Here are 92 books that Letters From A Young Poet fans have personally recommended if you like Letters From A Young Poet. 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 Lyrical Ballads: 1798 and 1802

Rupert Read Author Of Parents for a Future

From my list on eco-philosophy.

Why am I passionate about this?

Rupert Read is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, where he works alongside some of the world’s leading climate scientists. He is a campaigner for the Green Party of England and Wales, a former spokesperson for the Extinction Rebellion, and co-founder of the Climate Activists Network, GreensCAN.

Rupert's book list on eco-philosophy

Rupert Read Why Rupert loves this book

Why did Wordsworth and Coleridge decide to produce this book, together? Well, basically, it was because they regarded themselves as having something to say, something to contribute that went way beyond the sphere of pleasing or thought-provoking in a purely literary sense.

The form of the poetry was very shocking at the time and they were also bringing a new point to poetry. And that point is what really brings this very close to eco-philosophy. What they tried to do in the Lyrical Ballads was to produce a sort of poetic manifesto for thinking about nature in a different way, in a more serious way, than was customary at the time.

By William Wordsworth , Samuel Taylor Coleridge , Fiona Stafford

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'Listen, Stranger!'

Wordsworth and Coleridge's joint collection of poems has often been singled out as the founding text of English Romanticism. Within this initially unassuming, anonymous volume were many of the poems that came to define their age and which have continued to delight readers ever since, including 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', the 'Lucy' poems, 'Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey', 'A Slumber did my Spirit seal' and many more. Wordsworth's famous Preface is a manifesto not just for
Romanticism but for poetry in general.

This is the only edition to print both the original 1798…


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Book cover of The High House

The High House by James Stoddard,

The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.

The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.

Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…

Book cover of The Imperative of Responsibility: In Search of an Ethics for the Technological Age

Rupert Read Author Of Parents for a Future

From my list on eco-philosophy.

Why am I passionate about this?

Rupert Read is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, where he works alongside some of the world’s leading climate scientists. He is a campaigner for the Green Party of England and Wales, a former spokesperson for the Extinction Rebellion, and co-founder of the Climate Activists Network, GreensCAN.

Rupert's book list on eco-philosophy

Rupert Read Why Rupert loves this book

This book is more classically within the philosophical canon. The Imperative of Responsibility is probably Jonas’s masterpiece. He wrote this book in 1979. It’s a contemporary classic, in the sense that it’s really foundational, in my view (but not just in my view), for environmental ethics because it’s a book—and this is over 40 years ago now—that really takes seriously, as very few had before, the change that needs to come to philosophy. We need to start taking seriously the change that has come to us as a species as a result of industrialism, as a result of our growing technological power.

By Hans Jonas ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Hans Jonas here rethinks the foundations of ethics in light of the awesome transformations wrought by modern technology: the threat of nuclear war, ecological ravage, genetic engineering, and the like. Though informed by a deep reverence for human life, Jonas's ethics is grounded not in religion but in metaphysics, in a secular doctrine that makes explicit man's duties toward himself, his posterity, and the environment. Jonas offers an assessment of practical goals under present circumstances, ending with a critique of modern utopianism.


Book cover of Entropia: Life Beyond Industrial Civilisation

Rupert Read Author Of Parents for a Future

From my list on eco-philosophy.

Why am I passionate about this?

Rupert Read is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, where he works alongside some of the world’s leading climate scientists. He is a campaigner for the Green Party of England and Wales, a former spokesperson for the Extinction Rebellion, and co-founder of the Climate Activists Network, GreensCAN.

Rupert's book list on eco-philosophy

Rupert Read Why Rupert loves this book

My next book is by far the least well-known of my authors, and it’s by far the least well-known book. It’s by my friend and colleague, Samuel Alexander, with whom I’ve co-written a couple of books now, including This Civilisation is Finished.

