Here are 100 books that The Tattered Gloves fans have personally recommended if you like The Tattered Gloves. 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 Rebecca

Julie Brooks Author Of A Haunting at Venus Bay

From my list on books where a mystery from the past stalks the present.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was twelve years old when I first read Jane Eyre, the beginning of my love for gothic fiction. Murder mysteries are fine, but add a remote location, a decaying old house, some tormented characters, ancient family secrets, and I’m all in. Traditional Gothic, American Gothic (love this painting), Australian Gothic, Mexican Gothic (perfect title by the way), I love them all. The setting in gothic fiction is like a character in itself, and wherever I travel, I’m drawn to these locations, all food for my own writing.

Julie's book list on books where a mystery from the past stalks the present

Julie Brooks Why Julie loves this book

This book has haunted me for decades. 

So much so that I’ve read it several times since I first encountered it as a teenager. (Plus watched both movie versions, twice each.)

The first line, "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again," drew me in and refused to let go. I wanted to return to Manderley. I wanted to find out what dark secrets would be revealed there. The unnamed, naive young heroine is haunted by the all-pervading presence of her husband’s first wife, Rebecca… and so was I.

And although some of the social attitudes are jarring to a 21st-century reader, and although I know the plot by heart now… I will still return to it.

By Daphne du Maurier ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

* 'The greatest psychological thriller of all time' ERIN KELLY
* 'One of the most influential novels of the twentieth century' SARAH WATERS
* 'It's the book every writer wishes they'd written' CLARE MACKINTOSH

'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . .'

Working as a lady's companion, our heroine's outlook is bleak until, on a trip to the south of France, she meets a handsome widower whose proposal takes her by surprise. She accepts but, whisked from glamorous Monte Carlo to brooding Manderley, the new Mrs de Winter finds Max a changed man. And the memory…


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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 The Four Winds

Kimberly Nixon Author Of Rock Bottom, Tennessee

From my list on books based on a true story.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have a passion for the family story, and I have been blessed with a plethora of them. My mother grew up in Appalachia during the Great Depression and faced shame because her mother left the family to commit a felony. Her accounts of a childhood without and sleeping in an abandoned log cabin have been seared into my soul. My father, one of fourteen children during the Great Depression, worked on neighboring farms from the age of seven. History has two parts, the facts and details, but the telling of the story wrangles the purpose and sacrifice of those involved.

Kimberly's book list on books based on a true story

Kimberly Nixon Why Kimberly loves this book

Sometimes people are given a horrible position at birth either by economics, environmental conditions, or bad luck. The Four Winds helped me understand some of the great migrations that have occurred in this country and the motivations that inspired the move.

I came to root for Elsa, the flawed main character, who sincerely did the best she could for her son. I felt her pain, agony, and frustration when a series of bad events happened along her journey.

It wasn’t an easy read, but a necessary one to understand resilience, courage, strength, and doing what you have to do when given no other choice.

By Kristin Hannah ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Four Winds as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"The Bestselling Hardcover Novel of the Year."--Publishers Weekly

From the number-one bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes a powerful American epic about love and heroism and hope, set during the Great Depression, a time when the country was in crisis and at war with itself, when millions were out of work and even the land seemed to have turned against them.

“My land tells its story if you listen. The story of our family.”

Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on…


Book cover of Peyton Place

Michael Callahan Author Of The Lost Letters from Martha's Vineyard

From my list on beach reads from midcentury America.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was a little boy growing up in Philadelphia, I couldn’t have dolls. So I collected Hot Wheels, gave them all wild names and backstories, and moved them around through scandal and adventure on our pool table. As a voracious reader, I devoured hefty novels from my parent’s bookcase as a teenager, and in the 1980s, I adored prime-time soaps like Dallas and Dynasty. I also discovered great midcentury melodramas from filmmakers like Douglas Sirk and Mark Robson, leading to reading related books. Today I review books for the New York Times, and I remain passionate for period melodrama. (Don’t get me started on my Mad Men obsession!)  

Michael's book list on beach reads from midcentury America

Michael Callahan Why Michael loves this book

The first great American trashy novel, Peyton Place today seems rather tame, but in its day, it was scandalous. Plucking it from my mother’s bookcase when I was 14, I was engrossed by its roaring passion and sensational secrets.

Set in a small New England town, the book set the stage for the modern soap opera, and I wolfed it down like a big box of candy. It reminds me of those great, heady melodramas of the 1950s (and was itself made into a fabulously sudsy film in 1957), an intoxicating mix of all things forbidden.

