Here are 94 books that Yours Cruelly, Elvira fans have personally recommended if you like Yours Cruelly, Elvira. Book DNA is a community of 13,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives

Wolfgang Riebe Author Of Discover Your Magic: 7 Steps to a Truly Fulfilling Life

From my list on inspiration that bring out the magic in your life.

Why am I passionate about this?

Having grown up in South Africa in the ’70s & '80s with the whole world against the corrupt, racist government and pretty much cut off from the world, I still managed to achieve my dreams and change the lives of peoples of all races and cultures in over 165 countries globally. My book reflects ‘real-life’ authentic tips to help everyone discover their magic!

Wolfgang's book list on inspiration that bring out the magic in your life

Wolfgang Riebe Why Wolfgang loves this book

I really enjoy inspirational books written as stories that use life events to portray messages.

It's an easy read coupled with a great story filled with powerful messages. What appeals to me is that the story is captivating and simple. I find in today’s world everything is over-complicated and drawn out.

Dan Millman captures you immediately and the messages are attainable for every normal person and understandable as well - isn’t that what a book should be about?

By Dan Millman ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Way of the Peaceful Warrior as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An International Bestseller — Rediscover Life’s Larger Meaning and Purpose

The 20th Anniversary Edition with a New Afterword and Revisions by Dan Millman.

A book that could change your life: When Dan Millman was a young man, he expected that hard work would eventually bring a life of comfort, wisdom, and happiness. Yet, despite his many successes, he was haunted by the feeling that something was missing. Awakened by dark dreams one night, Dan found himself at a gas station with an old man named Socrates, and his world was changed forever. Guided by this eccentric old warrior, and inspired…


If you love Yours Cruelly, Elvira...

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 Outliers: The Story of Success

David Amerland Author Of Intentional: How To Live, Love, Work And Play Meaningfully

From my list on help you take control of your life.

Why am I passionate about this?

In 2016, I finished a book that had been three years in the making. I interviewed hundreds of snipers and spent some 9,000 hours wading through neuroscientific research papers. While my own background as a Chemical Engineer helped, it also became a deep dive into a world that opened my eyes. We are on the cusp of understanding what makes us tick as humans, and if we succeed in cracking that, we will become truly unstoppable. Simply put, we are all born, and we will all die, but we now have the power to comprehend the real reason the first event happened before the second one did. 

David's book list on help you take control of your life

David Amerland Why David loves this book

We all want to know why success happens in the hope that we will be able to avoid the pitfalls that make it fail to materialize. This book suggests that those who succeed have an advantage that is circumstantial. This seems discouraging, but it is also empowering.

When circumstances and the environment create such a compelling case for success, we can better understand what to do to succeed in life. This book has popularized the 10,000-hours ‘rule’ where expertise in anything can be achieved by that number of hours of practice. Ignore that advice.

There are real caveats behind it that Gladwell fails to mention. Focus, instead, on what you need to have, who you must surround yourself with, and what actions you have to undertake to make success happen for you.  

By Malcolm Gladwell ,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Outliers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has written three books that have radically changed how we understand our world and ourselves: The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers. Regarded by many as the most gifted and influential author and journalist in America today, Gladwell has the rare ability to connect with audiences of tremendously varied interests. There are over 10 million copies of his books in print. Now, Gladwell's landmark investigations into the world around us are collected together for the first time. Beautifully repackaged and redesigned, with newly added illustrations throughout each book, COLLECTED is a perfect treasury of prose…


Book cover of The Celestine Prophecy

Lonny Dargavel Author Of Jesus is Here!: Spiritual Photography

From my list on keep your head up on your spiritual journey.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was close to Jesus when I was young, speaking with Him nightly. I walked away from Him. The troubles and some of these books got me back on the spiritual path for healing, love, heart, meaning, understanding, and warmth. All the things my soul craves. It also craves partnership, but this always seems to fail or be missed. Much of my life has been about healing when I was the age 18-25, and going to school for Child Care Work and Social Work. Eventually, learning Reiki, Spiritual healing, Christian Spiritual Healing, and prayer work. Many teachings from Buddhist classes, Native-American circles and classes, Meditations, Kabbalah, dowsing, Mediumship, Past-life regressions, then back to Jesus and Mother Mary. 