It’s a splendid read. For philosophers, it’s charming, because Sam is continually bringing in implicitly, and most explicitly, the great philosophers. He’s quoting or talking about Hobbes, Rousseau, Marx, and the rest. His characters sometimes offer lines of one of them to each other. And, in that sense, it’s very much a novel of ideas in the tradition of utopias and dystopias.

By Samuel Alexander ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

When industrial civilisation collapsed in the third decade of the 21st century, a community living on a small island in the South Pacific Ocean found itself permanently isolated from the rest of the world. With no option but to build a self-sufficient economy with very limited energy supplies, this community set about creating a simpler way of life that could flourish into the deep future. Determined above all else to transcend the materialistic values of the Old World, they made a commitment to live materially simple lives, convinced that this was the surest path to genuine freedom, peace, and sustainable…


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Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Book cover of Down to Earth: Politics in the New Climatic Regime

Rupert Read Author Of Parents for a Future

From my list on eco-philosophy.

Why am I passionate about this?

Rupert Read is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, where he works alongside some of the world’s leading climate scientists. He is a campaigner for the Green Party of England and Wales, a former spokesperson for the Extinction Rebellion, and co-founder of the Climate Activists Network, GreensCAN.

Rupert's book list on eco-philosophy

Rupert Read Why Rupert loves this book

Latour was not one of my favourite thinkers before I read this book. I‘ve found him an interesting person to engage with, in person, and to read in the past, but I rarely found myself really agreeing with him very much. But this book has changed all of that. The title is translated from French—a better translation would be A Place to Land.

By Bruno Latour ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The present ecological mutation has organized the whole political landscape for the last thirty years. This could explain the deadly cocktail of exploding inequalities, massive deregulation, and conversion of the dream of globalization into a nightmare for most people.
What holds these three phenomena together is the conviction, shared by some powerful people, that the ecological threat is real and that the only way for them to survive is to abandon any pretense at sharing a common future with the rest of the world. Hence their flight offshore and their massive investment in climate change denial.
The Left has been…


Book cover of A New Environmental Ethics: The Next Millennium for Life on Earth

Haydn Washington Author Of A Sense of Wonder Towards Nature: Healing the Planet Through Belonging

From my list on the environmental crisis and possible solutions.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion is life, hence why I became an environmental scientist, and why I became a conservationist at age 18, leading the campaign to protect Wollemi National Park in Australia. My sense of wonder towards nature has transformed my life. As Aldo Leopold observed, we ‘live in a world of wounds’ as the ‘more-than-human’ world is rapidly declining. But it doesn’t have to be this way, positive if challenging solutions exist. Hence why I write about environmental science, ecological economics, ecological ethics, denial, human dependence on nature, meaningful sustainability, and what we each can do to give back to Nature.

Haydn's book list on the environmental crisis and possible solutions

Haydn Washington Why Haydn loves this book

Rolston discusses the need for new environmental ethics, in effect an ‘Earth Ethics’. Beautifully written, Rolston considers how humanity values nature, and the need to change our path to reach an ecologically sustainable future.

By Holmes Rolston III ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A New Environmental Ethics as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This Second Edition of A New Environmental Ethics: The Next Millennium for Life on Earth offers clear, powerful, and often moving thoughts from Holmes Rolston III, one of the first and most respected philosophers to write on the environment and often called the "father of environmental ethics." Rolston surveys the full spectrum of approaches in the field of environmental ethics and offers critical assessments of contemporary academic accounts. He draws on a lifetime of research and experience to suggest an outlook, and even hope, for the future. This forward-looking analysis, focused on the new millennium, will be a necessary complement…


Book cover of Environmental Ethics: A Sourcebook for Educators

Victoria W. Thoresen Author Of Sustainable Development, Education and Learning: The Challenge of Inclusive, Quality Education for All

From my list on what education is and needs to become.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always been concerned about the happiness and well-being of other people, whether they are friends or strangers, rich or poor, young or old. To me, they are all members of one human family. I became engaged in community actions at an early age, and in addition to my work as a teacher, teacher trainer, and international educational consultant, I have been involved in many efforts to reconcile conflicts, ensure justice, and foster collaboration. My interest in civil rights, as well as my concern for the environment, led me to dedicate much of my time to developing global education and education for sustainable development.

