When you finish a book you love, there's more pressure to find something equally satisfying to read next. You might find yourself googling "books like [insert title of the book you loved here]." But if you end up with something too similar, the chances that it will live up to what you just read get slimmer. At the same time, you're likely not in the mood for an entirely different genre. Finding the right follow-up can be tricky.
Publishers have a term for books that have similar appeal: “comps,” or comparable titles. They're a way of saying, “If you like this, then try that" — and they can be just as useful when you're choosing your next book as when a publisher is pitching one. For example, I likened my thriller Blood Sisters, which is centered on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, to Angeline Boulley’s incredible bestseller Firekeeper's Daughter. The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, said it “combines the informative power of nonfiction books such as Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann with the high-octane action of recent crime novels like S.A. Cosby's Blacktop Wasteland.”
With that in mind, I've paired some popular favorites with books that have a similar plot or pull, but that also have their own fantastic identities to offer. (I've also included a few books by Indigenous authors, since we're now in Native American Heritage Month.) These titles are similar but just different enough, with something for every kind of reader.
For the thriller reader
If you loved None of This is True by Lisa Jewell, which delves into big questions about true crime as well as the media’s impact on justice, you’ll want to check out Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett. Both of these books have fascinating women driving the narrative, questions about who can really be trusted, and shocking twists that make them perfect for book club discussions.
Whether you’ve been an OG Jack Reacher fan since Lee Child published Killing Floor in 1997, or discovered him through the Amazon Prime series, don’t miss Yasmin Angoe’s Her Name is Knight. Told in dual timelines, the series follows a first-generation Ghanaian-American — and elite assassin — who's suddenly questioning the secret organization she works for, and possibly avenging the past she left behind in Ghana. Fun fact: Angoe and Child are co-authoring a book set in the Jack Reacher universe with fan favorite character Frances Neagley (who also has a hit spinoff on Prime), out next spring.
For horror and historical fiction readers
Some topics are so important, they capture the attention of multiple authors. The heartbreaking legacy of Florida’s Dozier School has inspired two fantastic books, the first of which was Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning Nickel Boys, which won the Pulitzer Prize. It explored themes related to the all-boys school’s abusive history and how trauma can haunt survivors. The Reformatory by Tananarive Due is based on that same terrible place, in which her real-life great-uncle, Robert Stephens, died. Due uses a school as the setting for a deeply emotional supernatural horror story following siblings Robbie and Gloria — one who's trying to survive the school and the other who's trying to save him.
For romantasy fans
If Rebecca Yarros's Fourth Wing left you craving more fire-breathing creatures, I recommend To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose, about a Native teenage girl who is bonded with a new dragon and must go to a training academy. There, she encounters politics, culture clashes, new friends, and possibly a love triangle. Blackgoose is Seaconke Wampanoag, one of the tribal nations immediately impacted by colonialism, which informs this southern New England series set in an 1840s alternative timeline. Once you’ve read that, try Jean Kwok’s Dominion (Fourth Wing meets Hunger Games with magical telepathic felines and Chinese mythology) and Son of the Morning by Akwaeke Emezi (imagine a supernatural matriarchy, multiple love interests, demons, and lots of spice, set in the Black South).
For romance lovers
If you're decidedly not into dragons, can we interest you in some cowboys? Author Elsie Silver is the queen of small-town romances, and her novel Wild Eyes, from her Rose Hill series, features a disgraced country star going from friends to lovers with one of Elsie’s fan-favorite heroes, Weston. A perfect follow-up is Love is a War Song by Danica Nava, whose pop star heroine embarrasses not only herself but her whole tribal nation by writhing around for Rolling Stone in a war bonnet. Her journey is not just one of falling in love, but also reconnection with her estranged grandmother on a beautiful Oklahoma horse farm, as well as her Muscogee heritage and traditions. (And yes, there’s a hot, grumpy cowboy with a heart of gold.) Nava is the only Native author traditionally published in romance, and her equally heartfelt and funny third book, Sunflower Season, is a second-chance romance set on a farm, out November 3.
For classics readers
Finally, if you’re thinking of revisiting classic favorites, Shirley Jackson’s Haunting of Hill House is a perennial fall re-read for many of us. But there are plenty of other books featuring houses that terrorize, and one of my favorites is Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. It’s a perfect comp, with psychological (and literal) decay and lush prose. Both books feature fascinating women living in houses trying to dim and destroy them, and Moreno-Garcia delves into powerful themes of colonialism while keeping the pages turning. Bonus rec: If you need more scary houses and gothic horror, don’t miss An Immaculate Deception by Isabela Livino, a debut novel set in 1877 Brazil — but fair warning, it was a one-sitting read for me!
