Here are 6 books that Water Moon fans have personally recommended if you like Water Moon. 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 To the Bright Edge of the World

Peggy O'Donnell Heffington Author Of Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother

From my list on women without kids (that aren’t sad).

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a historian who knows women have long lived not-sad lives without children. I’ve spent years researching the full and vibrant lives women without children lived throughout history—lives that often were only possible because they didn’t have the responsibilities of motherhood. I’m also a woman living a decidedly not-sad life without kids. And yet, in popular imagination, a woman without kids must be longing to be a mother or grieving the fact that she isn’t. I know firsthand that it can be isolating not to have kids. But in writing about the sheer variety of lives non-mothers lived in the past, I’m trying to show that we’re not alone.

Peggy's book list on women without kids (that aren’t sad)

Peggy O'Donnell Heffington Why Peggy loves this book

Unlike Ivey’s other book The Snow Child, which grapples with the grief of infertility (a book I also love!), this book considers the opportunities a life without children allows for.

It opens with Lieutenant Colonel Allan Forrester as he prepares to lead an expedition into Alaska in 1885. His wife, Sophie, is an explorer in her own right and plans to accompany him—until they realize she’s pregnant and decide she has to stay behind.

Spoiler: Sophie miscarries and learns she will likely never be able to carry a baby to term. But this isn’t an endpoint for Sophie: instead, it sets her on a path toward professional and creative success, as well as love and happiness in her marriage.

We’re used to reading about how motherhood gives life meaning—I loved Ivey’s portrait of how not having kids can do the same.

By Eowyn Ivey ,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked To the Bright Edge of the World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL WRITING AWARDS 2016.

Set in the Alaskan landscape that she brought to stunningly vivid life in THE SNOW CHILD (a Sunday Times bestseller, Richard and Judy pick and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), Eowyn Ivey's TO THE BRIGHT EDGE OF THE WORLD is a breathtaking story of discovery set at the end of the nineteenth century, sure to appeal to fans of A PLACE CALLED WINTER.

'A clever, ambitious novel' The Sunday Times

'Persuasive and vivid... what could be a better beach read than an Arctic adventure?' Guardian


'Stunning and intriguing... the reader finishes…


If you love Water Moon...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Book cover of Y/N

Lio Min Author Of Beating Heart Baby

From my list on the transformative power of art.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m only a writer because I was a musician first. I worshiped music—as a performer, listener, and later a critic—for its ability to enshrine me in a purely emotional world. My favorite lyrics were poetry in motion; my favorite melodies escaped description. And through sharing my feverish acclamations of particular albums and songs, I found community with others who also pledged themselves to art that’d definitively split their lives into “before” and “after.” My writing career was born from cathartic devotion and remains devoted to recounting the rapture of self-formation, of being reflected in the mirror of something that saw you before you even knew to see yourself.

Lio's book list on the transformative power of art

Lio Min Why Lio loves this book

Based on the title alone, I knew Yi’s debut novel would hit me like a crossbow to the heart. “Y/N” Is a prevalent shorthand for a particular kind of self-insert fan fiction, and having grown up in online fandom spaces, I have a lot of nostalgia for (and now plenty of necessary distance from) the passion that often explodes within and beyond those communities.

And still, I wasn’t prepared for the journey that Yi took me on. Nominally about one woman's spiraling obsession with a Korean pop idol, Y/N charts the inexplicable journey between a “regular person” and a “fan" before morphing into something sinisterly, beautifully, and singularly unhinged.

By Esther Yi ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Y/N as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Wondrous and weird." -New York Times
"Gorgeous." -New Yorker
"High Brow x Brilliant." -NY Mag (Approval Matrix)
"So good it's hard to believe." -New York Times Book Review Podcast
"Rare." -n+1
"A true novel of the era." -Elle
"Piercing, feverish, and frequently astonishing." -Entertainment Weekly
"Utterly brilliant, shining, and mesmerizing." -Cosmopolitan
"Freakish and hallucinatory." -Vulture
"Absurdly funny." -Ms. Magazine
"Savage." -Vanity Fair
"Playful, immersive yet unreal." -Esquire
"Riveting and innovative." -TIME
"Curious, cerebral . . . with moments of tender poetry." -Times Literary Supplement
"It."-SSENSE
"Sophisticated." -Chicago Review of Books
"Strange, haunting, and undeniably beautiful." -Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"One…


Book cover of The Fortunate Fall

Ctein Author Of Saturn Run

From my list on science fiction novels with protagonists in peril.

Why am I passionate about this?

Here's my confession—I am a closet sadist. IRL, I carefully catch beetles and spiders in a jar to take them outside when I find them in the house. But at the keyboard? Mr. Hyde. I torture my major characters. A half dozen in Saturn Run look death in the face. Some die. In my second novel, Ripple Effect, it's way over a dozen and the carnage starts in the very first chapter. What can I say? I am a very nice and kind person, just not a nice and kind author! 

Ctein's book list on science fiction novels with protagonists in peril

Ctein Why Ctein loves this book

Why I loved this book is less important than how much I loved this book. I savored it as I devoured it until I finally reached the conclusion, and the mystery that the protagonist, a cybernetically-embedded reporter, had been chasing was laid to rest. 

