Here are 100 books that Three fans have personally recommended if you like Three. 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 Reservoir 13

Debbie Urbanski Author Of After World

From my list on showing humans aren’t the only species that matter.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been a hiker for a long time, but it wasn’t until COVID-19 that I began to pay attention to the forests I was hiking through. I started with field guides to edible plants, then used Seek and iNaturalist apps to identify more species, and started taking macro photography of what I found. The more I paid attention to the minutiae of the natural world, the more I fell in love with every part of it. I’m worried our current priorities for climate change (preserving our way of life) are misguided. I’m worried about the future of all species. Every insect and every plant I’ve looked at close up is breathtakingly beautiful and worth saving. 

Debbie's book list on showing humans aren’t the only species that matter

Debbie Urbanski Why Debbie loves this book

Like all good books, Reservoir 13 is transformative. It’s made me see the world differently, as a place where swallows and bats and the nettle and a river and ewes and wood pigeons and the weather and townspeople are all interconnected through the cycle of years. McGregor manages to do this through a collage-like structure, where a description of a person moves effortlessly into a description of nature, proving that all living things have seasons, stories, and beauty.

By the end of the book, I always feel kind of god-like as a reader, in the sense that I’ve watched and observed and loved, over 13 years, this human and non-human community. Who wants to let something like that go? It’s often easier to just start at the beginning again. This is another book I find myself rereading whenever I get the chance. 

By Jon McGregor ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Reservoir 13 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize

A “fiercely intelligent . . . daring, and very moving” about an English village haunted by one family’s loss—for readers of The Virgin Suicides and Zadie Smith’s NW (George Saunders, The Paris Review Daily).

Midwinter in an English village. A teenage girl has gone missing. Everyone is called upon to join the search. The villagers fan out across the moors as the police set up roadblocks and a crowd of news reporters descends on what is usually a place of peace. Meanwhile, there is work that…


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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 The Memories of Eskar Wilde

Tom McCaffrey Author Of The Wise Ass

From my list on bringing magic into your daily life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have a Walter Mitty view of the world. If I were a movie character, I would be Edward Bloom, in Big Fish. I have been a lawyer in the entertainment industry for almost four decades. As a result of my personality and profession, my books mix fantasy, science fiction, and the mystical into our everyday world, and I do it in a way that makes you wonder if what I’m telling you is true, causes you to hope it is true and compels you to wish you could join in the adventures.    

Tom's book list on bringing magic into your daily life

Tom McCaffrey Why Tom loves this book

This is one of the best books I have ever read. 

The writing is superb, the story clever and interesting and the settings diverse and beautiful. I love the characters and their inter and intra-family dynamics. And then there is a magical cat named Brie. 

The writing draws you into each scene and you feel like you are another person in the room as the story unfolds.     

By E H Wilde ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Perfect for fans of Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The Shadow of the Wind and Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, E.H Wilde's memoir-styled literary fiction debut, The Memories of Eskar Wilde, is a coming-of-age tale of secrets and discovery, love and loss, and guilt and penance. 

I'm no author. I don't know how to structure my "story" in a conventional way, though I am now inclined to tell it. If you possess sufficient patience and a willingness to forgive my amateurish storytelling, I'll explain to you how I came to be in a small Paris apartment on my eighteenth birthday,…


Book cover of Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman

Joan D. Heiman Author Of Life with an Impossible Person: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Transformation

From my list on by women grieving the loss of a quirky partner.

Why am I passionate about this?

My mom handed me one of those little girl diaries with a lock and key when I was in third grade. I wrote my heart into those diaries until I needed more space and shifted to regular-sized notebooks. Writing is my way to know myself and make sense of my life. The journal I kept in the last months of my husband’s life helped me reassemble the trauma-blurred memories of his dying, and then, it supported my emotional rebirth during the year of intense grieving. It is with surprise and delight that I hear from readers who say I articulate their innermost emotions related to love and loss.

Joan's book list on by women grieving the loss of a quirky partner

Joan D. Heiman Why Joan loves this book

Without Reservations gave me hope following the death of my beloved husband of 37 years. Living with his unique and nontraditional worldview, I’d grown into and inhabited a wider, less conventional way of being than my suburban middle-class upbringing had prepared me for. But once he was gone, what and who was I going to be? Steinbach’s travelogue goes to many of the places my husband and I traveled in England and Europe, and that brought reminiscences of great pleasure. But it was her inner journeying in search of her soul that gave me the courage to embark on the inner travels toward self-discovery and the independence I faced in a newly widowed existence.

