Love Tolkien, Enchantment, and Loss? Readers share 100 books like Tolkien, Enchantment, and Loss...

By John Rosegrant,

Here are 100 books that Tolkien, Enchantment, and Loss fans have personally recommended if you like Tolkien, Enchantment, and Loss. 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 Tolkien's Theology of Beauty: Majesty, Splendor, and Transcendence in Middle-earth

Janet Brennan Croft Author Of War and the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien

From my list on adventure in the Tolkien criticism.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve been reading Tolkien since I was seven years old, mumblety-mumble years in the distant past, but it wasnā€™t till much later that I got serious about reading critical works on Tolkien, and then turned to writing about him, myself. Twenty years ago, I published my first book on Tolkien. Since then, Iā€™ve edited a number of essay collections, published many papers, consulted on the Hobbit movies, amassed a respectable personal library, and edited Mythlore, one of the major journals in the field of Tolkien studies, since 2006. My love of Tolkien has led me on many adventures and to deep and abiding friendships around the world! 

Janet's book list on adventure in the Tolkien criticism

Janet Brennan Croft Why did Janet love this book?

I am fascinated by the contradictions of Tolkienā€™s women and by the tension between Christian and pagan in his writing.

This book is particularly valuable for its explication of Tolkienā€™s integration of Marian and Valkyrie imagery, resulting in female characters of transcendental beauty and heroism. And the writing is absorbing and informative.

Book cover of There Would Always Be a Fairy Tale: Essays on Tolkien's Middle-earth

Janet Brennan Croft Author Of War and the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien

From my list on adventure in the Tolkien criticism.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve been reading Tolkien since I was seven years old, mumblety-mumble years in the distant past, but it wasnā€™t till much later that I got serious about reading critical works on Tolkien, and then turned to writing about him, myself. Twenty years ago, I published my first book on Tolkien. Since then, Iā€™ve edited a number of essay collections, published many papers, consulted on the Hobbit movies, amassed a respectable personal library, and edited Mythlore, one of the major journals in the field of Tolkien studies, since 2006. My love of Tolkien has led me on many adventures and to deep and abiding friendships around the world! 

Janet's book list on adventure in the Tolkien criticism

Janet Brennan Croft Why did Janet love this book?

Verlyn Flieger is the doyenne of Tolkien criticism, and this collection sees her at her best.

Iā€™ve often found that her brilliance lies in pointing out whatā€™s been hiding in plain sightā€“and once you have seen it, your view is forever changed. ā€œBut What Did He Really Mean?ā€ and ā€œPolitically Incorrect Tolkienā€ are my favorites, but there are many gems here worth excavating.

By Verlyn Flieger,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked There Would Always Be a Fairy Tale as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Devoted to Tolkien, the teller of tales and co-creator of the myths they brush against, these essays focus on his lifelong interest in and engagement with fairy stories, the special world that he called faerie, a world they both create and inhabit, and with the elements that make that world the special place it is. They cover a range of subjects, from The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings and their place within the legendarium he called the Silmarillion to shorter works like "The Story of Kullervo" and "Smith of Wootton Major."

From the pen of eminent Tolkien scholarā€¦


Book cover of Flora of Middle-Earth: Plants of J.R.R. Tolkien's Legendarium

Janet Brennan Croft Author Of War and the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien

From my list on adventure in the Tolkien criticism.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve been reading Tolkien since I was seven years old, mumblety-mumble years in the distant past, but it wasnā€™t till much later that I got serious about reading critical works on Tolkien, and then turned to writing about him, myself. Twenty years ago, I published my first book on Tolkien. Since then, Iā€™ve edited a number of essay collections, published many papers, consulted on the Hobbit movies, amassed a respectable personal library, and edited Mythlore, one of the major journals in the field of Tolkien studies, since 2006. My love of Tolkien has led me on many adventures and to deep and abiding friendships around the world! 

Janet's book list on adventure in the Tolkien criticism

Janet Brennan Croft Why did Janet love this book?

If you are anything like me, one of the reasons you keep coming back to Middle-earth is the landscape. This is the field guide I want to take on my next trip!

This is a very thoroughly researched compendium of information and folklore about real-world plants in Tolkienā€™s worldā€”and about his invented plants as well. It's nicely illustrated, too!