Lonny's book list on keep your head up on your spiritual journey

Lonny Dargavel Why Lonny loves this book

It was very exciting. The book is about coincidences/synchronicities and being guided by signs, visions, and feelings. I was already caught up in a spiritual path when this book appeared, and it was like a whirlwind time for me. I was led into many different studies, eventually returning to Christianity. This book was close to the beginning of a journey that began 30 years ago. 

This book, though, opened my eyes to the connection between a higher intelligence and yourself. Its magnificent guidance led me, which I still rely on today. I swear that that ability has saved me daily by following Christ. I learned that the world was very full, alive, exciting, and not mundane.

The companion reader was helpful and one very significant thing that I learned is how we choose our parents and to understand why and the qualities they have that I needed in this sojourn.…

By James Redfield ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

This extremely readable and addictive parable has become a breakout word-of-mouth hit for its uncanny ability to renew your understanding of life, connections and perspective with fresh vigour. From the multimillion-bestselling author, James Redfield, and perfect for fans of Paulo Coelho and Eckhart Tolle.

'The Celestine Prophecy has already reached cult status... It homes in on the deepest, most urgent search of our times - the search for meaning... This is a book like no other.' - THE TELEGRAPH

'If you've ever wondered what the formula is for an "inspirational" bestseller, with promising potential for cult status, look no further'…


If you love Cassandra Peterson...

Book cover of Sexy Selfie Nation: Standing Up for Yourself in Today's Toxic, Sexist Culture

Sexy Selfie Nation by Leora Tanenbaum,

The problem is not with the actions young women take but with the toxic, sexist conditions they are responding to.

Tanenbaum found, based on six years of interviews with young people ages 14-30, that young women are navigating a culture littered with gendered dress codes, revenge porn, and sexually explicit…

Book cover of Bring Out the Magic in Your Mind

Wolfgang Riebe Author Of Discover Your Magic: 7 Steps to a Truly Fulfilling Life

From my list on inspiration that bring out the magic in your life.

Why am I passionate about this?

Having grown up in South Africa in the ’70s & '80s with the whole world against the corrupt, racist government and pretty much cut off from the world, I still managed to achieve my dreams and change the lives of peoples of all races and cultures in over 165 countries globally. My book reflects ‘real-life’ authentic tips to help everyone discover their magic!

Wolfgang's book list on inspiration that bring out the magic in your life

Wolfgang Riebe Why Wolfgang loves this book

It was the first motivational book I ever read and the start of me changing my thinking and helping others to do so.

The advice I learnt from reading it in the 80’s was way ahead of it’s time, yet remains timeless and many of the tips I still practice today.

By Al Koran ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Bring Out the Magic in Your Mind as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Reading books is a kind of enjoyment. Reading books is a good habit. We bring you a different kinds of books. You can carry this book where ever you want. It is easy to carry. It can be an ideal gift to yourself and to your loved ones. Care instruction keep away from fire.


Book cover of The Mother of Black Hollywood: A Memoir

K. E. Garland Author Of In Search of a Salve: Memoir of a Sex Addict

From my list on understanding female sex addiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

My name is K. E. Garland, and I am a recovering female sex addict. I didn’t know it until I was 42. In 2014, I had a rock-bottom moment that forced me to confront my compulsions. I self-therapized through writing. As a blogger, I described ways I’d buried interrelated traumas. During the nine years it took for me to research and write my memoir, there were few books about female sex addiction. Now, there are several! The books I’ve recommended not only provide a well-rounded understanding of a little-known phenomenon, but they also help to demarginalize stories of how women live with behavioral addictions. I hope you’ll find them useful.

K.'s book list on understanding female sex addiction

K. E. Garland Why K. loves this book

I loved this book because, while it is common for celebrities to write tell-all memoirs, it is not common for esteemed actresses to write so candidly about mental illness and sex addiction.

I was shocked when I read that Lewis was diagnosed as bipolar, and that is what led to a subsequent diagnosis of being a female sex addict. Reading her words and descriptions made me question if I, too, needed to seek out a psychiatrist to confirm if I was bipolar.

This book also helped me to see that there didn’t need to be shame attached to being a female sex addict, and I don’t have to be a celebrity to “tell it all.”

Book cover of Little House in the Hollywood Hills: A Bad Girl's Guide to Becoming Miss Beadle, Mary X, and Me

Wendi Lou Lee Author Of Red Tail Feathers: Dare to Discover the Beauty of Grace

From my list on memoirs of Little House on the Prairie cast members.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up on the set of Little House on the Prairie. Yes, it was a fictional world created by Hollywood, but the foundation and lessons I learned about love, family, and faith have stayed with me. I now travel with the cast of Little House all over the country to engage and share with fans about how my experiences have shaped me. I can’t say enough about these memoirs or the cast members who wrote them. I know every Little House fan will love them too!

