Here are 22 books that The White Boy Shuffle fans have personally recommended if you like The White Boy Shuffle. 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 The Director

Unknown Author

By Daniel Kehlmann , Ross Benjamin (translator) ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BOOK OF THE YEAR • AN NYPL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A Washington Post NOTABLE BOOK

A Late Show with Stephen Colbert Book Club Pick

“Nothing short of brilliant.” —The Wall Street Journal

From “a surpassingly gifted storyteller” (The New York Times), a visionary novel inspired by the life of film director G.W. Pabst, who fled to Hollywood to resist the Nazis only to return to his homeland to create propaganda films for the German Reich.

An artist's life, a pact with the devil, and the dangerous illusions of the silver screen.…


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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 Netherland

Unknown Author

By Joseph O'Neill ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In early 2006, Chuck Ramkissoon is found dead at the bottom of a New York canal.

In London, a Dutch banker named Hans van den Broek hears the news, and remembers his unlikely friendship with Chuck and the off-kilter New York in which it flourished: the New York of 9/11, the powercut and the Iraq war. Those years were difficult for Hans - his English wife Rachel left with their son after the attack, as if that event revealed the cracks and silences in their marriage, and he spent two strange years in New York's Chelsea Hotel, passing stranger evenings…


Book cover of The Sellout

Steve Vigdor Author Of Signatures of the Artist: The Vital Imperfections That Make Our Universe Habitable

From Steve's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Experimental physicist Professor Scientific generalist Blogger Science denial debunker

Steve's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Steve Vigdor Why Steve loves this book

I first found this unique novel while browsing at a brick-and-mortar counterpart to Shepherd, namely, Powell’s Books in Portland, Oregon. I reread it this year because I loved it so much the first time. I doubt there are many other winners of the Man Booker Prize that are less well-known or more laugh-out-loud funny. The Sellout is a satire, ultimately about the meaning of blackness and segregation in an allegedly post-racial America, written in sharp, biting, ecstatic, jive-articulate first-person prose. The narrator is an educated, beta male black farmer raising artisanal weed, square watermelons, satsumas, and other succulent fruit on a small farm in a ghetto section of Los Angeles County. His efforts to restore a sense of identity to his unceremoniously decertified city end up getting him charged with promoting slavery (unwillingly) and segregation (willingly) and violating several Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The book begins and ends with…

By Paul Beatty ,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked The Sellout as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Book of the Decade, 2010-2020 (Independent)

'Outrageous, hilarious and profound.' Simon Schama, Financial Times
'The longer you stare at Beatty's pages, the smarter you'll get.' Guardian
'The most badass first 100 pages of an American novel I've read.' New York Times

A biting satire about a young man's isolated upbringing and the race trial that sends him to the Supreme Court, The Sellout showcases a comic genius at the top of his game.

Born in Dickens on the southern outskirts of Los Angeles, the narrator of The Sellout spent his childhood as the subject in his father's racially charged…


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Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Book cover of Catch-22

Bill Burkland Author Of The Misconceived Conception of a Baby Named Jesus

From my list on books to make you laugh and also make you think.

Why am I passionate about this?

I believe that laughter is the best way into a person’s heart and also into their head. Life is beautiful, but it is also incredibly fragile. Satire and humor are effective ways to raise the level of awareness of destructive behaviors and/or controversial topics that are otherwise difficult or unpleasant to address. I think satire and humor make it easier to hold up a mirror and look critically at our own beliefs and our actions.  

Bill's book list on books to make you laugh and also make you think

Bill Burkland Why Bill loves this book

I’m a huge fan of satire, as I believe it can inform and make you think critically, as well as being wildly entertaining.

I think Catch-22 is one of the most perfect satires about the absurdity and tragedy of war. I’m not the fastest reader, but Heller’s dialogue, humor, and sharp observations of the human condition under the perversion of war had me turning the pages quickly. 

By Joseph Heller ,

Why should I read it?

21 authors picked Catch-22 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?

Explosive, subversive, wild and funny, 50 years on the novel's strength is undiminished. Reading Joseph Heller's classic satire is nothing less than a rite of passage.

Set in the closing months of World War II, this is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. His real problem is not the enemy - it is his own army which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. If Yossarian makes any attempts to excuse himself from the…


Book cover of Red Clocks

Christina di Pensare Author Of Satire State: Dispatches from the Obedient Republic

From my list on satires that skewer and roast.

Why am I passionate about this?

