinary dialogue about how photography does…


If you love The Seer of Shadows...

Book cover of Cinderelliot: A Scrumptious Fairytale

Cinderelliot by Mark Ceilley,

A gay retelling of the classic fairy tale--a scrumptious love story featuring ungrateful stepsiblings, a bake-off, and a fairy godfather.

Cinderelliot is stuck at home taking care of his ungrateful stepsister and stepbrother. When Prince Samuel announces a kingdom-wide competition to join the royal staff as his baker, the stepsiblings…

Book cover of Lee Miller: A Life

Lorissa Rinehart Author Of First to the Front: The Untold Story of Dickey Chapelle, Trailblazing Female War Correspondent

From my list on female war correspondents.

Why am I passionate about this?

Against all odds, women journalists have built a robust tradition of telling the truth and getting to the heart of the story no matter the obstacles. In a world where the Fourth Estate is ever more crucial, the history of female reporters is all the more relevant as a source of information and inspiration for the next generation of correspondents. As a woman’s historian and passionate supporter of freedom of the press I’m always on the lookout for great histories of these intrepid reporters whose lives also happen to make for great reads. 

Lorissa's book list on female war correspondents

Lorissa Rinehart Why Lorissa loves this book

As a kid, I wanted to be Lauren Bacall when I grew up. I watched To Have and Have Not almost weekly, emulating her sultry moves as “Slim” and wishing that I too could one day undermine the Nazis in a little black dress.  

I don’t regret my choice of teenage role model, but I do wish I had known about Lee Miller back then, who would have offered a real-life example of a femme fatale fighting for good with her talents. However, rather than grit and charm, Miller used her camera to expose the true cost of fascism. 

Carolyn Burke's biography takes us on an extraordinary journey through Miller’s life—from her days as a model to her work as a war correspondent. Miller had an uncanny ability to connect with the subjects of her photographs, creating a bridge between their world and ours.

During World War II, Miller’s work…

By Carolyn Burke ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Lee Miller's life embodied all the contradictions and complications of the twentieth century: a model and photographer, muse and reporter, sexual adventurer and domestic goddess, she was also America's first female war correspondent. Carolyn Burke, a biographer and art critic, here reveals how the muse who inspired Man Ray, Cocteau, and Picasso could be the same person who unflinchingly photographed the horrors of Buchenwald and Dachau. Burke captures all the verve and energy of Miller's life, from her early childhood trauma to her stint as a Vogue model and art-world ingenue, from her harrowing years as a war correspondent to…


Book cover of Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals

Mona Simpson Author Of Commitment

From my list on books that tell a story of life with mental illness.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m Mona Simpson, the author of seven novels. I grew up with a mentally ill parent who struggled to support me, her only child, as a single mother. I saw firsthand the toll living in the world cost her. One of my first experiences of adulthood was a sense of relief in discovering that staying above water was manageable, even easy. Walking home from my first real job, seeing all the other people’s backs and legs hurry ahead of me, I liked being one of the many. I wondered if my mother could have ever felt that ease if there had been an alternative.

Mona's book list on books that tell a story of life with mental illness

Mona Simpson Why Mona loves this book

Oliver Sack’s forward to this book, which was first published as The Lost Virtues of the Asylum, stopped me cold when I first read it. It was a revelation and started my mind turning. I read the piece dozens of times and then found the source materials Sacks quoted from and read those books, too.

I came of age during the era of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and it was a long unwinding to begin to consider that an institution, a state institution on the order of a large mental health hospital, could do good. But I’d grown up with a mentally ill parent who struggled to survive and bring me up safely. I saw firsthand the toll our life took on her. I began to tamper with my assumption that she’d been better off in the harrying world.

The photographs by Alexander Payne are haunting.…

By Christopher Payne ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Powerful photographs of the grand exteriors and crumbling interiors of America's abandoned state mental hospitals.

