Fans pick 100 books like Her

By Pierre Alex Jeanty, TreManda Pewett (illustrator),

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

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Book cover of Of Yesteryear

Maria Tzoutzopoulou Author Of something like

From my list on poetry where you can find pieces of you.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have created art from an early age. Years later, my studies in civil engineering allowed me to combine my love for the arts with my belief in an orderly world. Meanwhile, reading and writing have always been my favorite pursuits. While collaborating as an editor with other authors, assisting them in their writing endeavors, in 2014, I wrote and published my first book. Sharing my writing on Instagram gave birth to the idea of my first poetry book, something like, published in 2018. Since then, two more poetry collections have been published: A TriAngle in 2019 and something like in reverse in 2020.

Maria's book list on poetry where you can find pieces of you

Maria Tzoutzopoulou Why did Maria love this book?

I love the way Lauren Eden describes everything about a relationship, from its beginning to its end, through her verses. 

The love and heartbreak are presented realistically and vividly. I felt as if I had participated in this relationship until its very end.

Only an artist who knows how to use precise and precious (for this theme) words can create a masterpiece that you want to reread when you need it the most.

By Lauren Eden,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Of Yesteryear is a collection of poetry that effortlessly transcribes the chaos of the never ending battle between head and heart. In her debut, Lauren Eden’s succinct and beautiful observations of human nature and its gains and losses will lead readers to understand their own journey in love and self discovery - now, and of yesteryear.


Book cover of Pillow Thoughts

Maria Tzoutzopoulou Author Of something like

From my list on poetry where you can find pieces of you.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have created art from an early age. Years later, my studies in civil engineering allowed me to combine my love for the arts with my belief in an orderly world. Meanwhile, reading and writing have always been my favorite pursuits. While collaborating as an editor with other authors, assisting them in their writing endeavors, in 2014, I wrote and published my first book. Sharing my writing on Instagram gave birth to the idea of my first poetry book, something like, published in 2018. Since then, two more poetry collections have been published: A TriAngle in 2019 and something like in reverse in 2020.

Maria's book list on poetry where you can find pieces of you

Maria Tzoutzopoulou Why did Maria love this book?

This is a book full of enthusiasm and optimism, even when describing the darkest parts of life. Honestly, the pain hurt less after reading this book. 

It was a one-sitting read, and I thought there was a conversation between Courtney Peppernell and me the whole time. 

It felt as if my best friend and I were talking.

By Courtney Peppernell,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Make a cup of tea and let yourself feel.

Pillow Thoughts is a collection of poetry and prose about heartbreak, love, and raw emotions. It is divided into sections to read when you feel you need them most.


Book cover of Letters to My Lover from Behind Asylum Walls

Maria Tzoutzopoulou Author Of something like

From my list on poetry where you can find pieces of you.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have created art from an early age. Years later, my studies in civil engineering allowed me to combine my love for the arts with my belief in an orderly world. Meanwhile, reading and writing have always been my favorite pursuits. While collaborating as an editor with other authors, assisting them in their writing endeavors, in 2014, I wrote and published my first book. Sharing my writing on Instagram gave birth to the idea of my first poetry book, something like, published in 2018. Since then, two more poetry collections have been published: A TriAngle in 2019 and something like in reverse in 2020.

Maria's book list on poetry where you can find pieces of you

Maria Tzoutzopoulou Why did Maria love this book?

Every letter of "Sweet Jane'' to her lover "Eleanor" could be a letter written to the person you love the most but you cannot be with, a letter to the person you think of to escape from your hard reality when isolated. 

In each of those letters, I found the memories of the loved one blended with the day-to-day survival, written impeccably by Robin Sinclair, because I could sense the agony and the despair when all one has left is a pen, paper, and feelings.

By Robin Sinclair,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Letters to My Lover from Behind Asylum Walls as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A modern gothic tale of letters written by Sweet Jane to her lover, Eleanor, recounting and obscuring the dark secret that lead to Sweet Jane being committed.