By Alice Steinbach ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Without Reservations as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

American journalist Alice Steinbach took a year off to live in four cities - Paris, Venice, London and Oxford - when she realized she had entered a new phase of life. Her sons had graduated from college; she had been divorced for a long time; she was a successful journalist. While there was nothing really wrong with her life, she felt restless. Could she live independently of her family, her friends, her career?
Steinbach searches for the answer to this provocative question firstly in Paris, where she finds a soul mate in a Japanese man; in Milan, where she befriends…


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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 Two Dozen Eggs

Kate van den Boogert Author Of The Paris Flea Market: Les Puces de Paris, Saint-Ouen

From my list on connecting with a few true Paris ‘Makers’.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love Paris. This city endlessly stimulates both my head and my heart. Always in movement, everchanging, it, like all cities, is a living organism, manifesting the spirit of all those who live here, past and present. Through a bunch of different projects and a handful of books, I’ve been trying to map its creative DNA, seeking out and championing the people and places who contribute to forging Paris’s own distinctive identity today. Makers Paris (Prestel) and Makers Paris 2 (Ofr. Éditions) evolved out of more than a decade running slow-travel pioneer Gogo City Guides, and my latest book The Paris Flea Market (Prestel) is a new stop on this journey.

Kate's book list on connecting with a few true Paris ‘Makers’

Kate van den Boogert Why Kate loves this book

Paris has an incredibly vibrant food scene, and some of that energy is generated by a shapeshifting community of expat chefs and foodies. Hugh Corcoran, a Belfast born writer and cook, spent the most part of the last decade living and working in France, in Paris and beyond.

This lovely book is a collection of vignettes from his travels, simply and honestly written, remembering people he met along the way and the meals they shared. Each story ends with a recipe, including some French classics like roast chicken, gratin dauphinois, or carottes râpées.

If the book’s tone is gentle, it’s actually an urgent call to action, as the epigraph confirms: “Friends and neighbors, wet your mouths, for after death you won’t touch another drop.”

By Hugh Corcoran ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Two Dozen Eggs by Hugh Corcoran is a pocketbook collection of short stories and recipes.

Hugh Corcoran is a cook from Belfast who has spent the most part of the last decade living and working in the Basque Country and France.

This book contains a collection of short stories written over the period of a few months but based on the memories and experiences of those places and his childhood in Ireland.

Two Dozen Eggs features an introduction by Rachel Roddy and is illustrated by Peter Doyle.


Book cover of Writers at Work, Second Series: the Paris Review Interviews, Second Series (Writers at Work)

William H. Coles Author Of The Art of Creating Story

From my list on improving your prose writing and creation of fiction story.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an author of literary fiction and nonfiction on the creative writing process. My passion is to provide resources for writers who want to create stories as artful literature that will last. A few years ago, I created a website that contains all my fiction and non-fiction, a newsletter, a workshop, and a blog. The website has received over five million visits. I've published six novels, thirty-seven short stories, thirty essays, twenty-six interviews, and dozens of literary quizzes. My fiction has received over fifty+ awards. I’ve written and presented an online video course: Creating Literary Story with Thinkific. I continue to serve writers who are eager to improve.

William's book list on improving your prose writing and creation of fiction story

William H. Coles Why William loves this book

This is the second of four books of the collected interviews of famous authors from the Paris Review. Hemingway, Moore, Porter, Ellison, and Huxley are among the fourteen included in this book. Other books in the series include Forster, Faulkner, Warren, Bellow, Welty, Dinesen, Steinbeck, and many others. You may be amazed at how different successful writers are in their thinking about writing and success in their careers. In my studies in over a hundred workshops and many lectures and seminars, I was fortunate to meet and know teachers and students who knew, or studied, with many of these authors. Experiences that make me think you’d value most of Plimpton’s work in this series.

By George Plimpton ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Writers at Work, Second Series as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

TWO BOOK OFFER. "Writers at Work -- The Paris Review Interviews: First Series and Second Series". Viking Press Paperbacks, copyrights 1957 and 1963; Compass Books Editions issued in1961 and 1965. First Series (Compass No. C52) 3rd printing Nov 1961, 309 pp. Second Series (Compass No. C175) 3rd printing July 1966, 368 pp. Both books size 7 3/4" by 5" by about 3/4". Bindings intact; no loose or missing pages; spines not creased. First Series volume is in only GOOD condition: covers and pages are clean and unmarked EXCEPT the covers show moderate shelf wear, the front cover opens wide, and…


Book cover of Almost French: Love and a New Life In Paris

Jessica Mudditt Author Of Our Home in Myanmar: Four years in Yangon

From my list on living abroad.

