Fans pick 100 books like Filthy English

By Peter Silverton,

Here are 100 books that Filthy English fans have personally recommended if you like Filthy English. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of Lady Chatterley's Lover

Susan Ostrov Author Of Loveland

From my list on crazy, obsessive, forbidden love.

Why am I passionate about this?

From early adolescence through my career as an English professor, I was deeply drawn to romance and romantic fiction as a form of pleasure, comfort, and hope. My new book is personal and intimate, not scholarly. Weaving together my expertise in the subject of romance fiction with the story of passionate love in my own life, my book Loveland: A Memoir of Romance and Fiction is about the experiences I've had, inside the culture of romance in which women are immersed. I have a view of passion that is not a conventional one as I trace a way forward for myself, and perhaps others as well.

Susan's book list on crazy, obsessive, forbidden love

Susan Ostrov Why did Susan love this book?

Lady Chatterley is a young woman who marries into the upper class and is just as bored as Emma Bovary. But unlike Madame Bovary, she takes up with a guy who values her equally, and a lot of great sex commences, explicit enough to get the book banned as obscene until 1960 in Britain.

The twist here is that Lady Chatterley’s lover is the gamekeeper on their estate, who teaches Lady Chatterley how to value nature and love. The emphasis is not on romance so much as fabulous sex, which Lawrence pretty much equates with love.

I like that Lady Chatterley is a modern, independent woman who finds what she needs and breaks with her former life, as Emma Bovary could not. I must say I envy Lady Chatterley, as I never found my own devoted gamekeeper.

By D.H. Lawrence,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Lady Chatterley's Lover as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.

LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER was banned on its publication in 1928, creating a storm of controversy. Lawrence tells the story of Constance Chatterley's marriage to Sir Clifford, an aristocratic and an intellectual who is paralyzed from the waist down after the First World War. Desperate for an heir and embarrassed by his inability to satisfy his wife, Clifford suggests that she have an affair. Constance, troubled by her husband's words, finds herself involved in a passionate relationship with their gamekeeper, Oliver Mellors. Lawrence's vitriolic denunciations of industrialism and class…


Book cover of The Compleat Motherfucker: A History of the Mother of All Dirty Words

Philip Gooden Author Of Bad Words: And What They Say about Us

From my list on swear words.

Why am I passionate about this?

I write fiction, mostly historical mysteries, and non-fiction, generally about the English language. Both aspects of my writing reflect an interest in the past and how it continually shapes the present. The roots of English go back thousands of years to Latin, Anglo-Saxon, French, and many other sources. Yet the newest term to the vast storehouse of language may have been added only last week. Recently I’ve been writing about oaths, swear words, and bad language.

Philip's book list on swear words

Philip Gooden Why did Philip love this book?

Is it possible to write a whole book on a single word and a swear word at that? The answer is yes and the proof is Jim Dawson’s witty and comprehensive history of the MF word. The title, a spin on the 17th century classic The Compleat Angler, shows that Dawson will be wide-ranging in his references. Crammed with examples and interesting stories, it also settles the question of whether, when it comes to uttering expletives, Bruce Willis or Samuel L Jackson is Hollywood’s most proficient MF.

By Jim Dawson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Compleat Motherfucker as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"I've had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!" shouted Samuel Jackson in the movie Snakes on a Plane. It was the use of the famous expletive that brought on huge promotional buzz. The best-selling book On Bullshit won its audience from its shockingly unapologetic treatment of its title rather than its fairly pedestrian academic inquiry.

The Compleat Motherfucker is an entertaining and informative investigation into the offensive slang, touching on African American culture and other curious seeds of American subcultural and pop cultural movements.

Author Jim Dawson also wrote the brisk-selling previous study of fartology, Who Cut…


Book cover of Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing

Philip Gooden Author Of Bad Words: And What They Say about Us

From my list on swear words.

Why am I passionate about this?

I write fiction, mostly historical mysteries, and non-fiction, generally about the English language. Both aspects of my writing reflect an interest in the past and how it continually shapes the present. The roots of English go back thousands of years to Latin, Anglo-Saxon, French, and many other sources. Yet the newest term to the vast storehouse of language may have been added only last week. Recently I’ve been writing about oaths, swear words, and bad language.

Philip's book list on swear words

Philip Gooden Why did Philip love this book?