When the society, culture, and world we live in become unrecognizable and untenable, the genre of literature that best quells anxiety is satire. As the author of Satire State, I believe laughter is essential to survival and sanity. The tightly woven fabric of a society unravels slowly and then suddenly through a consecutive series of multiple actions by malignant forces. All the while, historical memory is gradually erased, and the new fabric is the only one recognized. Satire is the only way to chronicle the malignancy and force people to think hard. The following five books of satire that address urgent issues made me laugh, cringe, think, and mutter “too real” under my breath.

Christina's book list on satires that skewer and roast

Christina di Pensare Why Christina loves this book

This sly, feminist satire posits that everything is tied to reproduction.

Zumas must have read widely before thinking out loud in print about everything from love, sex, birth, life, love, loss, loneliness, and death to small things that seem inconsequential but make sense within the tale she spins.

Narrated in a cycle by four women, the core of the novel imagines a world where abortion is banned and women are surveilled—but with absurd legal twists and deadpan irony. Zumas blends social commentary with magical realism to deliver a novel that disturbs the reader with inconvenient truths and difficult questions.

By Leni Zumas ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Red Clocks as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

SHORTLISTED FOR THE INAUGURAL ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION

'Intense, beautifully crafted . . . Her talent is electric. Get ready for a shock' Guardian

FIVE WOMEN. ONE QUESTION: What is a woman for?

In this ferociously imaginative novel, abortion is once again illegal in America, in-vitro fertilization is banned, and the Personhood Amendment grants rights of life, liberty, and property to every embryo. In a small Oregon fishing town, five very different women navigate these new barriers.

Ro, a single high-school teacher, is trying to have a baby on her own, while also writing a biography of Eivor, a…


Book cover of Gulliver's Travels

Mary Maurice Author Of The Dreams of Stellar Martin

From Mary's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Humorous Perceptive Articulate Kind Smart

Mary's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Mary Maurice Why Mary loves this book

Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels is a fantastical, invented novel about the travels of a nautical surgeon over three centuries ago and the many adventures he finds himself in from a country that is divided by the correct way to crack an egg, to a land of giants and a distant place where horses rule and humans are slaves. The political undertones are ever flowing and show us that not many things have changed in the past 300 years. Even though Swift's book is look upon as a child's story, I find it to be for all ages. A fun read!

By Jonathan Swift ,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked Gulliver's Travels as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 11, 12, 13, and 14.

What is this book about?

'Thus, gentle Reader, I have given thee a faithful History of my Travels for Sixteen Years, and above Seven Months; wherein I have not been so studious of Ornament as of Truth.'

In these words Gulliver represents himself as a reliable reporter of the fantastic adventures he has just set down; but how far can we rely on a narrator whose identity is elusive and whoses inventiveness is self-evident? Gulliver's Travels purports to be a travel book, and describes Gulliver's encounters with the inhabitants of four extraordinary places: Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and the country of the Houyhnhnms. A consummately skilful…


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Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.

Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…

Book cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

L.N. Hunter Author Of The Feather and the Lamp

From my list on humorous fantasy and science fiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up at a time when both Monty Python and ‘alternative comedians’ like Ben Elton were on the telly, I couldn’t help but absorb British humor, and coupling that with a love of science fiction and fantasy (Asimov, Heinlein, Moorcock, etc.), I was ripe for an introduction to Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett… And the rest is history. The world is too serious a place, and I find comedy of all kinds, but especially SFF, a welcome escape. My own writing has been inspired by all the books on this list, and while I work in a range of genres, almost everything includes at least some snarky humor.

L.N.'s book list on humorous fantasy and science fiction

L.N. Hunter Why L.N. loves this book

I first encountered Douglas Adams when I caught The Hitchhiker’s Guide on late-night radio, and I was hooked. The novel is slightly different, with Adams giving a bit more consideration to plot and logic, but it has the same wonderful, rapid-fire dialogue style, which has seldom been replicated.

I absolutely love Arthur Dent’s ludicrous accidental odyssey, meeting characters like Zaphod Beeblebrox and the wonderfully named Slartibartfast. The Guide sits in the background, popping up to provide superbly funny explanations of the history of the universe, humanity’s obsession with money, and a lot more.

For me, the thing that sets this apart from a lot of SFF humor is its ‘Britishness’—there’s a distinct feel of the surreal comic legacy of, for example, Monty Python and The Goon Show.

By Douglas Adams ,

Why should I read it?