Why am I passionate about this?

I left home in Melbourne to spend a year travelling in Asia when I was in my mid-twenties. I ended up living abroad for a decade in London, Bangladesh, and Myanmar before returning to Sydney in 2016. My first book is about the four years I lived in Myanmar and I’m currently writing my second, which is about the year I spent backpacking from Cambodia to Pakistan. My third book will be about the three years I worked as a journalist in Bangladesh. My plan is to write a ‘trilogy’ of memoirs. Living abroad has enriched my life and travel memoirs are one of my favourite genres, both as a reader and a writer.

Jessica's book list on living abroad

Jessica Mudditt Why Jessica loves this book

What’s not to love about a book set in Paris about a journalist who falls in love with a Frenchman? This book is a delight. Turnbull writes beautifully, and with modesty and humour about making every faux pas imaginable in Paris. It’s light and insightful at the time. The pages practically turned themselves.

By Sarah Turnbull ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Almost French takes readers on a tour fraught with culture clashes but rife with insight and deadpan humour - a charming true story of what happens when a strong-willed Aussie girl meets a very French Frenchman.

Backpacking around Europe, twenty-something Sarah Turnbull meets Frederic and impulsively accepts his invitation to visit him for a week in Paris. Eight years later, she is still there - and married to him. The feisty journalist swaps vegemite for vichyssoise and all things French, but commits the fatal errors of bowling up to strangers at classy receptions, helping herself to champagne, laughing too loudly…


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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 Girl with the Golden Eyes

David Downie Author Of Red Riviera

From my list on crime novels that double as travel books.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in the ‘60s and ‘70s watching Alfred Hitchcock movies and reading Dashiell Hammett—I’m from San Francisco. Then opera got hold of me. So, I dropped out of my PhD program, left Dante’s Inferno behind, and moved to Paris to live a modern-day La Bohème. Because I’m half-Italian, I decided I had to divide my life between Paris and Italy. Mystery, murder, romance, longing, and betrayal were what fueled my passions and still do. To earn a living, I became a travel, food, and arts reporter. These interests and the locales of my life come together in my own crime and mystery novels.

David's book list on crime novels that double as travel books

David Downie Why David loves this book

Do you want the gritty, pungent beauty of Paris during the heyday of the Romantics—the 1830s? You want perversion, decadence, a crazy, kinky plot revolving around sex, dominance, Sapphic passion, murder, and intrigue, set in the Trocadero neighborhood? Only Honoré de Balzac could dream up something this wild and get away with it. One of the wonders of this short novel is how, through casual descriptions, Paris comes to life. It’s not a picture-postcard version of the city. Au contraire. It’s a seamy, real place I recognize after 35 years living there. While I was reading The Girl with the Golden Eyes, I actually went out and found the locations. The city has changed less than you’d think in 190 years. Above all, the seamy, perverse side remains.

By Honoré de Balzac ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Girl with the Golden Eyes as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Beginning with a visceral description of the society and politics of Paris, The Girl with the Golden Eyes considers the sex life of the upper class by its raw depiction of the underside of Parisian life. Henri de Marsay is a young, rich man who is nearly devoid of morals and virtue. After he meets Paquita Valdes, a mysterious and beautiful woman, he becomes infested with a deviant lust for her. When his plan to seduce her succeeds, Henri and Paquita maintain an intensely sexual relationship. However, when Henri starts to suspect Paquita is involved with another lover, he becomes…


Book cover of Convenient Lies

Elle E. Kay Author Of Grave Pursuits

From my list on Christian thrillers with heartbeats and hideaways.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm an author of more than twenty Christian fiction books. I write true romantic suspense with equal parts engaging romance and thrilling suspense. My debut novel was a semi-finalist in the Genesis contest, and many of my subsequent titles have reached bestseller status. I engage with readers through my blog, which is recognized as a top 25 Christian fiction blog on Feedspot, and my Facebook group, "Heartbeats and Hideaways."

Elle's book list on Christian thrillers with heartbeats and hideaways

Elle E. Kay Why Elle loves this book

I loved this book by Robin Patchen for its fast-paced action and compelling love story. The suspense grabbed me right from the start when the heroine fled Paris with her newborn, escaping her dangerous husband, a complex and well-developed villain if ever there was one.

