67 books like The Erotic Poems

By Ovid, Peter Green (translator),

Here are 67 books that The Erotic Poems fans have personally recommended if you like The Erotic Poems. 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 If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho

Phiroze Vasunia Author Of The Classics and Colonial India

From my list on love poems from ancient Greece and Rome.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by the ancient Greeks and Romans since my teenage years. I was lucky to have inspiring teachers when I was an undergraduate. Spending a few months in Greece during my university years intensified my love of antiquity, and now I’m a professor who teaches Greek and Latin. One of the things that first drew me to the Greeks and Romans was the sophistication of their poetry, and that’s why I wrote this list.

Phiroze's book list on love poems from ancient Greece and Rome

Phiroze Vasunia Why did Phiroze love this book?

I was drawn to Sappho as a teenager, and in many ways, her poems are classic poems of teen angst, love, jealousy, and rejection. Over the years, I’ve also come to admire her poetic craft and skill at composing beautiful verse, as well as the music of her poetry.

If only more of her poems had survived! Even many of the surviving poems are marked by gaps and omissions. The fragmentariness of the poems is part of their mystique. An accomplished poet, Anne Carson captures the force and charm of these ancient love songs superbly in her version.

By Sappho, Anne Carson (translator),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked If Not, Winter as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this "gorgeous translation" (The New York Times), one of our most fearless and original poets provides a tantalizing window onto the genius of a woman whose lyric power spans millennia. 

Of the nine books of lyrics the ancient Greek poet Sappho is said to have composed, only one poem has survived complete. The rest are fragments. In this miraculous new translation, acclaimed poet and classicist Anne Carson presents all of Sappho’s fragments, in Greek and in English, as if on the ragged scraps of papyrus that preserve them, inviting a thrill of discovery and conjecture that can be described…


Book cover of The Poems

Phiroze Vasunia Author Of The Classics and Colonial India

From my list on love poems from ancient Greece and Rome.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by the ancient Greeks and Romans since my teenage years. I was lucky to have inspiring teachers when I was an undergraduate. Spending a few months in Greece during my university years intensified my love of antiquity, and now I’m a professor who teaches Greek and Latin. One of the things that first drew me to the Greeks and Romans was the sophistication of their poetry, and that’s why I wrote this list.

Phiroze's book list on love poems from ancient Greece and Rome

Phiroze Vasunia Why did Phiroze love this book?

If Sappho and Byron somehow had a love child, Catullus would be that person. Read his poems in any good translation (Peter Whigham’s translation is evocative and accomplished, as is Peter Green’s later version), and I think you’ll know what I mean. Obsessive relationships, beautiful poetry, lovers of all stripes, disregard for the powerful, and dislike of pomposity are the subjects of his verses. He also offers a stunning glimpse of Rome during Julius Caesar's time.

By Catullus, Peter Whigham (translator),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

One of the most versatile of Roman poets, Catullus wrote verse of an almost unparalleled diversity and stylistic agility, from the brevity of the epigram to the sustained elegance of the elegy. This collection contains all of Catullus' extant work and includes his lyrics to the notorious Clodia Metelli - married, seductive and corrupt - charting the course from rapturous delight in a new affair to the torment of love gone sour; poems to his young friend Iuventius; and longer verse, such as the extraordinary tale of Attis, a Greek youth who castrates himself in a fit of religious ecstasy.…


Book cover of The Aeneid

Genevieve Guenther Author Of The Language of Climate Politics: Fossil-Fuel Propaganda and How to Fight It

From my list on understand climate change.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a former Shakespeare scholar who became increasingly concerned about the climate crisis after I had a son and started worrying about the world he would inherit after I died. I began to do research into climate communication, and I realized I could use my linguistic expertise to help craft messages for campaigners, policymakers, and enlightened corporations who want to drive climate action. As I learned more about the history of climate change communication, however, I realized that we couldn’t talk about the crisis effectively without knowing how to parry climate denial and fossil-fuel propaganda. So now I also research and write about climate disinformation, too. 

Genevieve's book list on understand climate change

Genevieve Guenther Why did Genevieve love this book?