This American title is at the more academic end of books on swearing and oaths. Mohr shows how obscenity evolves over time. Words now considered indecent were acceptable in the Middle Ages while careless invocations of God and Jesus were taboo (that’s not to say they weren’t used). The very title of the book neatly illustrates a difference between US and British culture, with the asterisk being used to soften potential offence in the States. By contrast in the UK, the word usually appears naked and unashamed on the cover (as in Frankie Boyle’s My Shit Life So Far).

By Melissa Mohr,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Holy Sh*t as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Almost everyone swears, or worries about not swearing, from the two year-old who has just discovered the power of potty mouth to the grandma who wonders why every other word she hears is obscene. Whether they express anger or exhilaration, are meant to insult or to commend, swear words perform a crucial role in language. But swearing is also a uniquely well-suited lens through which to look at history, offering a fascinating record of what people care about on the
deepest levels of a culture-what's divine, what's terrifying, and what's taboo.

Holy Sh*t tells the story of two kinds of…


Book cover of Odd Job Man: Some Confessions of a Slang Lexicographer

Philip Gooden Author Of Bad Words: And What They Say about Us

From my list on swear words.

Why am I passionate about this?

I write fiction, mostly historical mysteries, and non-fiction, generally about the English language. Both aspects of my writing reflect an interest in the past and how it continually shapes the present. The roots of English go back thousands of years to Latin, Anglo-Saxon, French, and many other sources. Yet the newest term to the vast storehouse of language may have been added only last week. Recently I’ve been writing about oaths, swear words, and bad language.

Philip's book list on swear words

Philip Gooden Why did Philip love this book?

Jonathon Green is the doyen of dirty words. Or, more respectfully, he is the premier lexicographer of the graphic, the dubious, and the obscene. For decades Green has been trawling obscure publications and other outré sources for examples of slang in the English language, and publishing dictionaries that are unmatched in their scope and detail. No term, however racist, sexist, classist, or any other kind of -ist, is too small to go unnoticed. In Odd Job Man, a mixture of autobiography and ruminations on bad language, Green describes himself as an ‘anatomist of the underbelly cutting not into ripe cadavers but into riper language.’ It’s a life’s work.

By Jonathon Green,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Odd Job Man as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For thirty years Jonathon Green has been collecting slang - the indefinable language of the gutter, the brothel, the jail, the barroom - producing a succession of dictionaries, most recently the three-volume Green's Dictionary of Slang, that have been recognised as the most comprehensive and authoritative ever compiled. In this fascinating memoir Green reveals that he first began collecting slang in the 1970s, noticing that the contemporary authorities (notably Eric Partridge) preferred the past to the present, unaware of the huge array of new slang being coined by the counter-culture. He ponders why he still does this strange, lonely job,…


Book cover of Save The Girls

B.D. Lawrence Author Of An Angel and a One-Armed Man

From my list on crime fiction books without profanity, on page sex, or gratuitous violence.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always loved crime fiction, especially those where justice is served. I love crime stories where ordinary people doing their jobs triumph over evil. But so many crime stories are riddled with profanity, sex, and gratuitous violence. Over the last few years, I’ve searched for books that satisfy my need to read about justice but do it cleanly and in such a way that the story is not compromised. Oh, by the way, I’m also a writer of crime fiction and try to stay true to both justice over evil and telling stories in a clean but realistic way.

B.D.'s book list on crime fiction books without profanity, on page sex, or gratuitous violence

B.D. Lawrence Why did B.D. love this book?

This is another book that deals with the subject of sex trafficking, which is why I was drawn to it.

From the first scene, I was immediately pulled in, fascinated that the protagonist, Jamie Austen, is a lone woman in a foreign land, rescuing helpless victims of this awful scourge. Her courageous and spunky character grew on me. Toler throws in a wonderful twist with a romantic element that Jamie Austen does not want or need but falls for anyway.

This is another example of how an author can deal with difficult subjects yet keep the book clean.

By Terry Toler,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Save The Girls as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Why are all the best CIA spies always men? They aren't.

Combine the spycraft of Bourne, the toughness of Reacher, and the beauty of a Charlie's Angel and you have Jamie Austen. America's beloved heroine.

The Jamie Austen Spy Thrillers must be good. They've been number one on Amazon in ten different countries.

