44 Books Like Where the Action Is

I love this book because it gave me a roadmap for navigating the conversations I used to dread, many of which involve ethics.

As a supervisor and leader, I’ve faced moments where my voice was shaky, my palms were sweaty (think “Mom’s spaghetti”), and my brain was frantically trying to script the “perfect” thing to say. Crucial Conversations reminded me that it’s not about perfect—it’s about being present, showing up, and having the conversation even when it is difficult.

This book highlights the importance of inviting different perspectives into tricky conversations. I’ve used its tools to prepare for and navigate tricky conversations in a collaborative way, focused on shared goals, mutual respect, and safety—even when emotions run high. It’s my “conversation courage” handbook.

This is a really unique and different meeting book – it basically teaches about how to run meeting effectively by inserting them naturally into a fable. The fable is really quite engaging and something most of us can relate to. The learnings, although not extensive, align quite well with the science. Overall it is a fun and informative book.

Why do women feel like we need to invite everyone to every party, throw weddings that are closer to our parents’ style than our own, and show up to networking nights that we know we won’t get anything out of?

I know this book is meant to be about hosting gatherings, but I’ve applied the principles to nearly everything I do in work and hobbies to add more intention, impact, and fulfillment. I’ve changed the way I sit at restaurants to encourage deeper conversations with friends. I’ve started to purposefully not invite certain people to certain parties since I know it would change the dynamic negatively for others. I’ve embraced the idea of “pop-up rules” at every event I host and expect guests to follow them so that the event is transformative and not boring.

Since reading Priya’s incredible framework, I’ve led extremely successful monthly events for my community, started… show more.

The book takes on a very tricky meeting type, hybrid meetings. It is easy to read and has a nice set of evidence-based practices to elevate these meetings. As we move past Covid, this is a helpful resource to managers as they meet in our new normal. I really enjoyed the discussion of challenges and best practices from research to overcome.  

The Other Hotel was my first Jack Stroke book and after the first few pages I was hooked.

The writing is easy, authentic, and unpretentious – reading it quickly made me feel like I was hanging out with an old friend. The plot is twisted, the characters are off-the-hook, and Stroke has the unique capacity to inject a sense of apathetic calm into situations where all hell is breaking loose – making the book a tremendous amount of fun.

I highly recommend the whole series.

When I needed a concise overview of the history of hell, from Egyptian Duat to modern-day versions of Christian hell and all the many other versions around the world, this book gave me just what I needed. The tone and language are lighthearted, which keeps the subject interesting without getting too dark or depressing.

I liked how the authors break down hell into its common components, asking questions like “Where is hell?” and “Who’s in charge?” and giving a sense of how people have answered these questions in different places and times. I walked away feeling like we were all connected through this shared history of curiosity about the afterlife.

Jenna Moran is an under-appreciated author who combines whimsy and darkness in equal measure, created worlds that are at once familiar and strange. This bittersweet picture book is her at her finest, accompanied by glorious artwork by Elizabeth Sherry as she tells the story of a picture-book world attacked by an invasion of terrible, otherworldly things—Ordinary Objects.

This one is a little bit of a cheeky pick, because, at the time of writing, it hasn’t been published yet. I was lucky enough to get an early read and I loved it. Miguela is frustrated by the tight reign her Puerto-Rican grandmother keeps on her. She is bored with going to church, going to school, being forbidden to date, or basically anything fun. So when Sam, a new gorgeous boy comes to her school and she feels an irresistible pull towards him, she doesn’t resist very hard. Until Sam learns of Sam’s family roots… and has to break up with him. But you don’t just break up with Sam without potentially apocalyptic consequences. This book reminded me of a YA Imaginary Friend by Chbosky, only funny. And why did I pick it for this creepy creature list? Well, the creatures in this one definitely freaked me out. Despite… show more.

When I was interviewing for a position at Notre Dame, the campus museum had an exhibit of illustrations for Dante’s Inferno, which reinforced to me the fascination of Dante. 

When I began teaching the work a few years later, my students were engrossed by its riveting portrayals of moral ugliness. They were also amazed that Dante places even popes in hell. The work has so inspired my students that one of them submitted her final paper in terza rima, the form Dante uses, and another reflected on where precisely in hell she might belong.

This beautifully translated bilingual edition contains extensive, helpful commentary.

Madison Spencer is a fourteen-year-old girl who dies of a drug overdose, only to discover that she has been condemned to Hell. However, she soon realizes that the damned souls in Hell are not punished in the classic sense but are instead subjected to a monotonous, soul-crushing existence where they are forced to relive their worst experiences. With the help of a few allies she meets in Hell, Madison sets out to unravel the mysteries of her afterlife, challenge the status quo, and find a way to escape her eternal torment.

Yes, another dark comedy. But Chuck Palahniuk has a particular talent for taking what makes humans squirm and serving it with a wholesome dollop of relatable ontology. In Damned, he explores themes of the afterlife, societal norms, and human behavior, all set against the backdrop of a reimagined Hell. This Hell is not just a place of eternal suffering… show more.