Wendi's book list on memoirs of Little House on the Prairie cast members

Wendi Lou Lee Why Wendi loves this book

Charlotte’s tell-all memoir tells it ALL. This may not be appropriate for young readers, but I was wowed by all the roles she has played over the years, surprised by the numerous love interests with well-known actors and musicians, and inspired by her ability to overcome challenges, big and small, that have shaped her into the woman she is today.

I loved how Charlotte has embraced her past and learned from her mistakes. She is an inspiration to me and many others.

By Charlotte Stewart , Andy Demsky ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Little House in the Hollywood Hills as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Charlotte Stewart is known by millions of fans worldwide for her role as the beloved schoolteacher, Miss Beadle, on the iconic TV show, Little House on the Prairie, currently broadcast in syndication in more than 100 countries around the world. Here for the first time an adult cast member writes about the experience of making the show—the challenges, the joys, and the sometimes-turbulent behind-the-scenes relationships. Charlotte, with Andy Demsky, reveal a no-holds-barred, heart-breaking, and ultimately joyful account of fifty years in film and television offers a backstage pass to Hollywood’s cocaine-fueled glory years in the 1970s, and includes Charlotte’s celebrated…


If you love Yours Cruelly, Elvira...

Book cover of Crossing: A Chinese Family Railroad Novel

Crossing by Lisa Redfern,

Crossing is a vividly human re-imagining of the love, sacrifices, and accomplishments that two Chinese brothers - American Immigrants - experience as they travel to California to build the Transcontinental Railroad. 

Book cover of Trouble in Mind

Marc Acito Author Of How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater

From my list on what life in the theatre is really like.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a brainy, bullied Queer theater kid, I was 14 before I ever saw anyone like myself onstage or onscreen. Then—Wham—in June of 1980 I saw A Chorus Line on Broadway and Fame at the movies. But there weren’t any books that showed the theater life as it was actually lived. When I published my love letter to my high school theater friends in 2004, no one had written a novel about our kind. Today, as someone who’s managed to make a living as a writer-director of musicals, I strive to share the whole truth with the young artists I mentor. 

Marc's book list on what life in the theatre is really like

Marc Acito Why Marc loves this book

Like Hamlet says, “The play’s the thing,” so any reading list for theater people should include the reason we’re here in the first place. Alice Childress’s indictment of the degrading condescension inflicted on Black people in the theater by self-proclaimed white allies is as true today as when she wrote it in 1955. That makes me sad and angry, as does the fact it took 66 years for it to finally be produced on Broadway. But it also gives me hope when high-quality work gets recognized. And as a writer who finds the funny in any situation, I love how Childress serves up bitter pills of truth in spoonfuls of honeyed laughs. 

By Alice Childress ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

“A masterpiece . . . Trouble in Mind still contains astonishing power; it could have been written yesterday.” —Vulture

Ahead of its time, Trouble in Mind, written in 1955, follows the rehearsal process of an anti-lynching play preparing for its Broadway debut. When Wiletta, a Black actress and veteran of the stage, challenges the play’s stereotypical portrayal of the Black characters, unsettling biases come to the forefront and reveal the ways so-called progressive art can be used to uphold racist attitudes. Scheduled to open on Broadway in 1957, Childress objected to the requested changes in the script that would “sanitize”…


Book cover of The Darling Strumpet: A Novel of Nell Gwynn, Who Captured the Heart of England and King Charles II

Caroline Lamond Author Of Well Behaved Women

From my list on inspired by the lives of real women.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a historical fiction writer, every time I learn about an amazing woman, I instinctively want to write about her, to understand her life and bring her – often forgotten – story to a wider audience. It’s a wonderful way to live vicariously, and it’s a privilege to spend time in these women’s worlds for a brief period. There’s a Sylvia Plath quote that strongly resonates with me, beginning: ‘I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want…’. Reading and writing historical fiction allows me a glimpse into the worlds of different people living different lives in different eras, and for that I’m extremely grateful.

Caroline's book list on inspired by the lives of real women

Caroline Lamond Why Caroline loves this book

Nell Gwynn is another fascinating (female) historical figure who captures the imagination and has been the subject of much speculation and invention.

