74 Books Like The Twenty-Five Deeds of Hanson Drake

This book breaks down illusions about wealth and gives it to ‘em straight.

Just because you think a person has money, it doesn’t mean that they have money. In fact, those who flaunt their wealth could actually be headed for disaster, as they spend their dollars on an endless effort to impress, one-up, and reward themselves. And because they are spending money they are not saving money. So while their bank account plateaus (or worse, depletes), the account of the unassuming, unflashy neighbor next-door flourishes, as he invests, saves, and plans—placing the max amount of $ into his 401K—until he eventually becomes, the “millionaire next door”… The save vs. spend principle seems obvious here, but the psychology of spending is not. It is curious and complicated, fascinating and (sometimes) hard to fathom… So it's good there is a book out there that examines wealth and de-bunks perception, so that people… show more.

This is an amazing book, gorgeously written, but I love it most because it takes us into a world we would never have access to: the Indian slum, where lives are hard, where the margins are impossibly thin, and where people make their living sorting through the waste of others.

But what Boo shows is that, no matter how hard those lives are, they are every bit as rich and complicated and full of drama as our own.

Real Artists Don't Starve challenges the popular belief that artists must sacrifice financial stability in order to be true to their craft. The author argues that creativity and commerce can coexist, and uses examples from history and contemporary culture to prove his point. What I liked most about this book was learning about the great artists of the past, like Michelangelo, who was not only talented but also a great businessman who made a lot of money from his art. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to make a living from their artistic passion and believes that being a true artist and wanting to make money aren’t mutually exclusive. Goins offers practical tips and inspiration for artists looking to build a successful and sustainable career and provides a fresh perspective on the age-old debate about the relationship between art and commerce.

This book shows how Eleonora Duse, a great theatre artist in the late 18th Century, supplanted her ego to improve her art. By stripping away all pretense, she was able to exist in her essence, and create the purest form of art. It is a must-read for any actor who wants to master their craft.     

I don’t hear anything like enough love for this fun, quirky, touching book! It was my first John Green, and I loved it.

The main character is a total nerd who keeps having his heart broken by girls named Katherine—until he doesn’t. This book will fill the Big Bang Theory shaped hole in your heart!

When I was 11 years old, my parents put this book in my Christmas stocking. They knew nothing of Isaac Brock and were probably attracted by the cover, showing Brock in his cocked hat, mounted on a grey horse, waving his sword, and encouraging British troops in red coats forward into action. Historically it was full of errors, but I loved that cover and I loved the book. Because of it, I became one of the few British Army officers who knew about Brock and in 2012, it led me to do what I had long wanted to do – write an authoritative biography of the General. I shall always be grateful to Don Goodspeed!

One of the things I love best about the Christmas season is how it’s a combination of many different things. Paganism, Christianity, and commerce have all contributed to Yuletide, resulting in a mishmash of traditions and customs.

I think holidays are stronger when they’ve been influenced by dozens of cultures. There’s room for everybody during the Holidays, and it’s always been that way. 

Drake served in an armor unit in Southeast Asia in the 1970s, so it’s no coincidence that Hammer’s Slammers, a collection of short stories, revolves around a tank unit. So many military SFF stories focus on knuckle-dragging ground-pounders, so it’s refreshing to see war from a tank turret. Drake has been accused of writing gun porn, but I find a lot of nuance in his writing, especially on combat motivation and small-unit leadership. He was one of the first military SFF authors to write an openly gay character, and women fight right alongside men without the misogynistic or objectifying undertones that sometimes afflict the subgenre. To get a sense for Drake’s writing, “But Loyal to His Own” and “Caught in the Crossfire” are two of my favorite stories.

The Road to Hell explores the worse day in the main character’s life.

He loses his job, gets into a car accident, and then dies and goes to hell. From there, the story explores our main character forays into hell and how it changes his life when he comes back.

From someone who really didn’t know about God to a person who now acknowledges that He exists, it’s startling journey. I read this book in a few short hours. It was gripping and that good.

The world of The Sea of Stars is amazingly creative; a modern setting that flawlessly incorporates magicians, scheming courtiers, enchanted animals, and prophetic astronomy in an age of cell phones, animal activists, and labor agencies. The majority of common people are ruled over by nobles and magicians who regularly strip human beings of their souls and lock them away inside animals, thus creating a soulless human workforce as well as intelligent animal servants. As weird as that may sound, the characters are so well written that the book is astoundingly humane and moving.

I sympathized completely with Grand Magician Zachary Drake in his disdain for the ruling class and its dehumanizing practices. Though, I’ll admit, a couple of times I was so fascinated by the unexpected creativity of the world that I almost wanted to see more. And I definitely appreciated Drake’s snark and cynical commentary.  

But the story truly… show more.