I adored the fact that it was literary, which it doesn’t get enough credit for. I think its opening line—“Indian summer is like a woman…”—is one of the best in mid-20th Century literature. 

By Grace Metalious ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Peyton Place as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When Grace Metalious's debut novel about the dark underside of a small, respectable New England town was published in 1956, it quickly soared to the top of the bestseller lists. A landmark in twentieth-century American popular culture, Peyton Place spawned a successful feature film and a long-running television series—the first prime-time soap opera.

Contemporary readers of Peyton Place will be captivated by its vivid characters, earthy prose, and shocking incidents. Through her riveting, uninhibited narrative, Metalious skillfully exposes the intricate social anatomy of a small community, examining the lives of its people—their passions and vices, their ambitions and defeats, their…


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Book cover of The Year Mrs. Cooper Got Out More: A Great Wharf Novel

The Year Mrs. Cooper Got Out More by Meredith Marple,

The coastal tourist town of Great Wharf, Maine, boasts a crime rate so low you might suspect someone’s lying.

Nevertheless, jobless empty nester Mallory Cooper has become increasingly reclusive and fearful. Careful to keep the red wine handy and loath to leave the house, Mallory misses her happier self—and so…

Book cover of The Lost Ones

Jerri Hines Author Of The Waking Bell

From my list on historical mysteries like Rebecca.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in an extremely rural area before the internet, where there was no cable. So, I read. Reading led to my desire to write, and I have. When Jackie discussed the characters of The Waking Bell with me, I envisioned an American version of Rebecca, where the protagonist is a naïve young woman who follows her heart in a dark, gothic setting. While I didn’t grow up in the mountains, I have experienced the differences between people from different backgrounds that live in the same rural area. Those experiences are where The Waking Bell begins.

Jerri's book list on historical mysteries like Rebecca

Jerri Hines Why Jerri loves this book

The Lost Ones is set a few years before my book, but I found it intriguing, and it has ghosts. While I usually don’t write ghost stories, I have written with supernatural undertones. This book has what I love: mysterious twists and turns. What’s more, I wanted to recommend it because I kinda stumbled upon it and wanted to share.

By Anita Frank ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Some houses are NEVER at peace...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLDSBORO BOOKS GLASS BELL AWARD
SHORTLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS' ASSOCIATION DEBUT CROWN

'A gothic gem of intrigue and atmosphere' HWA Debut Crown Judges

England, 1917

Reeling from the death of her fiance, Stella Marcham welcomes the opportunity to stay with her pregnant sister, Madeleine, at her imposing country mansion, Greyswick - but she arrives to discover a house of unease and her sister gripped by fear and suspicion.

Before long, strange incidents begin to trouble Stella - sobbing in the night, little footsteps on the stairs - and as events…


Book cover of Island

Yoeri Slegers Author Of Crocodile's Crossing: A Search for Home

From my list on travelling in different or strange circumstances.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a Belgian illustrator and author of children's books. My mother works in a library so I was constantly in contact with books, especially children's books. Stories with beautiful pictures were always a big fascination of mine. Drawing keeps me looking for stories and stories keep me drawing. Everything is an inspiration: a funny moment, a good conversation, or just life. In my university, I renewed my passion for children's books thanks to my teacher Kris, also a children's book illustrator. In my final school years I got the chance to work with one of the best publishers in Belgium: De Eenhoorn (the unicorn) they gave me the chance to grow and...tell stories. 

Yoeri's book list on travelling in different or strange circumstances

Yoeri Slegers Why Yoeri loves this book

A dear colleague of mine, a few years back he decided to just go for it. He used all his experience and did stuff he never did before. The result, an explosion of colour and beautiful use of different techniques. These pictures just keep on giving and giving. Every time you'll spot something new. Once again wordless, but children necessarily don't need words to understand a story.

By Mark Janssen ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Dive into an enchantingly watery world full of surprises!

Shipwreck! A father, daughter and their dog wash up on a small island. Little do the castaways know that the island isn't what it seems at all.

The island shows the family the wonders of life at sea. Colourful fish dart in the waves and birds swoop in the sky. Island life is full of the unexpected. The island protects the family against all kinds of dangers, from tropical storms to arctic snow. Menacing animals lurk underwater, and the island has its own secret, too. Eventually, the family is rescued, and…


Book cover of Child in Darkness

Carlyle Labuschagne Author Of The Broken Destiny

From my list on sci-fi as a way of explaining the angelic creation.

Why am I passionate about this?