I know it’s weird to suggest a Roman epic on a list of books about climate change! But Virgil’s poem is fundamentally a story of a group of people who overcome immense obstacles—enemies, monsters, puzzles, temptations—to found a new world.

It narrates how to cultivate a strong, even heroic character and engage in sustained collective action—exactly what we need to resolve the climate crisis. I read this book for lessons and inspiration! 

By Virgil, Robert Fitzgerald (translator),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The Aeneid - thrilling, terrifying and poignant in equal measure - has inspired centuries of artists, writers and musicians.

Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is translated by J. W. Mackail and has an afterword by Coco Stevenson.

Virgil's epic tale tells the story of Aeneas, a Trojan hero, who flees his city after its fall, with his father Anchises and his young son Ascanius - for Aeneas is destined…


Book cover of The Odyssey: The Fitzgerald Translation

Phiroze Vasunia Author Of The Classics and Colonial India

From my list on love poems from ancient Greece and Rome.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by the ancient Greeks and Romans since my teenage years. I was lucky to have inspiring teachers when I was an undergraduate. Spending a few months in Greece during my university years intensified my love of antiquity, and now I’m a professor who teaches Greek and Latin. One of the things that first drew me to the Greeks and Romans was the sophistication of their poetry, and that’s why I wrote this list.

Phiroze's book list on love poems from ancient Greece and Rome

Phiroze Vasunia Why did Phiroze love this book?

Even after 20 years of separation, brought on by the Trojan War and the gods, Odysseus and Penelope hold on to their love and reunite in Ithaca. They must overcome tremendous obstacles: divine anger, violent suitors, jealous lovers, ghosts, and monsters.

Of course, the poem has double standards regarding relations between men and women. And yet, the central love story hasn’t lost its appeal since antiquity. Fitzgerald’s English translation of the Odyssey is one of the best and a wonderful creation in its own right: it’s a magnificent rendition of Odysseus and his world.

By Homer, Robert Fitzgerald (translator),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The classic translation of The Odyssey, now in paperback.

This edition also features a map, a Glossary of Names and Places, and Fitzgerald's Postscript. Line drawings precede each book of the poem.

Robert Fitzgerald's translation of Homer's Odyssey is the best and best-loved modern translation of the greatest of all epic poems. Since 1961, this Odyssey has sold more than two million copies, and it is the standard translation for three generations of students and poets. Farrar, Straus and Giroux is delighted to publish a new edition of this classic work. Fitzgerald's supple verse is ideally suited to the story…


Book cover of Sealed

Anna McFarlane Author Of Cyberpunk Culture and Psychology: Seeing through the Mirrorshades

From my list on body horror birth.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a lecturer in medical humanities at the University of Leeds in England and I’m currently writing a book about the portrayal of traumatic pregnancy in fantastic literature (science fiction, horror, fantasy…). ‘Medical humanities’ is a field of study that looks at medical issues using the tools of the humanities, so it encompasses things like history of medicine, bioethics, and (my specialty) literature and medicine. Thinking about literature through the lens of traumatic pregnancy has led me to some fascinating, gory, and philosophical books, some of which I’m including on this list. 

Anna's book list on body horror birth

Anna McFarlane Why did Anna love this book?

The unnamed protagonist of this book is a pregnant woman who has recently moved to the isolated Australian outback with her (pretty useless) husband. The couple have fled the city in part because of our narrator’s fear of a novel pandemic that is sweeping the land. As her pregnancy develops, skin cells replicating inside her body, the narrator fears that her fetus may harbour the virus.

This virus really speaks to my interest in difficult, gory pregnancies and births: cutis is an illness that causes the skin cells to hyperactively replicate, sealing over the body’s orifices and suffocating or starving its victims.

 While this book has a Wicker Man-style horror of small-town life, I particularly appreciate the way that its dystopian setting reflects and distills the anxieties that many women really experience during pregnancy. 