Victoria's book list on what education is and needs to become

Victoria W. Thoresen Why Victoria loves this book

I recommend this book because it effectively shows how ethics are a part of everyday life and must be an integral aspect of education for sustainable development.

I especially like the book's structure, with questions that can easily be identified with and examples that, while coming from Africa, are universal in their application.

By Bob Jickling , Heila Lotz-Sisitka , Lausanne Olvitt , Ingrid Schudel , Dylan McGarry , Blair Niblett

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

This well-constructed, and highly original, sourcebook integrates educational materials for teaching environmental ethics with theoretical reflections. The book is set to contribute immensely to its aim of taking ethics out of philosophy departments and putting it into the streets, into villages, and on the Earth—to make ethics an everyday activity, not something left to experts and specialists. Context-based activities are presented in almost every chapter.

While it acknowledges foundational theories in environmental ethics, and the work that they continue to do, it wholeheartedly embraces a growing body of literature that emphasises contextual, process-oriented, and place-based approaches to ethical reflection, deliberation,…


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Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.

Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…

Book cover of Ecological Ethics: An Introduction

Haydn Washington Author Of A Sense of Wonder Towards Nature: Healing the Planet Through Belonging

From my list on the environmental crisis and possible solutions.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion is life, hence why I became an environmental scientist, and why I became a conservationist at age 18, leading the campaign to protect Wollemi National Park in Australia. My sense of wonder towards nature has transformed my life. As Aldo Leopold observed, we ‘live in a world of wounds’ as the ‘more-than-human’ world is rapidly declining. But it doesn’t have to be this way, positive if challenging solutions exist. Hence why I write about environmental science, ecological economics, ecological ethics, denial, human dependence on nature, meaningful sustainability, and what we each can do to give back to Nature.

Haydn's book list on the environmental crisis and possible solutions

Haydn Washington Why Haydn loves this book

Patrick Curry tackles the great hidden issue of ethics – whether we extend moral standing to nonhuman nature. He considers anthropocentrism and instead proposes ecocentrism. This is a big topic but Curry provides an excellent introduction for the general public to think about this essential issue.

By Patrick Curry ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In this thoroughly revised and updated second edition of the highly successful Ecological Ethics, Patrick Curry shows that a new and truly ecological ethic is both possible and urgently needed. With this distinctive proposition in mind, Curry introduces and discusses all the major concepts needed to understand the full range of ecological ethics.

He discusses light green or anthropocentric ethics with the examples of stewardship, lifeboat ethics, and social ecology; the mid-green or intermediate ethics of animal liberation/rights; and dark or deep green ecocentric ethics. Particular attention is given to the Land Ethic, the Gaia Hypothesis and Deep Ecology and…


Book cover of Jainism and Ecology

Pankaj Jain Author Of Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities

From my list on Dharma studies.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an author whose work has reverberated globally in the fields of Sustainability, Jain Studies, Film Studies, and Diaspora Studies. With over 30 years of experience in academia and the corporate world, I have held the position of Head of Department (HoD) for Humanities and Languages. As the Director of The India Centre at FLAME University, I have led numerous initiatives to promote Indian culture and scholarship, including international conferences, research projects, and cultural events, leaving an indelible mark on the global academic landscape. My suggested five books are also in these fields.

Pankaj's book list on Dharma studies

Pankaj Jain Why Pankaj loves this book

This book connects the latest environmental research with Jainism, one of India's most ancient religious traditions. It has well-researched chapters by top-notch experts in Asian Studies and Environmental Studies that touch various natural resources such as the mountains, rivers, oceans, and land, as well as their consumption and preservation by Jains in India and beyond.