Carlyle Labuschagne was born in South Africa, Johannesburg in the early 1980s. Growing up my imagination always trumped the world around me. I was obsessed with stories, sneaking off to watch them or going off on my own to play out my own. I am now an award-winning, International and USA Today bestselling fiction author – kind of a rare species in my neck of the woods. I write many genres but started off with mild Science – fiction with a dystopian undertone. I guess growing up in the apartheid era, and being raised by an African nanny who I regarded as my mom, left a lasting impression on me.

Carlyle's book list on sci-fi as a way of explaining the angelic creation

Carlyle Labuschagne Why Carlyle loves this book

This is one of my favorite on the border of Science Fiction books. About a lonely boy who spends time on a hill in a tree near a closed mine entrance. One day he drops his apple and it rolls to the closed up entrance and the unexpected happens. I long blue arm reaches for the apple and disappears back in the min. 

Toward the end, the boy makes friends with the blue-skinned creature from the mine and discovers an entire community living in the cave. The explanation given on why they are so skinny and blue-skinned intrigued me as to why things are the way they are – that all things have a scientific explanation. 

By Robert Hill ,

Why should I read it?

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


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Book cover of That First Heady Burn

That First Heady Burn by George Bixley,

Don’t mess with the hothead—or he might just mess with you. Slater Ibáñez is only interested in two kinds of guys: the ones he wants to punch, and the ones he sleeps with. Things get interesting when they start to overlap. A freelance investigator, Slater trolls the dark side of…

Book cover of European Television Crime Drama and Beyond

Sunka Simon Author Of German Crime Dramas from Network Television to Netflix

From my list on TV crime dramas.

Why am I passionate about this?

My mother called me a “television junkie.” In graduate school, where TV was not yet considered a worthwhile scholarly endeavor, I became enthralled by Twin Peaks and Roseanne. Rebelliously, I thought both had so much to say about gender studies and theories of postmodernism. Absent of an official curriculum, I started reading and writing about television history, medium specificity, genre theory and seriality. I got my PhD and published articles on film, TV, and my book. Since 1992, I have developed several television studies courses for our small media studies department: Crime Drama, Reality TV, Gender and Genre on Television, Transmedia Adaptations, and Media Rituals.

Sunka's book list on TV crime dramas

Sunka Simon Why Sunka loves this book

I am a fan of Nordic noir, and whenever I am in the middle of a Norwegian, Danish, or Finnish series, I always want to know more about the local aspects that I am missing.

As one of the earliest books covering European crime dramas in English, the individual chapters helped me understand the genre’s appeal over other genres, what motivated the different cultural depictions of local and national tensions, and how this, in turn, impacted global distribution and reception of crime series.

On top of this, the intriguing case studies gave me new crime dramas to add to my ever-growing watchlist. A win-win.

By Kim Toft Hansen (editor) , Steven Peacock (editor) , Sue Turnbull (editor)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked European Television Crime Drama and Beyond as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book is the first to focus on the role of European television crime drama on the international market. As a genre, the television crime drama has enjoyed a long and successful career, routinely serving as a prism from which to observe the local, national and even transnational issues that are prevalent in society. This extensive volume explores a wide range of countries, from the US to European countries such as Spain, Italy, the Scandinavian countries, Germany, England and Wales, in order to reveal the very currencies that are at work in the global production and circulation of the TV…


Book cover of Lote

Cailean Steed Author Of Home

From my list on gender and identity by trans and nonbinary writers.

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up, I wasn't aware of many books or stories featuring characters outside the gender binary. There was George from The Famous Five (whom I loved), and later, there were the films The Silence of the Lambs and Boys Don’t Cry. Not exactly a heartening picture! Nowadays, there is a library’s worth of literature examining the interplay of gender and identity and featuring trans and non-binary characters. This is a list of five of my absolute favorite books by trans and non-binary writers that explore gender and identity–I hope that they speak to you in the way they did to me. 

Cailean's book list on gender and identity by trans and nonbinary writers

Cailean Steed Why Cailean loves this book

This is, quite simply, a masterpiece. Unbelievably, it is von Reinhold’s debut, and it feels like the work of an incredibly assured and accomplished writer. Following the main character, Mathilda’s discovery of a forgotten Black Scottish modernist poet, Hermia Drumm, the narrative moves to a bizarre, ascetic residency in a small European town that clashes hilariously with Mathilda’s flamboyant style and louche attitude to life. 

Although much of the novel is devilishly funny, it is also fiercely political, taking in topics such as racism, colonialism, and the erasure of the contribution of Black people to art, culture, and history. I loved Mathilda’s character, but even more so, I loved the quality of von Reinhold’s prose–there is a description of light reflecting on wet cobblestones at one point that was so perfect and beautiful that I had to stop reading to take it in. I can’t wait to see what von…

By Shola von Reinhold ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

WINNER of the James Tait Black Prize 2021.