By Naomi Booth,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Sealed is a gripping modern fable on motherhood, a terrifying portrait of ordinary people under threat from their own bodies

Heavily pregnant Alice and her partner Pete are done with the city. Alice is haunted by rumors of a skin-sealing epidemic starting to infect the urban population. She hopes their new remote mountain house will offer safety, a place to forget the nightmares and start their family. But the mountains and their people hold a different kind of danger. With their relationship under intolerable pressure, violence erupts and Alice is faced with the unthinkable as she fights to protect her…


Book cover of The Remarkable Life of the Skin: An Intimate Journey Across Our Largest Organ

Roy A. Meals Author Of Muscle: The Gripping Story of Strength and Movement

From my list on friend your body’s marvelous machines.

Why am I passionate about this?

I've been in love with biology since first playing with earthworms and marveling at the sprouting of radish seeds as a five-year-old. Further interest and curiosity led me to positions as nature counselor at summer camps and an eventual college degree in biology. Medical school was at times tedious, but the efficient, compact, durable mechanics of the musculoskeletal system totally engaged my interest. A residency in orthopedic surgery and a fellowship in hand surgery were natural follow-ons. My other passion is a love of teaching, taking a learner from where ever their understanding is presently and guiding them to what they need to know next. And they should have fun in the process.

Roy's book list on friend your body’s marvelous machines

Roy A. Meals Why did Roy love this book?

Although skin is highly visible and a good indicator of health, habits, and age, its complexity and significance for overall health are often overlooked. Dermatologist, historian, and world traveler, Lyman demystifies the body’s largest organ.

He explains commonly encountered conditions such as blushing, goosebumps, and itching. With engaging stories, Lyman also informs about rarely encountered conditions, past and present, that illustrate the amazing capacity of the skin to fend off infection, dehydration, and other perils of the outside world as well as assaults from within.

Additionally, skin is rich with social and psychological significance. You will be compelled to take better care of your body’s wrapping having read the book. 

By Monty Lyman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Remarkable Life of the Skin as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

- Shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize 2019
- A Sunday Times 'MUST READ'
- 'An exciting introduction to a little-known microscopic universe.' Sunday Times
- 'A seriously entertaining book.' Melanie Reid, The Times
- As read on RADIO 4's BOOK OF THE WEEK
_______________

How does our diet affect our skin? What makes the skin age? And why can't we tickle ourselves?

Providing a cover for our delicate and intricate bodies, the skin is our largest, fastest growing and yet least understood organ. We see it, touch it and live in it every day. It's a habitat…


Book cover of Girl in the Dark: A Memoir of a Life Without Light

Sarah L. Sanderson Author Of The Place We Make: Breaking the Legacy of Legalized Hate

From my list on memoirs to see the world through someone else’s eyes.

Why am I passionate about this?

I chose to study creative nonfiction during my MFA program so I could learn what makes great memoirs work, but I first fell in love with the genre as a teenager, when I picked up Angela’s Ashes off my mom’s bedside table. I’m grateful for the way memoir gives me a window into the lives of people of other races, religions, abilities, experiences, and even other centuries. While my book The Place We Make isn’t only a memoir—it’s a blend of memoir and historical biography—it was my desire to both understand the view through my research subject’s eyes, and analyze how I was seeing the world myself, that drove me to write it.

Sarah's book list on memoirs to see the world through someone else’s eyes

Sarah L. Sanderson Why did Sarah love this book?

I have been telling people about Girl in the Dark ever since I read it eight years ago. More than that—I feel like part of me has still been in Anna Lyndsey’s blackout-curtained room, with heavy tape sealing out every crack of light, ever since then.

I had never heard of her condition, which causes extremely painful sensitivity to the smallest amount of light. Lyndsey describes her physical symptoms with vivid detail, but it’s her attention to the psychological effects of being forced to withdraw from virtually all human society that makes this such a jaw-dropping read. 

By Anna Lyndsey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Girl in the Dark as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Haunting, lyrical, unforgettable, Girl in the Dark is a brave new memoir of a life without light.

     Anna Lyndsey was young and ambitious and worked hard; she had just bought an apartment; she was falling in love. Then what started as a mild intolerance to certain kinds of artificial light developed into a severe sensitivity to all light. 
     Now, at the worst times, Anna is forced to spend months on end in a blacked-out room, where she loses herself in audiobooks and elaborate word games in an attempt to ward off despair. During periods of relative remission, she can venture…


Book cover of The Magic in Me

Maia Haag Author Of My Very Own Name

From my list on personalized bedtime storybooks.

