While You Wait for Cloud Atlas

I fell in love with Cloud Atlas when I saw the new movie adaptation. So of course, being a Ravenous Reader, I greedily devoured the book it was based on, by David Mitchell. I'll admit, I had some trouble getting into it on my first try, but this time around, it had the best of both worlds, with all the cleverness of literary fiction, and all the fun of genre fiction. While you're waiting for your hold to come in, you might want to check out some similar books and movies, or peruse the list of recommended background reading to catch its literary allusions.

When I walked out of the theater, I thought: "This is the movie of A Swiftly Tilting Planet I've always wanted!" That classic by Madeleine L'Engle, part of the series that begins with A Wrinkle in Time, also spans millennia, showing through telepathy and, yeah, okay, a magic unicorn, that people's actions and obsessions have repercussions that echo across centuries in surprising ways. Although it's written for a younger audience, many adults (including myself!) still count this series among their favorites. Like Cloud Atlas, it has a lot of layers that rereading can reveal.

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Psychological Suspense

Family secrets make for some chilling psychological suspense. So if you enjoyed Kate Morton’s novel The Secret Keeper we recommend these similar titles.

Think Twice by Lisa Scottoline. When your twin sister buries you alive, you know you have some serious family problems. In this case Bernie is determined to stay alive until she can exact revenge.

The Water’s Lovely by Ruth Rendell. Ismay's little sister, Heather, drowned their stepfather, but they never speak of it. When Heather starts to date, Ismay begins to wonder if she is capable of killing again.

Dear Husband: Stories by Joyce Carol Oates. These fourteen short stories look at the tangled bonds, and sometimes desperation and violence between family members.

Anatomy of a Good Read

"Every reader his or her book, and every book its reader." -S. R. Ranganathan

Did you know that you can ask for your very own personalized list of good reads? Today, I'm going to give you the behind-the-scenes tour of our recommendation process, share some of our most-recommended read-alikes like Downtown Owl, and offer up some of our arcane, mystical secrets (okay, yeah, publicly-accessible databases and websites).

Titles similar to Death Comes to Pemberley

Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James has been very popular.  The story takes Jane Austen's beloved couple from Pride and Prejudice, Darcy and Elizabeth, and involves them in murder and mayhem.  If you haven't gotten your hands on a copy or you already finished it and want more here are a few other titles you may enjoy. 

Carrie Bebris has written several books featuring a mystery solving Darcy and Elizabeth.  Later in the series some other Austen characters also make appearances, as you might guess from reading some of the clever titles like The Intrigue at Highbury or Matters at Mansfield.

Titles similar to The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

Here are some other titles similar to The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

Blindman's Bluff by Faye Kellerman










Bad Blood by Linda Fairstein











A Plague of Secrets by John Lescroart

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