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  • 2024’s 3 favorite reads launched + my top 10 book lists for October!

2024’s 3 favorite reads launched + my top 10 book lists for October!

Creating the indie book platform readers deserve.

Author

Ben Fox
October 14, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

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Here’s what you can expect in today’s edition:

  • User accounts are live, and we launched our first user feature, which allows you to share your 3 favorite reads of 2024! Woohoo!

  • I share the 10 most interesting book lists from September (IMO).

  • And some quick highlights of what we are building in October…

Our first reader feature is live! 🥳

You can sign up and share your 3 favorite reads of 2024!

I am so excited!

I hope you share your 3 favorite reads of 2024 and help the authors you love get the attention they deserve.

If you want to see what your page will look like, here are my 3 favorite reads of 2024.

Plus, we are using our new Book DNA review format!

Tired of a 5-star system where 80% of books are rated a 3.6?

This system is to understand why a reader loves a book and use that to match them with readers who share their “Book DNA.”

The ultimate goal is to deliver a higher percentage of books readers will LOVE (not just like).

I have been testing this format on readers for the last six months, and I am excited to release it so we can start learning and evolving our systems around it.

Eventually, we will allow readers to review all books (in 2025).

My 10 Favorite Book Lists For September

The best books on the history and techniques of surveillance in the United States

Are you feeling paranoid? You probably have good reason to be. Patrick D. Anderson writes about Cypherpunk Ethics in the digital age and shares five books that helped guide him.

shepherd.com/best-books/history-surveillance-techniques-in-the-usa

The best books about hell for the afterlife-curious

Erika is a science journalist and wrote a stunning travel guide around the world to explore the history, culture, and science behind the underworld. Her picks here will not disappoint.

shepherd.com/best-books/hell-for-the-afterlife-curious

The best books on the beauty and terror of being alive

I LOVE this list; Alexandra speaks to so many things through it.

shepherd.com/best-books/the-beauty-and-terror-of-being-alive

The best books that capture the excitement of ocean exploration for children—and adults

Mary Batten shares some beautiful books for kids (and adults who need a boost of wonder in their lives). She is a science writer and just published a fantastic book about hydrothermal vents for kids & adults.

shepherd.com/best-books/capture-the-excitement-of-ocean-exploration-for-al

The best supernatural horror books written by indie authors (that will keep you up at night)

And now I can’t sleep… check out her fifth pick on Soul’s Searchers. That book cover should not be legal….

shepherd.com/best-books/supernatural-horror-written-by-indie-authors

The best science fiction novels with protagonists in peril

There are so many great picks from Ctein that you haven’t heard of! If you love sci-fi, this list is a must-read / must-bookmark.

shepherd.com/best-books/science-fiction-novels-with-protagonists-in-peril

The best books on the most glorious bits of Greece

May shares some beautiful books about Greece if you want to dig deeper into this magical country.

shepherd.com/best-books/the-most-glorious-bits-of-greece

The best books retelling ancient Greek myths

Sophia Kouidou-Giles also had a bit of a Greek theme and some truly stunning books to check out. If you feel like diving into the stories of the ancient world but reimagined for ours, this is your list.

shepherd.com/best-books/retelling-ancient-greek-myths

The best books to understand the history of data

Asheesh Siddique is a historian of data and an utterly fascinating dude. This list is fantastic in its scope and the connections he makes. I highly recommend reading his writeup on Age of Emergency, which I will put below.

shepherd.com/best-books/understand-the-history-of-data

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This book is a sobering challenge to the belief that better information produces better and more empathetic societies, showing that the connection between knowledge and enlightened behavior is not nearly as straightforward as we may want to believe. 

Asheesh Siddique

The best books to solve people problems in your startup (in a garage or your company)

Martin Gonzalez shares some great books if you are stuck in life, work, or at your startup. There are some great picks and a good mix of classics and lesser-known books.

shepherd.com/best-books/solve-people-problems-in-your-startup

What is the Shepherd team working on?

Launching our 2024 "3 favorite reads" program!

We are working to clean up the designs and crush some bugs. Good times!

Adding book series pages

We hope to launch this feature in late October or early November.

It will allow you to browse different book series, integrate the concept into the website, and be notified when a new book in a series you follow is out. However, we might need to do additional work to improve the quality of book data (a big challenge in the book industry).

Massive improvement to genre/topic pages

I am so excited about this update as it is what I always wanted from Goodreads.

We are 90% done with the design, and this will be an incredible way to explore genres, topics, and age groupings of books. Marcos will start working on this toward Winter, and I’ll share a few secrets about this feature as we get closer to launch.

Highlights from the build blog:

What am I reading?

I just finished...

Wild Abandon

This is an incredible journey through the Greek islands. It was relaxing to read, and Jen Barclay does a fantastic job of nestling you in nature as she tramps around the islands with her dog.

shepherd.com/book/wild-abandon

I am reading...

What have I been up to?

I did a quick 6-day 500km bike tour across France to bring my new gravel bike home (made in France and a fun bike). I would bike in the morning, eat an amazing long lunch, and work till late at night. It was a nice change of pace.

After I got home, we had our first positive case of COVID-19. Luckily, my wife feels better; my son and I missed it. If you can, get a booster, as it is not something you want.

P.S. From the recent bike trip in Southern France.

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