44 authors picked The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This box set contains all five parts of the' trilogy of five' so you can listen to the complete tales of Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Zaphod Bebblebrox and Marvin the Paranoid Android! Travel through space, time and parallel universes with the only guide you'll ever need, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Read by Stephen Fry, actor, director, author and popular audiobook reader, and Martin Freeman, who played Arthur Dent in film version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He is well known as Tim in The Office.

The set also includes a bonus DVD Life, the Universe and…


Book cover of Dear Committee Members

Morgan Vogt

From Morgan's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Unknown Author Why Morgan loves this book

If you've ever had anything to do with university or college life, this book will resonate with you. Funny, touching, ridiculous, and so on the nose.

By Julie Schumacher ,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked Dear Committee Members as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Finally a novel that puts the "pissed" back into "epistolary."

Jason Fitger is a beleaguered professor of creative writing and literature at Payne University, a small and not very distinguished liberal arts college in the midwest. His department is facing draconian cuts and squalid quarters, while one floor above them the Economics Department is getting lavishly remodeled offices. His once-promising writing career is in the doldrums, as is his romantic life, in part as the result of his unwise use of his private affairs for his novels. His star (he thinks) student can't catch a break with his brilliant (he…


Book cover of A Confederacy of Dunces

PS Conway Author Of Life Sucks

From my list on satire with a bite.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a great-great-great-great-grandchild of Irish immigrants, I come from a long, proud line of alcoholics, especially on my mother’s side. My childhood was a masterclass in chaos: family scream-fests, flung insults, and someone cracking a joke while dodging a punch. It was painful, yes, but also absurd and often hilarious. That’s where my dark wit comes from. Razor-sharp humor was how we made it out alive. It becomes a lens you’re trained to observe the world through since you were a wee lad. I’ve always been drawn to stories where grief and laughter sit at the same table, clinking pints. Satire and absurdity aren’t interests for me. They’re muscle memory.

PS's book list on satire with a bite

PS Conway Why PS loves this book

I didn’t know whether to laugh or stage an intervention. This book introduced me to Ignatius J. Reilly, a character so insufferable and absurdly grandiose that I kept turning pages just to see how much worse he could get. I was horrified and hypnotized. I couldn’t look away.

What I love about this book is that it doesn’t ask you to like anyone. It asks you to witness the glorious wreckage of human delusion. It is chaotic, bloated, brilliant, and somehow still moving. Toole gave me a character I wanted to strangle, and a novel I wanted to reread. That kind of friction is rare, and I live for it.

By John Kennedy Toole ,

Why should I read it?

18 authors picked A Confederacy of Dunces as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

ONE OF THE BBC'S 100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD

'This is probably my favourite book of all time' Billy Connolly

A pithy, laugh-out-loud story following John Kennedy Toole's larger-than-life Ignatius J. Reilly, floundering his way through 1960s New Orleans, beautifully resigned with cover art by Gary Taxali
_____________

'This city is famous for its gamblers, prostitutes, exhibitionists, anti-Christs, alcoholics, sodomites, drug addicts, fetishists, onanists, pornographers, frauds, jades, litterbugs, and lesbians . . . don't make the mistake of bothering me.'

Ignatius J. Reilly: fat, flatulent, eloquent and almost unemployable. By the standards of ordinary folk he is pretty much…


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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 Animal Farm

Adam Strassberg Author Of December on 5C4

From Adam's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Adam's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Adam Strassberg Why Adam loves this book

I re-read Animal Farm this year. For those of us in high school in the 1980s in the US, Animal Farm was a standard part of our English curriculum. I always cynically considered this was because it is such a short novel, but now I realize that this economy of words is an aspect of the book’s brilliance. The prose is plain, sharp, and efficient. Orwell was able to transform the complex geopolitical conflicts of his time into a simple and entertaining allegory about farm animals. He was a master storyteller!

By George Orwell ,

Why should I read it?

18 authors picked Animal Farm as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The perfect edition for any Orwell enthusiasts' collection, discover Orwell's classic dystopian masterpiece beautifully reimagined by renowned street artist Shepard Fairey

'All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.'

Mr Jones of Manor Farm is so lazy and drunken that one day he forgets to feed his livestock. The ensuing rebellion under the leadership of the pigs Napoleon and Snowball leads to the animals taking over the farm. Vowing to eliminate the terrible inequities of the farmyard, the renamed Animal Farm is organised to benefit all who walk on four legs. But as time passes, the…


Book cover of The Director
Book cover of Netherland
Book cover of The Sellout

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