For more than half the nation's history, vast mental hospitals were a prominent feature of the American landscape. From the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth, over 250 institutions for the insane were built throughout the United States; by 1948, they housed more than a half million patients. The blueprint for these hospitals was set by Pennsylvania hospital superintendant Thomas Story Kirkbride: a central administration building flanked symmetrically by pavilions and surrounded by lavish grounds with pastoral vistas. Kirkbride and others believed that well-designed buildings…


Book cover of The Travel Activity Book

Joni Hilton Author Of Family Funbook

From my list on family activity books.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love playing with my kids. When my eldest was eight and we were sitting on the porch together he said, “On my last day of being playful, I want to play with you the whole day. I sure hope it’s on a Saturday.” My kids know that I turn most things into a game, that I’ll screech and stop for a tarantula on the road because it’s educational, that I'll get them to sing their quiz answers, and that I’ll sculpt a cake into almost anything for a school project. I believe learning should be fun, so we would drink lemonade out of measuring cups, guess how many hops from the bed to the closet, and have Whipped Cream Spray Wars every summer (outside, thank you). I also think families would spend more time together if they had a great collection of cool—and easy—stuff to do together. As a writer I’m creative, and never run out of fun ideas. Why not share them with the world?

Joni's book list on family activity books

Joni Hilton Why Joni loves this book

Traveling is a time when you often need to entertain a bored child on a train, plane, or in a car. This book has tons of great games, puzzles, stickers, and even cultural information that will educate your child. Lots of photography and illustrations to entertain, as well. A good mix of education and fun.

By DK Publishing ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Travel Activity Book as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 2, 3, 4, and 5.

What is this book about?

Make car and plane trips a blast with these fun, educational travel activities for kids. The interactive games and travel journal will keep kids busy during vacations and school holidays.

Doodles to draw, puzzles to solve, games to play, and stickers to find--children will be entertained whether the family is traveling by car, plane, or even just hanging poolside. The Travel Activity Book includes a unique blend of illustrations and photography for lots of visual fun. The book also highlight facts and information about real destinations and monuments, so children can discover life and culture around the world. Learns about…


If you love Avi...

Book cover of Genomics: A Revolution in Health and Disease Discovery

Genomics by Whitney Stewart,

Over the past 50 years, scientists have made incredible progress in the application of genetic research to human health care and disease treatment. Innovative tools and techniques, including gene therapy and CRISPR-Cas9 editing, can treat inherited disorders that were previously untreatable, or prevent them from happening in the first place.…

Book cover of Grief

Deborah Dash Moore Author Of Walkers in the City

From my list on Jewish photographers and their pictures.

Why am I passionate about this?

I discovered Jewish photographers a couple of decades ago when I worked on a book, Cityscapes: A History of New York in Images. At the time, I was intrigued with how to tell the city’s history through photographs. Then, when I started to request permission to publish, I discovered that most of the photographers were Jewish New Yorkers. That sent me down a twisting path as I learned about more and more and more Jewish photographers. All types of photographers: professional and lay, photojournalists and street photographers, fashion photographers and family photographers. I fell in love with the multitude of their images. Turns out I was not the only one. 

Deborah's book list on Jewish photographers and their pictures

Deborah Dash Moore Why Deborah loves this book

It filled me with wonder at how much one could learn from studying just one photograph. The photo, by Dmitri Baltermants, a Soviet Jewish photojournalist, was taken outside of Kerch, in Ukraine, of dead bodies lying in the snow in 1942. Baltermants focused on a non-Jewish woman mourning the death of her non-Jewish husband, but the photo came to symbolize so much more.

I love how Shneer traces the path of this photo across decades, illuminating how many meanings can be attached to a single image. 

By David Shneer ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In January 1942, Soviet press photographers came upon a scene like none they had ever documented. That day, they took pictures of the first liberation of a German mass atrocity, where an estimated 7,000 Jews and others were executed at an anti-tank trench near Kerch on the Crimean peninsula. Dmitri Baltermants, a photojournalist working for the Soviet newspaper Izvestiia, took photos that day that would have a long life in shaping the image of Nazi genocide in and against the Soviet Union. Presenting never before seen photographs, Grief: The Biography of a Holocaust Photograph shows how Baltermants used the image…


Book cover of The Lightning Thief
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Interested in photography, New York State, and ghost story?

Photography 74 books
New York State 612 books
Ghost Story 186 books