The most recommended film books

Who picked these books? Meet our 195 experts.

195 authors created a book list connected to film, and here are their favorite film books.
Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

What type of film book?

Loading...
Loading...

Book cover of A History of Video Art

Nicky Hamlyn Author Of Film Art Phenomena

From my list on artists’ film and video.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an artist-filmmaker, writer, and Professor of Experimental Film at the University for the Creative Arts in Canterbury, Kent, UK. I have worked at the London Filmmakers’ Co-op and BBC TV. I have been making films since 1974 and teaching since 1988. I have published extensively on Artists’ Film / Experimental Cinema. I have edited and contributed chapters to numerous other books and journals, including Millennium Film Journal, MIRAJ, Film Quarterly, Sequence, and others. I have completed over 70 single screen works in 16mm and video, gallery film and video installations, and multi-projector film performances. These have been screened worldwide.

Nicky's book list on artists’ film and video

Nicky Hamlyn Why did Nicky love this book?

A meticulously researched and detailed historical and critical account of Video Art from the 1960s onwards. Meigh-Andrews’ study rightly focuses not least on technology - cameras, analogue tape, editing systems, synthesisers, etc, given the high impact that continuously evolving technological developments have had in opening up new aesthetic possibilities for artists working with moving images.

By Chris Meigh-Andrews,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A History of Video Art as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A History of Video Art is a revised and expanded edition of the 2006 original, which extends the scope of the first edition, incorporating a wider range of artists and works from across the globe and explores and examines developments in the genre of artists' video from the mid 1990s up to the present day. In addition, the new edition expands and updates the discussion of theoretical concepts and ideas which underpin contemporary artists' video.

Tracking the changing forms of video art in relation to the revolution in electronic and digital imaging that has taken place during the last 50…


Book cover of Frame by Frame: A Materialist Aesthetics of Animated Cartoons

Susan J. Napier Author Of Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art

From my list on if you love animation or Japanese popular culture.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the Goldthwaite Professor of Rhetoric and Japanese at Tufts University. I’ve lived in Japan for 8 years beginning when I was 17 when I travelled to Tokyo and lived on my own, teaching English, and studying Japanese. I became a scholar of Japanese literature, and then in the 1990s became interested in Japanese animation (anime) and in animation in general. I’ve written five books on either Japanese literature or anime-related subjects, and I am currently working on a project comparing the animated films of the Walt Disney Studio with the films of Studio Ghibli.

Susan's book list on if you love animation or Japanese popular culture

Susan J. Napier Why did Susan love this book?

This is a book for animation aficionados who really want to think about the nuts and bolts of animation. As someone with a tendency to revel in the world building of the finished product of animation, be it a Miyazaki movie or a Disney film, this book re-orients me to the materiality of the medium itself. And yes, traditional animation is a material medium! Frank looked at thousands of animation cells, literally frame by frame, and in her book provides us with a glimpse of the enormous labor, expertise, and occasional mistakes that go into creating even a seven-minute short subject. She brings back from the past the many women who were the inkers and in-betweeners in American animation studios and makes us realize the enormous effort (and tedium) that went into producing the fluid and flexible cartoons that Hollywood is known for.

Along the way, Frank touches on the…

By Hannah Frank,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

At publication date, a free ebook version of this title will be available through Luminos, University of California Press's Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.

In this beautifully written and deeply researched study, Hannah Frank provides an original way to understand American animated cartoons from the Golden Age of animation (1920-1960). In the pre-digital age of the twentieth century, the making of cartoons was mechanized and standardized: thousands of drawings were inked and painted onto individual transparent celluloid sheets (called "cels") and then photographed in succession, a labor-intensive process that was divided across scores of artists and…


Book cover of When Hollywood Loved Britain: The Hollywood 'British' Film 1939-45

Sally E. Parry Author Of We'll Always Have the Movies: American Cinema during World War II

From my list on WWII movies and their influence on the homefront.

Why am I passionate about this?