By Walter S. Judd, Graham A. Judd,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Flora of Middle-Earth as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The book considers the importance of plants in Tolkien's conception of Middle-earth. It develops the theme that Middle-earth is our own world - and will awaken the reader to the connection between the plants of Tolkien's legendarium and those growing in our gardens and local natural areas of the Northern Hemisphere. It also demonstrates the connection between the various plant communities of Middle-earth and the elven and human cultures that occupy them, including those environments degraded by warfare, industrialization or pollution.

The heart of the book is an alphabetical listing, arranged by common names, of all of the plants mentionedā€¦


Book cover of The Mirror Crack'd: Fear and Horror in JRR Tolkien's Major Works

Janet Brennan Croft Author Of War and the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien

From my list on adventure in the Tolkien criticism.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve been reading Tolkien since I was seven years old, mumblety-mumble years in the distant past, but it wasnā€™t till much later that I got serious about reading critical works on Tolkien, and then turned to writing about him, myself. Twenty years ago, I published my first book on Tolkien. Since then, Iā€™ve edited a number of essay collections, published many papers, consulted on the Hobbit movies, amassed a respectable personal library, and edited Mythlore, one of the major journals in the field of Tolkien studies, since 2006. My love of Tolkien has led me on many adventures and to deep and abiding friendships around the world! 

Janet's book list on adventure in the Tolkien criticism

Janet Brennan Croft Why did Janet love this book?

I love a good, solid, chewy book of critical essays around a specific themeā€”I know, itā€™s a specialized taste. This is a good one.

Yes, Iā€™d love to tramp peacefully around Middle-earth with the field guide I reviewed above, but there are horrors there as well, and this collection gives Tolkienā€™s dragons, wolves, spiders, and other monsters their due.

By Lynn Forest-Hill (editor),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Fear and horror are an inextricable part of Tolkien's great mythology and his use of medieval sources for his evocations of fear and horror contribute to the distinctive tone of his work. This collection of essays shows how his masterly narrative techniques transform his sources, both familiar and unfamiliar, so that hitherto benign characters, objects and landscapes, as well as his famous monstrous creations, engage with deeply rooted human fears. The essays, by an international group of scholars, confirm Tolkien's worldwide reputation. They highlight the depiction of the fear associated with marginalised characters; explore the moral implications of light andā€¦


Book cover of Psychology and Alchemy

Barbara Hand Clow Author Of Revelations of the Ruby Crystal

From my list on finding your soul and discovering ancient knowledge.

Why am I passionate about this?

I completed a Masters in Theology where I studied early Church theology (Patristics) and Jungian analysis. Next, I wanted to pursue a PhD in Patristics to discover how and why the Catholic Church had banished true spirituality for stifling dogma and randy sexual abuse, but I was the mother of four children and had to go to work. I became an acquisitions editor for a Catholic publishing house, which enabled me to continue my research on the building deviation from real spirit in Catholicism. I wrote the Revelations Trilogy instead of doing a thesis in graduate school. This trilogy is very hot and controversial because nobody could control me.

Barbara's book list on finding your soul and discovering ancient knowledge

Barbara Hand Clow Why did Barbara love this book?

Carl Jungā€™s discoveries in psychoanalysis and alchemy caused a revolution in 20TH Century psychotherapy, and the breakthroughs he made have had a huge influence on contemporary spirituality.

My book is deeply based on Jungā€™s research in general, and then this is his greatest book.

Ancient alchemists were supposedly trying to turn lead into gold, yet now we know they were activating many dimensions in their consciousness to attain the goldā€”personal transformation, even transfiguration of their soulsā€”Jungā€™s fundamental discovery.

By C. G. Jung, Gerhard Adler (translator), R. F.C. Hull (translator)

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A study of the analogies between alchemy, Christian dogma, and psychological symbolism. Revised translation, with new bibliography and index.


Book cover of The Discovery of the Unconscious: The History and Evolution of Dynamic Psychiatry

Bonnie Evans Author Of The Metamorphosis of Autism: A History of Child Development in Britain

From my list on the making of the modern self.

Why am I passionate about this?

My interest in this topic began after my father died when I was a young teenager and I was left looking for answers, explanations, and meanings. My dad was an architect and had written a book on Jeremy Benthamā€™s panoptican and prison architecture published before the French philosopher Michel Foucaultā€™s famous Discipline and Punish. A small collection of Foucaultā€™s books stood prominently on my fatherā€™s bookshelves and I really wanted to understand them. At university I studied all of Foucaultā€™s works and many authors inspired by him. These are the best books that explain how we have developed philosophical and psychological theories to understand ourselves in the contemporary world.