Jamie's latest adventure takes her to Belarus. Three hundred girls are missing. She is the only one who can save them.
Award winning author, Terry Toler, tells this gripping story that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Save The Girls is the first book…


Book cover of Moonlight Awakens

B.D. Lawrence Author Of An Angel and a One-Armed Man

From my list on crime fiction books without profanity, on page sex, or gratuitous violence.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always loved crime fiction, especially those where justice is served. I love crime stories where ordinary people doing their jobs triumph over evil. But so many crime stories are riddled with profanity, sex, and gratuitous violence. Over the last few years, I’ve searched for books that satisfy my need to read about justice but do it cleanly and in such a way that the story is not compromised. Oh, by the way, I’m also a writer of crime fiction and try to stay true to both justice over evil and telling stories in a clean but realistic way.

B.D.'s book list on crime fiction books without profanity, on page sex, or gratuitous violence

B.D. Lawrence Why did B.D. love this book?

This book is raw, brutal, and a tough read, but it’s also clean, and that’s what I appreciated most about Walker’s telling of a girl’s story who is stuck in sex trafficking. Yes, it is another sex-trafficking book, but for me, it is a masterful insight from the point of view of those caught in it or caught by it.

Besides being a raw account of sex trafficking trauma, it’s also a compelling story that kept me wanting to read to find out what would happen. It’s a thriller and has many moments of high suspense. Watching Emma move through the phases of “the life” broke my heart but also opened my eyes.

I applaud Mr. Walker for this book. It could not have been easy to write, but I’m glad he did.

By John Matthew Walker,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Moonlight Awakens as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

At only seventeen, Emma is used, abused, and discarded. She runs a thousand miles away from shame and judgment and falls into a stranger's arms. One careless mistake, and she plummets into the hellish world of sex-trafficking. "The life" takes everything from her, starting with her name. Deep in that darkness, Emma must find herself and find a way out. Her story is a tantalizing suspense that awakens hope.


Book cover of Badd Motherf*cker

Jackson Ford Author Of The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t with Her Mind

From my list on swear words in the title.

Why am I passionate about this?

Jackson Ford is the author of The Frost Files series, including The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t with Her Mind and Random Sh*t Flying Through the Air. He may or may not be the alter ego of author Rob Boffard, a South African author based in Vancouver, but he is definitely 100% a jackass.

Jackson's book list on swear words in the title

Jackson Ford Why did Jackson love this book?

Nothing wrong with a little bit of erotica. This one not only has one of the best titles of any book ever, it also has its tongue jammed firmly in its cheek. When your inciting incident is a jilted bride walking into a bar in Alaska, in her wedding dress—a bar that happens to be owned by eight brothers, one of whom is named Sebastian Badd– You know you're in for a good time.

By Jasinda Wilder,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Badd Motherf*cker as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Your wedding day is supposed to be the happiest day of your life, right? That’s what they say, at least. I went into that day hoping I’d get the happiest day of my life. What I got? The worst. I mean, you really can’t get any worse of a day without someone actually dying.     So…I may have gotten just a little drunk, and maybe just a tad impetuous…    And landed myself in a dive bar somewhere in Alaska, alone, still in my wedding dress, half-wasted and heart-broken.    ***    Eight brothers, one bar.    Sounds like the beginning to a bad joke,…


Book cover of Bound In Death

Catherine Edward Author Of Lycan's Blood Queen

From my list on fantasy/shifter romance to make your heart flutter.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a paranormal romance and fantasy author who fell in love with fantasy as a young girl. My journey as a reader started when I was four, but what changed me entirely was Russian Tales woven with magic. I’m passionate about Lycans, Werewolves, Witches, Vampires, and everything that’s magical. I like to write sizzling tales of love and betrayal.

Catherine's book list on fantasy/shifter romance to make your heart flutter

Catherine Edward Why did Catherine love this book?

Who doesn’t love a good paranormal romance? Pair it with suspense and mystery you have bound series. First of all, I chose this because this is the first paranormal romance series I’ve ever read, the stories that pulled me in and kept me hooked there and later became the motivation to pen my own novel. I love the entire series, but this book in particular has a special place in my heart. Alpha Alerac is searching for his mate Keira, who was taken from him and was imprisoned by a vampire master for over 200 hundred years. The story of Alerac and Keira is really something. Their love, pain and the curse that cause them agony will definitely touch a reader’s heart. 