WINNER of The Republic of Consciousness Prize 2021.

Lush and frothy, incisive and witty, Shola von Reinhold's decadent queer literary debut immerses readers in the pursuit of aesthetics and beauty, while interrogating the removal and obscurement of Black figures from history.

Solitary Mathilda has long been enamored with the 'Bright Young Things' of the 20s, and throughout her life, her attempts at reinvention have mirrored their extravagance and artfulness. After discovering a photograph of the forgotten Black modernist poet Hermia Druitt, who ran in the same circles as the Bright Young Things…


Book cover of Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe

James Calbraith Author Of The Saxon Spears: An Epic of the Dark Age

From my list on Barbarian Europe.

Why am I passionate about this?

In my novels, I aim to present a different vision of early Post-Roman Britain than the one usually imagined in fiction – especially in the future Kingdom of Kent, where my books are set. To show these connections, and to present the greater background for the events in the novels, I first needed to gain knowledge of what Europe itself looked like in this period: a Gaul divided between Gothic, Frankish, and Roman administration, a complex interplay of Romans and Barbarians, a world in transition from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. The story gleaned from the pages of these books proved as fascinating and intriguing as any I’ve ever read.

James' book list on Barbarian Europe

James Calbraith Why James loves this book

Peter Heather’s work is one of the broadest in scope on the topic of the European ‘Barbarians’, while still retaining enough detail to keep the reader’s attention pinned. A great starter for this period of history, encompassing the entire first millennium AD, the time when the heart of European civilization gradually moved from the Mediterranean South to the cold Barbarian North. It reads like a novel – but is supported by years of painstaking research. If you can only read one book on Barbarian Europe, this is the book.

By Peter Heather ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

At the start of the first millennium AD, southern and western Europe formed part of the Mediterranean-based Roman Empire, the largest state western Eurasia has ever known, and was set firmly on a trajectory towards towns, writing, mosaics, and central heating. Central, northern and eastern Europe was home to subsistence farmers, living in wooden houses with mud floors, whose largest political units weighed in at no more than a few thousand people. By the year 1000, Mediterranean domination of the European landscape had been destroyed. Instead of one huge Empire facing loosely organised subsistence farmers, Europe - from the Atlantic…


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Book cover of My Book Boyfriend

My Book Boyfriend by Kathy Strobos,

Lily loves her community garden. Rupert wants to bulldoze it. When feelings grow, will they blossom or turn to rubble?

"It literally had everything! - Bookworm Characters - Humor - Banter - Swoon-worthy lines."  - Book Reviewer.

Book cover of For the Love of Europe: My Favorite Places, People, and Stories

Jean Cerfontaine Author Of Where do you go to

From my list on descriptive writing that takes you on a journey.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been to Europe a handful of times, exploring Paris, Italy, Malta, Spain, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, and Amsterdam. Europe lends itself perfectly to be immortalised in literature. The continent is steeped in thousands of years of charming history, oozing out of the cobblestoned streets and painted in layers on the buildings. Scratch the surface and a new, richer layer comes to the fore, exciting and amazing anew. Europe inevitably turns into one of the important characters in any book set there and many a writer have managed to capture its essence in their work. Alongside Peter Sarstedt, Europe inspired my work, taking the reader along on a wondrous journey.

Jean's book list on descriptive writing that takes you on a journey

Jean Cerfontaine Why Jean loves this book

To be honest, this one is close to being a travel book. Rick Steves is a well-known traveler, with a large number of guide books and television shows sharing his exploits with the world. But, this book describes Europe in a way that no travel guide can. Rick is a master of sharing anecdotes of his travels through Europe, never failing to describe the flavours, sights, and sounds of the continent and the wonderful cities we all yearn to see. This was a wonderful escape during the 2020 lockdowns, a true lifesaver! 

By Rick Steves ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked For the Love of Europe as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

After 40+ years of writing about Europe, Rick Steves has gathered 100 of his favorite articles and essays together into one inspiring collection: For the Love of Europe: My Favorite Places, People, and Stories.

Join Rick as he's swept away by a fado singer in Lisbon, learns the dangers of falling in love with a gondolier in Venice, and savors a cheese course in the Loire Valley. Contemplate the mysteries of centuries-old stone circles in England, dangle from a cliff in the Swiss Alps, and hear a French farmer's defense of foie gras.

With a brand-new, original introduction from Rick…


Book cover of Rebecca
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Book cover of Peyton Place

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