Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, Bookish Wisdom earns from qualifying purchases. This doesn't change our picks or your price.
Quick answer: If you loved JK Rowling, read Robert Galbraith's The Cuckoo's Calling, then Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea, then Pseudonymous Bosch's The Name of This Book Is Secret, and Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl and Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. All are magical adventures and gripping mysteries.
J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series, the Cormoran Strike mysteries as Robert Galbraith, and The Casual Vacancy. These picks suit fans of her different styles.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Ages | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Cuckoo's Calling | Robert Galbraith | Adult | readers who like British crime |
| A Wizard of Earthsea | Ursula K. Le Guin | All ages | readers who prefer shorter books |
| The Name of This Book Is Secret | Pseudonymous Bosch | 9–13 | jokey narrators |
| Artemis Fowl | Eoin Colfer | 10-14 | readers who like clever heroes |
| Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief | Rick Riordan | 10-14 | teens who want a quick start |
| Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell | Susanna Clarke | Adult | patient readers |
| The Hobbit | J.R.R. Tolkien | 9-14 | a classic dragon story |
| The Girl Who Drank the Moon | Kelly Barnhill | Teen/Adult | readers who like fairy tales |
| The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide | Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi | 7-11 | younger fantasy fans |
| Amari and the Night Brothers | B.B. Alston | 9-13 | readers who like secret worlds |
| The School for Good and Evil | Soman Chainani | 9–13 | fairy-tale school |
| Case Histories | Kate Atkinson | Adult | readers who like literary crime |
| Piranesi | Susanna Clarke | Adult | readers who like puzzles |
| The Last Dragonslayer | Jasper Fforde | 10–14 | quirky British fantasy |
| Eragon | Christopher Paolini | 12+ | older readers ready for long epics |
1. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
Private detective Cormoran Strike looks into a model's death. The first Strike novel by J.K. Rowling.
Best for: readers who like British crime.
2. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Ged, a talented young wizard, unleashes a shadow. A short and wise classic.
Best for: readers who prefer shorter books.
3. The Name of This Book Is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
Two kids chase a mysterious sound-based secret. The narrator keeps telling readers not to read it.
Best for: jokey narrators.
4. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Twelve-year-old criminal genius Artemis Fowl kidnaps a fairy to steal its gold. Clever and high-tech.
Best for: readers who like clever heroes.
5. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Percy learns he is the son of a Greek god and is sent to Camp Half-Blood, then accused of stealing Zeus's lightning bolt. Fast, funny and packed with mythology.
Best for: teens who want a quick start.
6. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Two magicians revive English magic during the Napoleonic wars. Long, dry-witted and rich.
Best for: patient readers.
7. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Bilbo Baggins leaves his comfortable hole to join thirteen dwarves and the wizard Gandalf in reclaiming treasure guarded by the dragon Smaug. The original dragon quest and a good read-aloud.
Best for: a classic dragon story.
8. The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Luna, a girl accidentally fed moonlight by a kindly witch, grows up with magic. A story about love and memory.
Best for: readers who like fairy tales.
9. The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Field Guide by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
Three kids find a field guide to faeries in their attic. Short and richly illustrated.
Best for: younger fantasy fans.
10. Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston
Amari discovers a Bureau of Supernatural Affairs and trains to find her missing brother. Fast and fun.
Best for: readers who like secret worlds.
11. The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani
Two girls are taken to a school that trains fairy-tale heroes and villains, and each lands in the wrong place. Darker and bigger.
Best for: fairy-tale school.
12. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
Private investigator Jackson Brodie handles three cold cases in Cambridge. Literary and witty.
Best for: readers who like literary crime.
13. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
A man lives in a vast house of statues and tides and slowly learns the truth about his world. Strange, quiet and brilliant.
Best for: readers who like puzzles.
14. The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
A teenage orphan runs a magical employment agency while the last dragon is dying. Offbeat and very British.
Best for: quirky British fantasy.
15. Eragon by Christopher Paolini
A farm boy finds a blue stone that hatches into the dragon Saphira and becomes a Dragon Rider in a war-torn land. It is longer and more serious, with a strong human-dragon bond.
Best for: older readers ready for long epics.
How We Chose These Books
Every pick is a real, widely available book that shares something specific with JK Rowling: its tone, its themes, its pace or the kind of characters it puts at the center. We mixed well-known favorites with a few less obvious titles, and we noted who each book suits best so you can match it to the reader. Where a book belongs to a series, we list the first volume so you can start at the beginning.
If you are not sure where to begin, start with the first three picks in the table: they are the closest match to JK Rowling. The rest of the list moves further out, so it works well once you know which part of the original you liked most.
How to Choose
For magic, read A Wizard of Earthsea. For school fantasy, try The Name of This Book Is Secret. For crime, pick The Cuckoo's Calling.
Related: 15 Books Like Wings of Fire Kids Will Love: Dragons, Quests and Animal Adventures · 12 Dystopian Books Like the Hunger Games | Best Books to Read Like Hunger Games
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is J.K. Rowling?
A British author born in 1965.
What is her best-known series?
Harry Potter.
What does she write as Galbraith?
The Cormoran Strike detective novels.