Why am I passionate about this?

Maia Haag is the president and co-founder of I See Me! Personalized Books & Gifts. She had the idea to write her own personalized children’s book while on maternity leave. She and her husband, who is a graphic designer, published My Very Own Name, which launched their company. Maia has written over ten engaging, uniquely personalized stories that make each child feel special. She’s even written a personalized book for dog lovers If My Dog Could Talk—based on her own family pet!

Maia's book list on personalized bedtime storybooks

Maia Haag Why did Maia love this book?

It’s more important than ever for young children to learn to value and celebrate what makes each of us unique and different. This personalized story teaches your child to value what makes him or her special. The story also teaches your child to love and appreciate the diversity that children across the world bring to make the world a vibrant place: different languages that we speak, hobbies that we have, various skin tones, different hairstyles, and different ways that we love other people. 

By Timi Bliss, Kamala Nair (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

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


Book cover of Irène

James Markert Author Of The Nightmare Man

From my list on serial killers that made my skin crawl.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve had a passion for crime/thriller/suspense/horror novels since high school, when I truly fell in love with reading. Specifically, during my junior year, when my English teacher, after having us read Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, then announced to the class that we were reading Stephen King the rest of the year. Up until that point I hated to read, but then after reading King—we read just about all of his novellas—I fell in love with the darker side of storytelling, and the macabre in general. Now when I consider buying a book, the darker the better! I hope you enjoy these reads as much as I did!

James' book list on serial killers that made my skin crawl

James Markert Why did James love this book?

Why did I first pick it up? Because of the cover. Why did I buy it? Because of the story promised on the cover flap. And it was a French, international, multi-translated mega-hit. What happened after I read it? I hunted down the author’s next 2 books and bought them, because holy smokes, this one blew me away. The crime scenes in this novel left absolutely nothing to the imagination, and once the pages started turning there was no stopping this deadly suspense train. Plus, Commandant Camille Verhoeven is about as uniquely cool as a protagonist can get.

By Pierre Lemaitre, Frank Wynne (translator),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

THE NOVELIST KILLS BY THE BOOK

For Commandant Camille Verhoeven life is beautiful. He is happily married and soon to become a father.

HE'S ALWAYS ONE CHAPTER AHEAD

But his blissful existence is punctured by a murder of unprecedented savagery. When his team discovers that the killer has form - and each murder is a homage to a classic crime novel - the Parisian press are quick to coin a nickname . . . The Novelist.

HE HATES HAPPY ENDINGS

With the public eye fixed on both hunter and hunted, the case develops into a personal duel, each hell-bent on…


Book cover of Emily's Quills

J. L. Hunt Author Of Beautiful Boy

From my list on motivational stories for young children.

Why am I passionate about this?

Growing up in a household with a large family, I recall times when it was difficult to find my voice, having to compete with multiple family members to be heard. Over the years, I developed a special compassion for children who may feel overlooked, or unseen, which also prompted my decision to become a children’s book author, catering to write empowering stories. So, I am especially passionate about this list of children’s stories that also helps to shape the trajectory of every child, by instilling in them early on their true value & infinite capabilities

J. L.'s book list on motivational stories for young children

J. L. Hunt Why did J. L. love this book?

This book was a very inspiring read. I adored the connections of friendship and teamwork, also the encouragement to step up and step out when necessary to be brave. 

I loved the fact that it encourages you to discover your own true uniqueness, to go beyond your comfort zone, and to embrace the skin you're in.

By Tamiko Pettee,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Emily's Quills as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Inspire your children to find their strength and grow their self-confidence!

While playing with her friends one day, Emily Hedgehog realizes that all of the other animals have such amazing talents. She feels like all she has is her prickly quills which are always getting in the way and hurting her friends.

When all of the animals find their friend Squirrel in a dangerous situation, they work together and use their strengths to save her, including Emily who quickly gains self-esteem when she discovers that her quills are actually her strength instead of her weakness.

Filled with vibrant illustrations and…


Book cover of If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho
Book cover of The Poems
Book cover of The Aeneid

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