My husband, Robert McLaughlin, and I taught at Illinois State University for over thirty years. Our fathers both served in World War II (one in the Army Air Forces and one in the Navy) but would never talk about it. That spurred our interest in the war and what it was like. One way to know about it was through the popular culture of the time, such as movies, plays, radio, and books. As we watched more and more movies and gave presentations on them (we’re English professors by trade), we realized how these movies still affect how we think about the war.

Sally's book list on WWII movies and their influence on the homefront

Sally E. Parry Why did Sally love this book?

Hollywood has always loved the way that British actors spoke, as well as the history, culture, and literature of Great Britain.

Since Britain became involved in the war years earlier than the Americans, the studios could celebrate British heroism and in so doing, point towards a time when the U.S. might be involved.

Many of the best-loved films of the time, such as Mrs. Miniver, The White Cliffs of Dover, and some of the Sherlock Holmes movies show the British collapsing class lines, which appealed to American sensibilities, and provided clues to how the Allies should behave in the midst of crisis.

By H. Mark Glancy,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked When Hollywood Loved Britain as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This work examines the Hollywood "British" film - ie American features that were set in Britain, based on British history or literature and included the work of British producers, directors, writers and actors. "British" films include many of most popular and memorable films of the 1930s and 1940s, yet they have received very little individual attention from film historians and even less attention as a body of films. This work seeks to redress this by considering "British" films made during World War II, when Hollywood's interest in Britain was at a peak and "British" films were more numerous than every…


Book cover of All the Impossible Things

Alyssa Roat Author Of Wraithwood

From Alyssa's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Fantasy connoisseur Worldbuilding enthusiast Amateur boulderer Teller of dad jokes Cat mom

Alyssa's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Alyssa Roat Why did Alyssa love this book?

Set in our world with hints of magic, All the Impossible Things is a middle-grade novel about finding home and finding family.

This book beautifully weaves the all-too-real struggles of a girl in foster care with the near-magical experience of a foster family not quite like any she’s experienced before. The blending of the real and the fantastical serves to highlight the emotions of the young protagonist in poignant ways, and, in the end, offers a beautiful note of hope—not easy, and not perfect, but, one might say, a little magical.

I adored the way the author blended all these notes together into a book that hits deep into the heart of kids, teens, and adults alike.

By Lindsay Lackey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked All the Impossible Things as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

Red's inexplicable power over the wind comes from her mother. Whenever Ruby "Red" Byrd is scared or angry, the wind picks up. And being placed in foster care, moving from family to family, tends to keep her skies stormy. Red knows she has to learn to control it, but can't figure out how.

This time, the wind blows Red into the home of the Grooves, a quirky couple who run a petting zoo, complete with a dancing donkey and a giant tortoise. With their own curious gifts, Celine and Jackson Groove seem to fit like a puzzle piece into Red's…


Book cover of Even Robots Aren't Perfect!

Linda Zajac Author Of Robo-Motion: Robots That Move Like Animals

From my list on robots for little kids with big-tech taste.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m fascinated by robots. As a former computer programmer, systems analyst, and consultant, I’ve had an interest in technology since my first programming class in high school. I’ve been to robotics labs in Boston, Massachusetts, and Lausanne, Switzerland. My husband is a mechanical/software engineer, so STEM is a big part of our lives. In addition to Robo-Motion, I’m the author of a number of Minecraft books with STEM and coding sidebars. I’ve also published many magazine articles, one of which was the inspiration for this book. I wrote about the CRAM cockroach robot for the March 2017 issue of MUSE.

Linda's book list on robots for little kids with big-tech taste

Linda Zajac Why did Linda love this book?

The robots in this book are cute and funny. In comic book format, a red robot and a blue robot get upset with each other but still maintain their friendship. In each of the three stories, the robots deal with misunderstandings, bad advice, hurt feelings, and apologies. The book made me laugh, which is never a bad thing.

By Jan Thomas,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Even Robots Aren't Perfect! as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Meet two robots who are best friends and learn through their mistakes and make-ups that even robots aren't perfect in this silly and sweet three-part picture book.

Red Robot and Blue Robot are very good friends. But sometimes friends say the wrong thing. And sometimes friends don't understand. And, very often, friends make mistakes. In three hilarious and heartwarming stories, Red Robot and Blue Robot find out that even robots aren't perfect but that doesn't mean they aren't perfectly best friends.