By Cynthia Eden,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Bound In Death as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

She can’t remember him, and he can never forget her.

For over two hundred years, alpha werewolf Alerac O’Neill has been searching for his mate, Keira McDonough, a woman who was taken from him and imprisoned by a dark vampire master. He’s hunted for her, endlessly, using vampire blood to extend his life. He has become a vicious predator, feared by all the supernaturals. His hold on reality seems to slip more each day because he is consumed by her.

Only…the woman he discovers in a small Miami bar isn’t the Keira that he remembers. In fact, this woman doesn’t…


Book cover of Evil Eye

Luke Jerod Kummer Author Of Takers Mad

From my list on crime stories you can only listen to as audiobooks.

Why am I passionate about this?

Crime is intrinsically interesting. From an early age, we’re taught behavioral norms. Hearing of transgressions, we ask, “How’d this happen?... Is it true?... What’s the deeper meaning?” Audiobooks also have a unique ability to engage us. With my reporting background plus a historical novel under my belt, I began researching the real-life case behind Takers Mad, aiming to bring it to life with the intimacy, suspense, and power of an audio drama. Then I was gobsmacked to find fresh evidence in this Gilded Age murder. Now, with Khristine Hvam’s ultra-talented narration, I hope our work entertains and also leads listeners to ponder vital questions—just like the best crime audiobooks.

Luke's book list on crime stories you can only listen to as audiobooks

Luke Jerod Kummer Why did Luke love this book?

Madhuri Shekar’s groundbreaking psychological thriller helped show new ways that audiobooks could plunge listeners into a story. I’m sure I wasn’t the only author who took note. Evil Eye follows a mother who immigrated to the U.S. from India as she prepares to accept her daughter’s partner into the family. But she is troubled by an old crime. The tale is told almost entirely through phone calls and voice messages. That meticulously constructed delivery heightens the suspense as we discover how trauma can span oceans and overlap generations.

By Madhuri Shekar,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Evil Eye as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Evil Eye garnered an Audie Award for Original Work in 2020.

Usha is convinced that the Evil Eye, a curse that brings continuous misfortune, was cast upon her daughter, Pallavi, in the womb. What else could have possibly left her driven, career-oriented daughter edging closer and closer to 30 without a prospective husband? Determined to set Pallavi on the right path, Usha arranges date after date with potential suitors - but after yet another setup fails, it seems her efforts are proving fruitless. But in an unexpected turn of events, Pallavi becomes her own matchmaker when she meets - and…


Book cover of The Girl on the Red Pillow

Adam Oster Author Of The Agora Files - Part 1

From my list on independent books you’ve never heard of.

Why am I passionate about this?

As an independent author, I’ve been lucky enough to find a wealth of other independent authors out there. People who are doing things that aren’t quite mainstream. Artists who are experimenting with the written word and doing truly unique things. Where the world is filled with books made for the sole purpose of being turned into movies, these authors are creating works of fiction that are suited for the written word. Masterpieces that will make you think and want to find even more new forms of fiction. Simply put, independent authors are pushing books into new realms that you simply can’t find in the mainstream market.

Adam's book list on independent books you’ve never heard of

Adam Oster Why did Adam love this book?

A thinly veiled discussion about depression, The Girl on the Red Pillow does something I never thought possible: make depression humorous and interesting. Well...it doesn't actually make depression humorous but allows for humor to exist in a story about the topic.

From the first moment you get to meet the wall building dwarf, to the final moment when Annalee finally comes to terms with her depression and looks toward the future, you will be urged forward as you hope Annalee finds the answer to her troubles, especially if you're someone who has dealt with their own wall-building dwarf.

By Angelika Rust,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Girl on the Red Pillow as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An average abusive childhood, a tendency towards depression. Annalee's life could be normal. If only she could get rid of the dwarf. Annalee doesn't mind what people call her. After all, a name's just a name. What she does mind, though, is the dwarf trying to wall her in. Struggling between reality and hallucination, a black cat and a talking skeleton her only companions along the way, Annalee fights for her sanity, and a way out.


Book cover of Lady Chatterley's Lover
Book cover of The Compleat Motherfucker: A History of the Mother of All Dirty Words
Book cover of Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,608

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in swearing, London, and murder?

Swearing 27 books
London 870 books
Murder 1,079 books