Bagwell has clearly researched her subject meticulously, and the novel is a perfect mix of historical detail and bawdy romp, which makes for a very readable, very entertaining novel. I first read it around a decade ago, and it was my favourite read of that year.

By Gillian Bagwell ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A thrilling debut novel starring one of history's most famous and beloved courtesans.

From London's slums to its bawdy playhouses, The Darling Strumpet transports the reader to the tumultuous world of seventeenth-century England, charting the meteoric rise of the dazzling Nell Gwynn, who captivates the heart of King Charles II-and becomes one of the century's most famous courtesans.

Witty and beautiful, Nell was born into poverty but is drawn into the enthralling world of the theater, where her saucy humor and sensuous charm earn her a place in the King's Company. As one of the first actresses in the newly-opened…


Book cover of Just as I Am: A Memoir

Irene Smalls Author Of An Affirmation: NiteBabyNite

From my list on being a Black mother.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have a passion for this topic because I grew up in Harlem, New York under segregation. Black is beautiful is in my DNA. As a former Black student activist, former Black Beauty queen, Miss Black New York State, and one of the first natural hair models in the 1960s this topic is who I am and who I am becoming. When I grew up in the 1950s, Harlem was a community of open hearts and open doors that loved its children. There was also a strong narrative "Black is Beautiful", "Black is Powerful" countering general societal views of Black inferiority. I developed the Positive Affirmation NiteBabyNite picture book series in remembrance of those times. 

Irene's book list on being a Black mother

Irene Smalls Why Irene loves this book

Was an honor to read. To realize that this great woman had struggles, failures, missteps, and triumphs large and small as the rest of us spoke to her true greatness. She made it look easy. Her lifelong love of Miles Davis despite his many transgressions shows a real woman’s love. She modeled sacrifice and being true to yourself as a mother.

By Cicely Tyson , Michelle Burford ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

"In her long and extraordinary career, Cicely Tyson has not only succeeded as an actor, she has shaped the course of history." -President Barack Obama, 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony

"Just as I Am is my truth. It is me, plain and unvarnished, with the glitter and garland set aside. In these pages, I am indeed Cicely, the actress who has been blessed to grace the stage and screen for six decades. Yet I am also the church girl who once rarely spoke a word. I am the teenager who sought solace in the verses of the old hymn…


If you love Cassandra Peterson...

Book cover of Child of Vanris

Child of Vanris by Nikki McCormack,

At five years old, Kasiel was found with the pointed ends of his ears cut off. Despite that brutal start, he’s lived twelve peaceful years with the man who took him in. Keeping his hair long over his mutilated ears helps him hide the fact that he is Vanrian, a…

Book cover of Finding Me

Pamela Spradlin Mahajan Author Of Skye, Revised

From my list on fabulous and painful parts of fame.

Why am I passionate about this?

Hollywood and celebrity gossip can be a fun diversion, from their fabulous clothing and closets to their ability to influence a worldwide audience. It is something I have long been drawn to and love to be immersed in. The idea of fame has always intrigued me. Is it good? Bad? Somewhere in between? Sometimes, the very pop star who the world is idolizing can be tortured behind the scenes—maybe even by fame itself. I am intrigued by the ways one goes from anonymity to notoriety, as well as the ways fame can change one’s life.

Pamela's book list on fabulous and painful parts of fame

Pamela Spradlin Mahajan Why Pamela loves this book

This was a compelling, fascinating read. Davis shares the story of her life, from her experiences with childhood poverty, abuse, and racism to her path into acting. 

I loved following along the steps she took to emerge from a challenging childhood to winning an Academy Award. It was also amazing to listen to the audiobook and hear Davis tell the story in her own voice. It is easy to see why this book was awarded a Grammy. It was one of my favorite books of the year. 

By Viola Davis ,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Finding Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

'A breathtaking memoir...I was so moved by this book.' Oprah

'It is startlingly honest and, at times, a jaw-dropping read, charting her rise from poverty and abuse to becoming the first African-American to win the triple crown of an Oscar, Emmy and Tony for acting.' BBC News

THE DEEPLY PERSONAL, BRUTALLY HONEST ACCOUNT OF VIOLA'S INSPIRING LIFE

In my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life changing decision to stop running forever.
This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls,…


Book cover of Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives
Book cover of Outliers: The Story of Success
Book cover of The Celestine Prophecy

Share your top 3 reads of 2026!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

186

readers submitted
so far, will you?