Book cover of Stanley Kubrick Director: A Visual Analysis

Robert P. Kolker Author Of Kubrick: An Odyssey

From my list on books about Stanley Kubrick.

Why am I passionate about this?

Kubrick has fascinated me since I watched Paths of Glory at MoMA, one of Stanley’s old haunts, in the early 1960s. I first saw 2001 in London and then once a year after that back home in New York. I taught courses devoted to Kubrick, and when I taught the course online at the University of Virginia, welcomed his brother-in-law, Jan Harlan, to talk to us long distance. With each move, I drew closer and closer to our subject. I visited the Manor at Childwickbury and had lunch with Kubrick’s wife, Christiane. I studied documents in the Kubrick Archive in London. There became a point of recognizing myself in Kubrick himself and his films. A biography was inevitable. 

Robert's book list on books about Stanley Kubrick

Robert P. Kolker Why did Robert love this book?

I find in this early book on Kubrick by someone who was his friend an in-depth analysis of the director’s style.

But given that the author also knew Kubrick, we found that it was filled with insight from someone who had visited his house and got to know his family. This, until recently, was incredibly rare in the writing about Kubrick.

By Alexander Walker, Sybil Taylor, Ulrich Ruchti

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

An exclusive window on one of the most brilliant-and most secretive-filmmakers in history. No moviemaker has kept his world so tightly sealed against intruders as Stanley Kubrick. While many of his films have turned into modern metaphors-we speak of "a 2001 world" or "a Clockwork Orange society"-the man himself has withdrawn into his own obsessive visions. Few have known him personally; fewer still have gained his confidence and seen him at work. For over thirty years, Alexander Walker, a renowned film historian, has been one such privileged observer. Stanley Kubrick Directs first appeared in 1971, giving readers the most authoritative…


Book cover of The Hitchcock Romance: Love and Irony in Hitchcock's Films

Mark William Roche Author Of Alfred Hitchcock: Filmmaker and Philosopher

From my list on Alfred Hitchcock.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have taught philosophy and film for almost 40 years, first at Ohio State and then at Notre Dame. My focus had been German cinema, but I was drawn to Hitchcock for three reasons: first, he received his origins in Weimar Germany and owes much to German expressionism; second, his films are so cinematically beautiful and effective that I began teaching them again and again, and the students loved them; finally, I thought it worthwhile and a fun project to address the extent to which his films raise deep and engaging philosophical questions.

Mark's book list on Alfred Hitchcock

Mark William Roche Why did Mark love this book?

This is the first book I read that confirmed my own intuition—that Hitchcock’s works are as rich and complex as great literary works.

Brill’s book was a relatively early work of Hitchcock criticism, but an enduring one, a humanistic study with considerable attention paid to the films’ aesthetic and religious dimensions. The latter is fitting because Hitchcock was a deeply Catholic director.

The book offers excellent analyses, with good attention to cinematic and artistic features.

By Lesley Brill,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Was Alfred Hitchcock a cynical trifler with his audience's emotions, as he liked to pretend? Or was he a profoundly humane artist? Most commentators leave Hitchcock's self-assessment unquestioned, but this book shows that his movies convey an affectionate, hopeful understanding of human nature and the redemptive possibilities of love. Lesley Brill discusses Hitchcock's work as a whole and examines in detail twenty-two films, from perennial favorites like North by Northwest to neglected masterpieces like Rich and Strange.


Book cover of A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Lee

E. Paul Zehr Author Of Chasing Captain America: How Advances in Science, Engineering, and Biotechnology Will Produce a Superhuman

From my list on the superhero in you.

Why am I passionate about this?

I got hooked on superheroes from a very early age. My mom grew up in the Golden Age of comics and loved superheroes. She'd bring home a random assortment of adventures—Batman, Iron Man, Flash, Avengers, Justice League, Iron Fist, Captain America. I was especially keen on the martial arts mayhem so many could bring to bear. That got me started (and I've never stopped since) in martial arts as a teen and took me into a career in science. I bring my own interest, my knowledge of martial arts, and my extensive career and training as a sensorimotor neuroscientist as I explore the science of human achievement through the lens of comic book superheroes.