Bonnie's book list on the making of the modern self

Bonnie Evans Why did Bonnie love this book?

The epic 900-page Discovery of the Unconscious is a phenomenally detailed and well-researched book that still challenges many of todayā€™s psychological ā€˜truths.ā€™ Ellenberger takes as his starting point models of the unconscious developed by Pierre Janet, Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, and Carl Jung, which still influence many contemporary therapeutic treatments. He then skilfully links these models of the unconscious mind back to exorcism, magnetism, and hypnotism. Ellenbergerā€™s detailed account of the use of magnetism and hypnosis by Jean Martin Charcot and others is fascinating because he explains exactly how Charcot's approaches premised new ā€œuncoveringā€ models devised by Nietzsche and the neo-Romantic movement. He also explains how Charcotā€™s work related to the growing interest in instincts and sexuality inspired by Darwin that culminated in the Freudian unconscious. In doing so, Ellenberger exposes what was genuinely new in the modern unconscious, and which parts of it have a much longer history. Theā€¦

By Henri F. Ellenberger,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Discovery of the Unconscious as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This classic work is a monumental, integrated view of man's search for an understanding of the inner reaches of the mind. In an account that is both exhaustive and exciting, the distinguished psychiatrist and author demonstrates the long chain of development,through the exorcists, magnetists, and hypnotists,that led to the fruition of dynamic psychiatry in the psychological systems of Janet, Freud, Adler, and Jung.


Book cover of Freud, Biologist of the Mind: Beyond the Psychoanalytic Legend

Todd Dufresne Author Of The Late Sigmund Freud: Or, The Last Word on Psychoanalysis, Society, and All the Riddles of Life

From my list on Freud and his legacy.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a professor of philosophy and editor or author of 12 books. I started out in ā€˜Freud Studiesā€™ in the 1990s with no agenda, just a deep interest in Freudā€™s ideas. Since then Iā€™ve written quite a lot on it. Unfortunately, the field is so contentious, so overrun with books by former patients and analysts, that casual readers couldnā€™t possibly make heads or tails of it. Readers are best served by reading complete works of Freud and making their own assessments. After that, they can look at Freudā€™s voluminous and eye-opening correspondence with colleagues. Then they can consult good books, and lists of recommended works, that put them in the right direction.

Todd's book list on Freud and his legacy

Todd Dufresne Why did Todd love this book?

While some thinkers, such as Ernest Jones and Philip Rieff, had noted Freudā€™s lifelong reliance on 19th-century biology, it wasnā€™t until Sullowayā€™s tome of 1979 that a systematic investigation of Freudā€™s embarrassing biology was published. Hence the demystification Sulloway offers of a ā€˜psychoanalytic legendā€™ that routinely erases the foundational roles that Lamarckian inheritance and Haeckelian recapitulation play throughout Freudā€™s oeuvre. This dense, difficult, but well-argued and undeniable work is meant for experts but is key for all serious students of psychoanalysis. 

By Frank J. Sulloway,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Freud, Biologist of the Mind as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this monumental intellectual biography, Frank Sulloway demonstrates that Freud always remained, despite his denials, a biologist of the mind; and, indeed, that his most creative inspirations derived significantly from biology. Sulloway analyzes the political aspects of the complex myth of Freud as psychoanalytic hero as it served to consolidate the analytic movement. This is a revolutionary reassessment of Freud and psychoanalysis.


Book cover of Ɖcrits

Adrian Johnston Author Of Zizek's Ontology: A Transcendental Materialist Theory of Subjectivity

From my list on understanding the work of Slavoj Žižek.

Why am I passionate about this?

Thanks to developing interests in both psychoanalysis and German idealism during my time as a student, I came across Slavoj Žižekā€™s writings in the mid-1990s. Žižek immediately became a significant source of inspiration for my own efforts at interfacing philosophies with psychoanalysis. By the time I began writing my dissertation ā€“ which became my first book, Time Driven: Metapsychology and the Splitting of the Drive ā€“ I had the great fortune to meet Žižek. He soon agreed to serve as co-director of my dissertation and we have remained close ever since. I decided to write a book demonstrating that Žižek is not dismissible as a gadfly preoccupied with using popular culture and current events merely for cheap provocations.

Adrian's book list on understanding the work of Slavoj Žižek

Adrian Johnston Why did Adrian love this book?