The plot kept me on the edge of my seat as the heroine navigated the threats from her husband's crime family while seeking refuge in her childhood home. The reappearance of her first love added an emotional depth that enriched the story. 

Patchen’s skillful writing and well-crafted characters made this book impossible to put down. Convenient Lies is a thrilling read that perfectly combines suspense and romance.

By Robin Patchen ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

From a USA Today Bestselling novelist comes this edge-of-your-seat Christian romantic suspense story that'll keep you turning the pages all night long.

She married her enemy…

When investigative journalist Reagan McAdams discovers her new husband is part of an international crime family, she flees Paris with their newborn and returns to her childhood home in New Hampshire to gather enough money to disappear forever. She’ll do whatever it takes to protect her son from his criminal father. He never quit loving her.

Rae’s first love, Brady Thomas, discovers she’s home and in trouble. She won't tell him what's going on,…


Book cover of Strange Beasts

Ryan Graudin Author Of The Enchanted Lies of Celeste Artois

From my list on set in a magical version of Paris.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love Paris. It is one of my favorite cities on Earth. One of the reasons I adore it so much is because it has such a palpable sense of enchantment. There is magic in its cathedrals and catacombs, its pâtisseries and feal markets, its rich tradition of art and joie de vivre. You can feel it in your soul as you walk through the city, under the gazes of its gargoyles and the charm of its cafes. Thus, I’ve always been drawn to stories that take this one step further—exploring a Paris that harbors actual magic.

Ryan's book list on set in a magical version of Paris

Ryan Graudin Why Ryan loves this book

If you’re searching for a book that serves up monstrous werewolves in Paris’s catacombs and opera houses, then I highly recommend picking up this book.

I loved how Susan J. Morris used references to Sherlock Holmes and Dracula in her characters, who are racing to find a man-eating beast in 1900s Paris. This was a taut, twisty-turny read!

By Susan J. Morris ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'A whip-smart, lusciously atmospheric adventure' Frances White

'Fantastic and fresh' Wesley Chu

'Inventive, engaging, and terrific fun' H.G. Parry

In Belle Epoque Paris, a monster is murdering powerful men. Stopping it may be a woman's job.

When the Gendarmes ask the Royal Society for the Study of Abnormal Phenomena for help, they don't expect them to send Samantha Harker.

She's a researcher, more used to papercuts than knife fights. Sam is also the daughter of Dracula's killer and can see into the minds of monsters. It's a perilous power, one that could help her crack this case or have her…


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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 All Signs Point to Paris

Corey Seemiller Author Of The Soulmate Strategy

From my list on soulmates, serendipity, and second chances.

Why am I passionate about this?

After experiencing a devastating breakup, I sought out every book I could that might help me get through that confusing, chaotic time. I was drawn to stories about healing after heartbreak and particularly ones on fated love, as I believed if I could find my soulmate, I would be certain I would have a love that would never again fail. As I read these books, I began chronicling my own journey in my memoir, and then later on, launching Rock That Relationship!, a podcast about manifesting positive relationships. My hope was that the book and podcast would help others through their own journeys from heartbreak to healing to love. 

Corey's book list on soulmates, serendipity, and second chances

Corey Seemiller Why Corey loves this book

This spoke to my need for certainty in love.

So much so, that like Natasha, I wanted to seek out an astrologer to discover my elusive soulmate’s birth date and place so I could begin the search for true love.

During so many moments in the story, I could feel the wavering sense of desperation and hope as Natasha combed through every possible prospect for love, even the ones who were not a fit! I cheered her on, hoping not only would she meet her soulmate but that her strategy for doing so would work, providing us all a blueprint for finding “the one.”

By Natasha Sizlo ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked All Signs Point to Paris as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

How far would you go to discover your destiny?

It's the cusp of Natasha Sizlo's forty-fourth birthday. Still reeling
from her disastrous divorce, she's navigating life as a single mum alongside a cutthroat career in LA real estate. In the meantime, her ex-husband is dating a Hollywood star and she's just broken it off with her handsome but non-committal French boyfriend. Just when it seems things can't get worse, her beloved father is given months to live.

So when she's gifted a session with an astrologist, Natasha -
though a sceptic - figures she has nothing to lose. The reading…


Book cover of Reservoir 13
Book cover of The Memories of Eskar Wilde
Book cover of Without Reservations: The Travels of an Independent Woman

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Interested in Paris, villages, and lake?

Paris 409 books
Villages 167 books
Lake 19 books