E.'s book list on the superhero in you

E. Paul Zehr Why did E. love this book?

If you are going to think about superheroes, and you really should be you know, then you truly have to know about the absolute godfather of the genre—the spectacular Stan Lee.

The stories behind how Stan Lee came to be and the early origins so many iconic characters are staples of comic book mythology. And what a book Danny Fingeroth has in store for you on this front. Endlessly entertaining, eminently readable. I adored the writing, the stories, and the approach while I devoured this book!

By Danny Fingeroth,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked A Marvelous Life as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Stan Lee invented SPIDER-MAN! And IRON MAN! And the HULK! And the X-MEN! And more than 500 other iconic characters! His name has appeared on more than a billion comic books, in 75 countries, in 25 languages. His creations have starred in multibillion-dollar grossing movies and TV series. This is his story.

Danny Fingeroth writes a comprehensive biography of this powerhouse of ideas who changed the world's understanding of what a hero is and how a story should be told, while exploring Lee's unique path to becoming the face of comics.

With behind-the-scenes stories and interviews with Stan's brother Larry…


Book cover of Shiver

Kel O'Connor Author Of Broken Bits

From my list on romantic suspense with forced proximity as a trope.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been a fan of romantic suspense since I was a teen (many decades ago) and started writing my DAG Team Series in 2016. I adore everything about this genre – the puzzles, the intrigue and how they affect the budding relationship between the main characters. Dating is difficult when you are trying to catch a killer or on the run! Despite the central mystery, the focus is on the romance between the couple. The issues serve to add a layer of non-sexual tension. 

Kel's book list on romantic suspense with forced proximity as a trope

Kel O'Connor Why did Kel love this book?

Kidnap victim takes a repo agent and her child hostage in order to discover who blew his cover and is trying to kill him.She finds him locked in the trunk of a car she is repossessing. Daniel needs to find his kidnappers and find out how they found him in protective custody.  I liked how Samantha worked hard to provide for her family and her courage in this odd situation. Again, features forced proximity!

By Karen Robards,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

When she swore off love, he was the last man she imagined would steal her heart.

If driving a tow truck through the seediest part of town with a gun beside her means putting a roof over her son's head, then single mother Samantha is going to be the best repossession woman on the books. But when she hooks her truck up to a flashy BMW, the last thing she expects is to find a beaten, bloody man in the trunk - or to be catapulted into a terrifying fight to survive.

Daniel knows the drug runners who kidnapped him…


Book cover of Standing the Final Watch

Justin Oldham Author Of Showdown at the Kodiak Starport

From my list on science fiction showcasing future war scenarios.

Why am I passionate about this?

As intense as the Cold War was, I have always found myself looking toward the future. Nuclear annihilation was a real possibility in my youth. Even so, I have always been curious about the next threat beyond our current crisis would be. Beyond nuclear, biological, and chemical threats, I see that we now face possible dangers from rogue AI and climate change. If that’s not enough, let’s remember that conventional weapons are getting more powerful with the passing of each decade. That’s why the storyteller in me loves this stuff so much.

Justin's book list on science fiction showcasing future war scenarios

Justin Oldham Why did Justin love this book?

This is the first book in The Last Brigade series. I enjoyed the way Webb blended natural disasters with ongoing military conflicts. I’m particularly fond of the “old school” action, as well as the use of humor to keep the story moving. This is a fun romp that just happens to include tanks, artillery, and the occasional commando raid.

By William Alan Webb,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Standing the Final Watch as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

America might be dead, but Nick Angriff will kick your ass to resurrect her.

Lt. General Nick Angriff has spent his adult life protecting family and country from a world of terrorism spinning out of control. On the battlefield, off the grid, in clandestine special task forces and outright black ops, Angriff never wavers from duty. But when a terror attack on Lake Tahoe kills his family, he’s left with only the corrosive acid of revenge… that is, until a hated superior officer reveals the deepest of all secret operations. Against the day of national collapse, a heavily-armed military unit…