One prominent feature of Žižekā€™s oeuvre that initially brought him to fame is his impressive ability to make Lacanā€™s writings and ideas crystal-clear and tangibly concreteā€”and this by contrast with Lacan himself, who often is described as ā€œnotoriously difficult.ā€ Ć‰crits is Lacanā€™s magnum opus, containing his most important essays and articles from the 1930s through the mid-1960s. Although the volumes of Lacanā€™s Seminar are comparatively easier to read, Ɖcrits provides the single most comprehensive survey of Lacanā€™s thinking provided by Lacan himself. This 1966 book contains such Lacanian contributions to psychoanalytic theory as the mirror stage, the unconscious structured like a language, and the Real-Symbolic-Imaginary triad. Neither Lacan nor Žižek can be fully comprehended without a tour of the Ɖcrits.

By Jacques Lacan, Bruce Fink (translator),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Brilliant and innovative, Jacques Lacan's work lies at the epicenter of modern thought about otherness, subjectivity, sexual difference, the drives, the law, and enjoyment. This new translation of his complete works offers welcome, readable access to Lacan's seminal thinking on diverse subjects touched upon over the course of his inimitable intellectual career.


Book cover of The Order of Forms: Realism, Formalism, and Social Space

Todd McGowan Author Of Capitalism and Desire: The Psychic Cost of Free Markets

From my list on psychoanalysis and capitalism.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have spent a great deal of time exploring how psychoanalytic theory might be the basis for a critique of capitalism. I had always heard the Marxist analysis of capitalist society, but what interested me was how psychoanalytic theory might offer a different line of thought about how capitalism works. The impulse that drives people to accumulate beyond what is enough for them always confused me since I was a small child. It seems to me that psychoanalytic theory gives us the tools to understand this strange phenomenon that somehow appears completely normal to us. 

Todd's book list on psychoanalysis and capitalism

Todd McGowan Why did Todd love this book?

Kornbluhā€™s book is an incredible revelation. It shows that psychoanalysis provides an insistence on a formal interpretation that allows it to have a privileged critical position relative to capitalism. By showing capitalismā€™s formal impasses, psychoanalysis provides the perfect supplement to a Marxist critique and opens up possibilities for envisioning a non-capitalist future. The book uses realist fiction as a way to envision the formal critique of capitalism and really makes one want to read the books under discussion. I have taught this book to students, and they love it more than any other Iā€™ve ever used. 

By Anna Kornbluh,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In literary studies today, debates about the purpose of literary criticism and about the place of formalism within it continue to simmer across periods and approaches. Anna Kornbluh contributes to--and substantially shifts--that conversation in The Order of Forms by offering an exciting new category, political formalism, which she articulates through the co-emergence of aesthetic and mathematical formalisms in the nineteenth century. Within this framework, criticism can be understood as more affirmative and constructive, articulating commitments to aesthetic expression and social collectivity.

Kornbluh offers a powerful argument that political formalism, by valuing forms of sociability like the city and the stateā€¦


Book cover of Generation of Narcissus

Eugene W. Holland Author Of Deleuze and Guattari's Anti-Oedipus: Introduction to Schizoanalysis

From my list on psychoanalysis therapy shifts social critique.

Why am I passionate about this?

I started out as an economics major in college but soon realized that the discipline was based on totally unrealistic assumptions, so I switched to philosophy and literature. I started reading Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche with some of my roommates and then chose UC San Diego for graduate work because of its focus on what became known as ā€œtheoryā€ā€”which was taught there by luminaries including Jameson, Lyotard, and Marin.

I have been researching the psycho-dynamics of markets and capitalism ever since, and have become convinced that rescuing markets from capital is the only way to save the planet from environmental catastrophe.

Eugene's book list on psychoanalysis therapy shifts social critique

Eugene W. Holland Why did Eugene love this book?

Malcolmā€™s book is as one-sided as Laschā€™s, but for me, it was a breath of fresh air because it considers narcissism to be a positive rather than a negative cultural development.

It, too, couches its explanation of widespread narcissism in psychoanalytic terms, which I consider a plus. However, in addition to being one-sided, the way it considers an entire generation to be narcissistic bothered me as an overgeneralization.

By Henry Malcolm,

Why should I read it?

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


Book cover of Tolkien's Theology of Beauty: Majesty, Splendor, and Transcendence in Middle-earth
Book cover of There Would Always Be a Fairy Tale: Essays on Tolkien's Middle-earth
Book cover of Flora of Middle-Earth: Plants of J.R.R. Tolkien's Legendarium

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