Every year, we ask thousands of readers (and authors) to share their 3 favorite reads of the year.
Now you can enter a book/author you love and see what books readers loved who also loved that book/author.
Try it here: https://shepherd.com/bboy/2025
This goes wide and doesn't try to limit itself to the genre, so you get some interesting results.
What do you think?
Background:
I want better recommendations based on my reading history. I'm incredibly frustrated with what is out there.
This system is based on 5,000 readers voting on their 3 favorite reads from 2023 to 2025. So, this covers ~15,000 books and is a high-quality vote. We wanted to keep the dataset small for now while we play with approaches.
We are building a full Book DNA app that pulls in your Goodreads history and delivers deeply personalized book recommendations based on people who like similar books (a significant challenge).
You can sign up to beta test it here if you want to help me with that:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VOm8XOMU0ygMSTSKi9F0nExnGwo...
The first beta is coming out in late January, but it's pretty basic to start.
Past Show HNs as we've built Shepherd:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40084193
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38600246
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26871660
Thanks, looking forward to your comments :)
Ben
bwb•3h ago
https://shepherd.com/bboy/my-3-fav-reads/login?next=/bboy/my...
You get a cool page like this:
https://shepherd.com/bboy/2025/f/bwb
I read ~130 books this year, and my 3 favorites of the year were:
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
I kept seeing recommendations for this book on Shepherd, but I was reluctant to try it. Many years ago, I tried a progressive fantasy book, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. This was a colossal mistake on my part because Dungeon Crawler Carl is AMAZING. This is one of the funniest and most beautiful books I have ever read. The satire is biting, and I love the characters from the bottom of my heart. If you love the TV show “Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” you will love the dark, absurd humor of this book. And this book isn’t all laughter; the characters often moved me to tears as they try to hold on to their humanity in the face of utter inhumanity and insanity.
The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter
One of my favorite concepts in the book is called a “misogi.” It is this idea of taking on one massive challenge each year, with a 50/50 chance of failure (don’t die is rule #1).
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
This book series is pure magic. It’s hard to put into words what Ken Follett has accomplished. I read a LOT of historical fiction, and I’ve never found another series that lets you live through history with characters you love, while also showing the sweeping forces that shape the world.
It makes for intense reading because you will experience the day-to-day reality of fighting for women’s right to vote in England or resisting the Nazi party’s slow takeover of Germany, and you do this through the eyes of characters you have grown to love. You feel what it is like on a daily basis, frustrated with the pace of change, and also just living the regular ups and downs of your life. It feels like the life you are living right now.
At the same time, you can see the big waves coming and want to scream at them to do more, even though they might not be able to do more. And sometimes you watch as the waves break over them without any warning or care. But throughout it all, you understand why these waves are happening with incredible clarity.