PRAISE FOR LETTERS TO MY LOVER FROM BEHIND ASYLUM WALLS
Written from an asylum, these epistles provide something more “delicate and wrathful” than the expectation that our interned speaker has a tenuous grip on reality. Instead, we witness moments of wisdom and lucidity made possible because the strength of Sweet Jane’s love for Eleanor is greater than the weight of her trauma. These poems guide us through the questions we must ask about…


Book cover of Self Love Poetry: For Thinkers & Feelers

Maria Tzoutzopoulou Author Of something like

From my list on poetry where you can find pieces of you.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have created art from an early age. Years later, my studies in civil engineering allowed me to combine my love for the arts with my belief in an orderly world. Meanwhile, reading and writing have always been my favorite pursuits. While collaborating as an editor with other authors, assisting them in their writing endeavors, in 2014, I wrote and published my first book. Sharing my writing on Instagram gave birth to the idea of my first poetry book, something like, published in 2018. Since then, two more poetry collections have been published: A TriAngle in 2019 and something like in reverse in 2020.

Maria's book list on poetry where you can find pieces of you

Maria Tzoutzopoulou Why did Maria love this book?

While reading this book, I have been trying to figure out what I am: 

a thinker or a feeler. Melody Godfred chooses a fascinating way to write this book. So on the left page, she writes for a thinker (a left-brained person), and on the right page, she writes for a feeler (a right-brained person). 

I will have to count the number of pages representing me as I go through the pages to find out which hemisphere of my brain is dominant, the left or the right.

By Melody Godfred,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Self Love Poetry as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Readers have called her work "life changing," "pandemic medicine," and "part of my daily ritual." Oprah Magazine and the Today Show have featured her work for its timely, uplifting wisdom. Now, Self Love Philosopher Melody Godfred shares her first poetry book, Self Love Poetry: For Thinkers & Feelers, a collection of 200 thought-provoking and heart-opening self love poems.

In Self Love Poetry, Godfred explores concepts like authenticity, surrender, resilience, gratitude, believing in yourself, and of course, love, through 100 pairs of poems, each dedicated to a central theme. On the left side of the book are "thinker" poems that light…


Book cover of She Walks in Beauty: A Woman's Journey Through Poems

Judy Croome Author Of the dust of hope: rune poems

From my list on for finding hope and inspiration.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a poet and a dreamer, I believe in a world where we live in harmony with other people, nature, and the Divine. During the completion of my Master of Arts degree, I discovered a love of poetry: the lyrical cadences of the romantic poems reminded me of the sung psalms of my youth. No life is without sorrow, and the gift of poetry — both writing and reading it — has offered me hope through many a dark time, inspiring me to push on towards a new dawn. My wish for you is that, in these poetry collections, you too find a light during these turbulent times that we’re living in.

Judy's book list on for finding hope and inspiration

Judy Croome Why did Judy love this book?

In She Walks in Beauty, Caroline Kennedy contemplates the wisdom of different poetic voices as they journey through major life events in a woman's life (whether love and marriage, death and grief or the joys and sorrows of motherhood). By the end of the book, Kennedy distills both bitter and sweet flavours into a celebration of life that often feels unattainable as we live through challenging times. With both compassion and sensitivity born from her own troubled family history and through her love of poetry reflected in this collection, Kennedy offers hope and consolation to others travelling along a difficult road.

By Caroline Kennedy,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked She Walks in Beauty as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A priceless resource--and gift--for anyone seeking a deeper understanding and appreciation of what it means to be a woman.

In SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY, Caroline Kennedy has marshaled the gifts of our greatest poets to pay a personal tribute to the human experience, this time to the complex and fascinating subject of womanhood. Inspired by her own reflections on more than fifty years of life as a young girl, woman, wife and mother, She Walks in Beauty draws on poetry's eloquent wisdom to ponder the many joys and challenges of being a woman. Kennedy has divided the collection into sections…


Book cover of Doe

Robert Lunday Author Of Disequilibria: Meditations on Missingness

From my list on using disappearance in innovative ways.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since my stepfather disappeared in 1982, disappearance has been my obsession. In writing Disequilibria, I read everything I could on missing persons. By now, I might be the chief authority on Missingness! – that is, on disappearance as a theoretical construct. I’m especially interested in how, across different sensibilities (in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, but also law, social science, journalism, philosophy, history, and media studies), we can compose a shared language and create shared understanding. My larger goal is to discover creative and redemptive ways of responding to loss, grief, and trauma; to find how disappearance in all its forms creates a framework for understanding what it means to be human.

Robert's book list on using disappearance in innovative ways

Robert Lunday Why did Robert love this book?

Aimee Baker’s Doe is a diptych: poems in the first section focus on missing women, while those in the second section reimagine the lives of unidentified women.

Baker creates recurrent, multiple patterns of imagery that celebrate the beauty and dignity of each woman – in argument, essentially, with the ways true crime sometimes exploits and objectifies victims’ lives. At the same time, Doe is about North America as a captivating space of the imagination: the poet creates a geography by turns intimate and vast, familiar and strange, beautiful and terrible.

The finely-crafted textures of the poems in Doe, as well as the apparent dedication to investigation and research in the work overall, make for a rare combination.

By Aimee Baker,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Winner of the 2018 Eugene Paul Nassar Poetry Prize

Doe began as author Aimée Baker's attempt to understand and process the news coverage of a single unidentified woman whose body was thrown from a car leaving Phoenix, Arizona. It soon grew into a seven-year-long project with the goal to document, mourn, and witness the stories of missing and unidentified women in the United States.


Book cover of Milk and Honey

Penelope Chaisson Author Of Penelope's Purple Passions

From my list on how to turn life’s tragedies into victories.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm the author of Penelope’s Purple Passions. I've been in love with writing poetry since I was a little girl. I would go under the bunk bed at night with my flashlight and write all these poems about love, not that I knew anything about love, but what I did know was how writing poetry made me feel. I believe love is truly the most valuable gift we can give to another soul in our lifetime. I want my poetry to empower people and be that beacon of light in people’s lives.  Poetry is the avenue where I can spread love and hope globally to anyone who picks up my books.

Penelope's book list on how to turn life’s tragedies into victories

Penelope Chaisson Why did Penelope love this book?

I recommend this book because it places emphasis on women knowing their self-worth. This book also speaks about loving deeply and not having that love given back in return. I could identify with being in relationships that have made me feel unloved and unworthy. I could also identify with having that eye-opening moment when you come to the realization that you are this beautiful, gifted, wonderful human being worthy of having a person in your life who recognizes and truly appreciates you for all that you embody. The takeaway from this book I gained is to never love anyone more than you love yourself.

By Rupi Kaur,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

#1 New York Times bestseller Milk and Honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. About the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity.

The book is divided into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose. Deals with a different pain. Heals a different heartache. Milk and Honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.


Book cover of Under Her Eye: A Women in Horror Poetry Collection, Volume II

Brianna Malotke Author Of Lost Cherry

From my list on horror poetry to devour in an autumn afternoon.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve loved reading short horror stories ever since I got my elementary school-aged hands on a copy of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. In high school, I discovered my love of poetry, and I’ve never stopped trying to find a new favorite horror book. I love being able to sit down with a cup of tea on a rainy autumn afternoon and read a whole book in one go. I’m co-chair of the Horror Writers Association’s Seattle Chapter and find myself adding new horror books to my TBR pile every week. I hope you enjoy these books as much as I did!

Brianna's book list on horror poetry to devour in an autumn afternoon

Brianna Malotke Why did Brianna love this book?

While I will read anything written by Lee Murray, I loved this anthology of horror poetry! The variety of voices that Murray and Ryan have pulled together is powerful when read cover to cover. I love how the real-life horrors that women can face are illustrated by the poets through these creative, powerful, and well written pieces.

