• The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - Shakespeare's Sonnets by Katherine Duncan-Jones & William Shakespeare
  • The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets by Helen Vendler & William Shakespeare
  • The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - All the Sonnets of Shakespeare by Paul Edmonson, Stanley Wells & William Shakespeare
  • The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - The Afterlife of Shakespeare's Sonnets by Jane Kingsley-Smith
  • The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - Nets by Jen Bervin
  • The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets - Lucy Negro, Redux by Caroline Randall Williams

The best books on Shakespeare’s Sonnets, recommended by Scott Newstok

The beauty of Shakespeare’s sonnets speaks to us down the centuries, their lines peaking out at us from the titles of famous books or enjoying outings at weddings or other romantic occasions. But they were not always regarded as perfectly-formed jewels, and the relationships they portray not as conventional as many of us presume. Here, Shakespeare scholar Scott Newstok talks us through books that help us learn more about Shakespeare’s sonnets, from the best introduction to the poems for students through to their afterlife and recent creative interpretations.

  • The Best Iris Murdoch Books - The Bell by Iris Murdoch
  • The Best Iris Murdoch Books - The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch
  • The Best Iris Murdoch Books - A Word Child by Iris Murdoch
  • The Best Iris Murdoch Books - Existentialists and Mystics: Writings on Philosophy and Literature by Iris Murdoch
  • The Best Iris Murdoch Books - The Philosopher's Pupil by Iris Murdoch

The Best Iris Murdoch Books, recommended by Miles Leeson

Iris Murdoch gained fame as a novelist, a philosopher and, perhaps most prominently of all, for her public and rapid decline (and posthumous immortalization by her husband John Bayley) after an early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. But now, more than a century on from her birth, the attention is returning back to her work. Miles Leeson, Director of the Iris Murdoch Centre at the University of Chichester, recommends what books to read from her canon of 27 novels.

  • Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer: A Reading List - Troilus and Criseyde Geoffrey Chaucer (ed. by Stephen Barney)
  • Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer: A Reading List - Oxford Guides to Chaucer: Troilus and Criseyde by Barry Windeatt
  • Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer: A Reading List - The Double Sorrow of Troilus: A Study of Ambiguities in ‘Troilus and Criseyde’ by Ida L. Gordon
  • Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer: A Reading List - The Tragic Argument of Troilus and Criseyde by Gerald Morgan
  • Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer: A Reading List - A Double Sorrow: Troilus and Criseyde by Lavinia Greenlaw

Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer: A Reading List, recommended by Jenni Nuttall

Troilus and Criseyde has a centuries’ old backstory. Long before Renaissance dramas or realist novels, Chaucer wrote a love story set in a besieged city that was a deep psychological exploration of character and human relationships. Jenni Nuttall, author of Troilus and Criseyde: A Reader’s Guide, shares her reading recommendations after over a decade of teaching the poem to Oxford undergraduates.

  • Sylvia Plath Books - The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
  • Sylvia Plath Books - The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath by Sylvia Plath
  • Sylvia Plath Books - The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Vol 2: 1956–1963 by Peter Steinberg and Karen Kukil (eds.) & Sylvia Plath
  • Sylvia Plath Books - Collected Poems by Sylvia Plath
  • Sylvia Plath Books - Ariel: The Restored Edition by Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath Books, recommended by Tim Kendall

Though biographical sensation has often diverted attention from her work, Sylvia Plath remains one of the finest lyric poets of the twentieth century, argues Professor Tim Kendall, Academic Director of Arts and Culture at Exeter and author of Sylvia Plath: A Critical Study. Here, he recommends the best places to start (or return to) with Plath, from a fresh look at Ariel to illuminating an oft-overlooked, brilliant appendix in her unabridged journals.