Books like Wizard and Glass — picked by fans

Though Tolkien’s Middle-earth was a centerpiece of fantasy for me, Lewis’ Narnia offset and balanced the more serious grave nature of Middle-earth with its more light-hearted adventures told through the eyes of children, where it feels like a fairy tale as everything in its world is simply extraordinary. 

The Chronicles of Narnia’s symbolism strikes me as being straightforward in its Christian allegory, which I find quite relatable. The aspect of being as children following the will of “our Heavenly Father” (in their case, walking in Aslan’s guidance) in what is truly a beautiful and imperfect world resonates so well with me, as it is a beautiful picture.

Its fairy tale style fantasy as a magical world just brings out the beauty of fantasy when its storytelling is kept simple. A simple beauty from levity, I love in contrast to the sorrowful beauty of Middle-earth that affects me on a… show more.

I loved how this sequel to tech startup workplace culture parody The Circle is a lot like starting any new job in real life.

Your coworkers may know legends of a corporate past you aren’t yet privy to. In time, these stories will emerge as a prequel from your point of view, whereas your own presence on the payroll is a sequel for those who have more tenure.

How’d this person get promoted? What was the company like in the scrappy startup days before the merger? You don’t know about the second annual holiday party scandal? Have I got a story for you…

It’s hard to call any David Mitchell book a “sequel” since he writes in one big interconnected universe spanning multiple time periods, but Slade House was my entry point into his wonderful world, and I haven’t looked back.

Short and eerie, the five interconnected short stories (each set 9 years apart) making up his seventh novel serve as a perfect standalone primer to Mitchell’s special brand of magical realism and recurring characters.

I’d never heard the term “epistolary novel” prior to reading Michael Kun’s The Locklear Letters, but was immediately smitten with the concept of telling a story solely through a series of letters and/or emails sent by the narrator.

This sequel follows the same template and the same protagonist a decade down the line. I liken it to finding a boxful of letters and using them to piece together a hilarious comedy of errors. Maybe you’ll keep digging and find an older box later, or maybe the archivist kept orderly annals, allowing you to move forward through the years.

Sequencing doesn’t matter, but the written words will leave you in stitches. 

This might seem like a random suggestion, but I read this book in two days. It opened my eyes to living a joyful life full of greenlights. A greenlight is being kind to our future selves. Seeing the things in our lives confirms we’re on the right path.

I loved it because it really helps you listen to your intuition and connect your heart and your head without fear of judgment.

Dazed and Confused, Richard Linklater’s plot-light, pot-heavy 1993 film about Texas teens hanging out on the last day of school in 1976, is perhaps my favorite movie ever, so I was already inclined to love this oral history about the film’s creation and legacy. Maerz expertly weaves the voices of almost everyone involved in the project — from breakout star Matthew McConaughey to members of the crew — to create a highly entertaining, super-compelling look at a stoner cinema classic.

I am a lifelong Stephen King fan. I was that potbellied kid, perpetually with a stack of books, who insisted that the librarian let me check out Skeleton Crew, even if she told me it would absolutely give me nightmares. One of many, and often. I read the classics like The Stand and It–and watched the TV and film adaptations of Uncle Stevie’s best. Stephen King’s love of pop culture (music, movies, comic books) is evident in most of what he writes, no less so than in his magnum opus: The Dark Tower series.

Want to see where Marvel Comics, Harry Potter, and Stephen King's other fictional characters start to clash and co-mingle? Well, I’m sure you do, because you know. By the time you get to Book V: The Wolves of the Calla–you are already along for the ride and you know how thin that… show more.

For me, the Dark Tower series is an easy first pick as it so thoroughly encompasses everything I love about speculative fiction: big ideas, compelling, at times mysterious but ultimately fully realized characters, and a healthy, rich, and potent dose of world-building.

Over the years, I’ve reluctantly come to accept that this book and series are not necessarily for everyone, but they are absolutely for me, and I always find myself feeling a sort of kinship with other readers who love them as much as I do.

Should there be an afterlife and if there’s someone greeting me in the sweet hereafter, let it be Willa Cather. 

Maybe you read her in high school and did or didn’t fall in love, but in any case, no one in school reads The Professor’s House. As always, Cather looks down upon her characters with severe compassion, the sharp eye of someone who has seen all, and she’s wryly amused by her people. 

Professor Godfrey St. Peter is going through a mid-life crisis, he’s got a wife, two daughters, and he’s trying to see the way ahead. The center of the novel is devoted to a former student of St Peter’s, Tom Outloud, now dead, who it also happens was his daughter’s fiancé. 

At the center: Tom Outland’s experience of an ancient cliff city in New Mexico. It’s not a snooze, I promise! St. Peter’s recollection of Tom’s spiritual… show more.

Moonflower Murders shows what can be done at the boundary between genre and literary fiction. This is a writer at the top of his form with twisty plotting, mellifluous prose, and the sheer joy of storytelling. Realistic? No. But that’s not the point. This is an insane murder mystery within a murder mystery. A sequel to Magpie Murders, it features retired publisher Susan Ryeland, who now runs a small hotel on a Greek island. But running a small hotel on a Greek island isn’t for everyone, and Susan is beginning to miss her old life in London.

She is pushed into returning when two of her guests inform her that their newlywed daughter had been in dangerous proximity to a murder back home and had now gone missing – hours after reading a murder mystery Susan herself had edited in her old life. The book holds the key to… show more.