By Lindy Ryan (editor), Lee Murray (editor),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A showcase of poetry from some of the darkest and most lyrical voices of women in horror.

 

A follow-up to the award-winning poetry showcase Under Her Skin, UNDER HER EYE features the best in never-before-published dark verse and lyrical prose from the voices of Women in Horror, themed on domestic horror and the terror women too often experience in their own homes.

 

Edited by Lindy Ryan and Lee Murray, UNDER HER EYE celebrates women in horror from cover to cover. In addition to poems contributed by over one hundred poets worldwide, the collection features poems from Stephanie M. Wytovich, Jessica…


Book cover of Jane Austen: A Life

Sue Wilkes Author Of A Visitor's Guide to Jane Austen's England

From my list on understanding Jane Austen’s England.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was a little girl, my parents bought me a children’s edition of Pride and Prejudice. Ever since, I have loved Jane Austen’s works. As I grew older, I really enjoyed learning about her, and researching the history of her times. I hope you will enjoy reading these books as much as I did!

Sue's book list on understanding Jane Austen’s England

Sue Wilkes Why did Sue love this book?

Hundreds (possibly thousands) of biographies of Austen have been written, but Tomalin’s work has long been a favourite of mine.

Her sympathetic portrait of Jane digs deep into her early family life, schooldays, literary influences, and early authorship. Jane’s relationship with her mother; her family’s encouragement of her writings; the fear of poverty after her father’s death; the disastrous (rejected) marriage proposal, and her literary legacy are all detailed with warmth and energy. 

By Claire Tomalin,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Jane Austen as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The novels of Jane Austen depict a world of civility, reassuring stability and continuity, which generations of readers have supposed was the world she herself inhabited. Claire Tomalin's biography paints a surprisingly different picture of the Austen family and their Hampshire neighbours, and of Jane's progress through a difficult childhood, an unhappy love affair, her experiences as a poor relation and her decision to reject a marriage that would solve all her problems - except that of continuing as a writer. Both the woman and the novels are radically reassessed in this biography.


Book cover of 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women

Salma Hasan Ali Author Of BenchTalk: Wisdoms Inspired in Nature

From my list on stories that make you feel connected to humanity.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a “storyseeker” as much as a storyteller. I love hearing people’s ordinary and extraordinary stories; they inspire and motivate me and make me feel hopeful. I think our stories are the most precious things we have, and our greatest legacy. They help us understand each other better and connect us to people we may otherwise never get to meet. That’s why I wrote a book of personal stories called 30 Days: Stories of Gratitude, Traditions, and Wisdom and a 30 Days Journal that helps people record their own stories, by answering a prompt each day for a month. For a nonprofit I help lead called KindWorks, my title is CIO—Chief Inspiration Officer!

Salma's book list on stories that make you feel connected to humanity

Salma Hasan Ali Why did Salma love this book?

I love reading stories of how ordinary people achieve extraordinary things by overcoming challenges, believing in their dreams, and not accepting defeat.

The 100 stories of women featured in this book, along with exquisite portraits of each by female artists, start with the words of a traditional fairy tale “Once upon a time…”, but instead of tales of helpless princesses there are inspiring portraits of women with grit, smarts, and tenacity. Heroes in every sense of the word, for all of us, young and old, to admire.

By Elena Favilli, Francesca Cavallo,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 6, 7, 8, and 9.

What is this book about?

What if the princess didn't marry Prince Charming but instead went on to be an astronaut? What if the jealous step sisters were supportive and kind? And what if the queen was the one really in charge of the kingdom? Illustrated by sixty female artists from every corner of the globe, Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls introduces us to one hundred remarkable women and their extraordinary lives, from Ada Lovelace to Malala, Elizabeth I to Serena Williams. Empowering, moving and inspirational, these are true fairy tales for heroines who definitely don't need rescuing.


Book cover of Of Yesteryear
Book cover of Pillow Thoughts
Book cover of Letters to My Lover from Behind Asylum Walls

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