Then I did something I’d never done before… nor done since. I immediately turned back to Page 1 and read the book again, now that I could appreciate the full import of all that had transpired in its pages—the complexity of Cameron’s imagined world, the implications of the terrifying technology that underlay it, the intricacies of the reporter’s investigations.

If there’s higher praise than that, I can’t imagine what it would be.

By Cameron Reed (writing as Raphael Carter) ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A debut novel of remarkable beauty and invention, The Fortunate Fall is back in print for the first time in almost three decades as a Tor Essential, with a new introduction by Jo Walton

Tor Essentials presents new editions of science fiction and fantasy titles of proven merit and lasting value, each volume introduced by an appropriate literary figure.

On its first publication in 1996, The Fortunate Fall was hailed as an SF novel of a wired future on par with the debuts of William Gibson and Neal Stephenson. Now it returns to print, as one of the great underground…


If you love Samantha Sotto Yambao...

Book cover of Memento: A Novel in Dreams, Thoughts, and Images

Memento by Cordelia Schmidt-Hellerau,

Sine, a professor of creative writing, accompanies Sam, a neuroscientist, on a conference trip to a Hotel Castle. Sam wants to present a new device, the "monitor." Sine hopes to recover from tending to her mother who just passed away. 

When they arrive, Sine is in a dream-like state. Real…

Book cover of Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop

Unknown Author

By Hwang Bo-Reum , Shanna Tan (translator) ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

**AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER** WATERSTONES BEST FICTION BOOKS OF 2023 PICK WOMAN & HOME NOVEMBER BOOK OF THE MONTH iPaper TOP FICTION PICK 'An absolutely charming novel that all bookworms will adore' Red 'A balm for the soul and a glorious love letter to books and reading' iPaper There was only one thing on her mind. 'I must start a bookshop.' Yeongju did everything she was supposed to, go to university, marry a decent man, get a respectable job. Then it all fell apart. Burned out, Yeongju abandons her old life, quits her high-flying career, and follows her dream. She opens…


Book cover of The Opposite of Butterfly Hunting

Tyffany D. Neiheiser Author Of Not Dead Enough

From Tyffany's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Tyffany's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Tyffany D. Neiheiser Why Tyffany loves this book

This is the memoir of Evanna Lynch, who played Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter.

I'd known she struggled with some mental health issues, including anorexia, but I wasn't prepared for the honest, poetic way Ms. Lynch would tell her story. Many books about eating disorders focus on the mechanics of it. She's up front, from the beginning, that she's not going to focus on that because it would have triggered her during the height of her disorder.

Instead, she walks readers through how she felt, what she was thinking, and the ways in which she struggled. I listened to the audiobook, and listening to her tell the story enhanced the story. I wish every memoir about mental health was written in this way, in a way that really makes me feel as if I understand what the person was going through.

If you like memoirs or learning about mental health,…

By Evanna Lynch ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A raw, compelling memoir from actress and activist Evanna Lynch detailing her rise to fame as Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter movies while facing disordered eating, and how she learned to navigate the path between fears and dreams—for readers of Jennette McCurdy's I'm Glad My Mom Died and Tom Felton's Beyond the Wand.

Evanna Lynch's casting as Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films is a tale that grew to almost mythic proportions—a legend of how she faced disordered eating as a young girl, found solace in a beloved book series, and later landed the part of her favorite…


Book cover of Where He Can't Find You

Tyffany D. Neiheiser Author Of Not Dead Enough

From Tyffany's 3 favorite reads in 2025.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Tyffany's 3 favorite reads in 2025

Tyffany D. Neiheiser Why Tyffany loves this book

This is a YA horror novel about a monster that the whole town knows about. There are signs when it's coming, and rules to follow. I loved the friendship between the central characters, and how they welcome the new girl and try to teach her about the monster. I love the idea of a monster that the whole town knows about-- but can't do anything about.

This book is fun and frightening. Great for fans of YA horror.

By Darcy Coates ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Where He Can't Find You 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?

From USA Today bestselling horror/thriller author Darcy Coates comes the chilling legend of a monster no one can escape.

DON'T WALK ALONE, OR THE STITCHER WILL FIND YOU.

Abby Ward lives in a town haunted by disappearances. People vanish, and when they're found, their bodies have been dismembered and sewn back together in unnatural ways. But is it the work of a human killer...or something far darker?

DON'T STAY OUT LATE, OR THE STITCHER WILL TAKE YOU.

She and her younger sister live by a strict set of rules designed to keep them safe-which is why it's such a shock…


If you love Water Moon...

Book cover of Salvation in the Sun

Salvation in the Sun by Lauren Lee Merewether,

In an age of splendor, a heretic king strips Egypt bare—forcing his queen to quell rebellion and plunging his children into a conspiracy against the crown.

Salvation in the Sun follows Nefertiti as she ascends the throne beside Pharaoh Amenhotep—soon to become Akhenaten—just as he declares war on Egypt’s ancient…

Book cover of To the Bright Edge of the World
Book cover of Y/N
Book cover of The Fortunate Fall

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