It highlights how nonviolence and non-possession play central roles for Jains as their ascetics continue to live a minimal lifestyle in the 21st century, serving as powerful role models for the rest of society.

By Christopher Key Chapple (editor) ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The twenty-five-hundred-year-old tradition of Jainism, which emphasizes nonviolence as the only true path leading to liberation, offers a worldview seemingly compatible with the goals of environmental activism.

But can Jainism adopt a sociocentric environmentalism without compromising its own ascetic principles and spiritual tradition? How does traditional Jain cosmology view the natural world? How might a Jain ethical system respond to decisions regarding the development of dams, the proliferation of automobiles, overcrowding due to overpopulation, or the protection of individual animal species? Can there be a Jain environmental activism that addresses both the traditional concern for individual self-purification and the contemporary…


Book cover of Life on the Brink: Environmentalists Confront Overpopulation

Haydn Washington Author Of A Sense of Wonder Towards Nature: Healing the Planet Through Belonging

From my list on the environmental crisis and possible solutions.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion is life, hence why I became an environmental scientist, and why I became a conservationist at age 18, leading the campaign to protect Wollemi National Park in Australia. My sense of wonder towards nature has transformed my life. As Aldo Leopold observed, we ‘live in a world of wounds’ as the ‘more-than-human’ world is rapidly declining. But it doesn’t have to be this way, positive if challenging solutions exist. Hence why I write about environmental science, ecological economics, ecological ethics, denial, human dependence on nature, meaningful sustainability, and what we each can do to give back to Nature.

Haydn's book list on the environmental crisis and possible solutions

Haydn Washington Why Haydn loves this book

Society has to face up to the fact that there are far too many people on planet Earth, probably several times more than is ecologically sustainable. It is no use denying it and making it taboo. Sure we need smaller ecological footprints – but we also need fewer feet. Overpopulation means that life on Earth is indeed on the brink of extinction. This is probably the best book I know that tackles the population issue with both science and compassionate ethics for all life.

By Philip Cafaro (editor) , Eileen Crist (editor) ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Life on the Brink aspires to reignite a robust discussion of population issues among environmentalists, environmental studies scholars, policy makers, and the general public. Some of the leading voices in the American environmental movement restate the case that population growth is a major force behind many of our most serious ecological problems, including global climate change, habitat loss and species extinction's, air and water pollution, and food and water scarcity. As we surpass seven billion world inhabitants, contributors argue that ending population growth worldwide and in the United States is a moral imperative that deserves renewed commitment.

Hailing from a…


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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of Monastic Ecological Wisdom

Laura Swan Author Of Engaging Benedict

From my list on Benedictine Spirituality.

Why am I passionate about this?

I began as a Benedictine Oblate and then joined a monastery. I was drawn to women presiding at our own liturgy of the hours, a spirituality that seeks the Divine in music, art, and literature, alongside a passion for justice. Yet, I questioned history and began a pursuit of “what really happened.”

I’ve kept up with the growing literature on the Rule of Benedict, Benedictine history, and Benedictine Spirituality. I'm currently researching (a many-year project) the history of Benedictine women from the time of Benedict and Scholastica up to around 1850. The few histories out there are all about the men (who can be quite colorful characters), but very little on Benedictine Women.

Laura's book list on Benedictine Spirituality

Laura Swan Why Laura loves this book

I love this because Torvend gently but firmly tells us the truth.

St Benedict lived through a time of environmental devastation at the hands of the Imperial class, and rejected the way Christianity was being co-opted by the Roman Empire, where servant leaders were now princely lords.

Given our current situation on fragile Mother Earth, Torvend paints one of the most original takes on St. Benedict and his relationship with creation. Torvend invites us to listen to the Christ of creation.

Torvend is poignant when he points out that a distortion of Christianity is at the root of our current ecological crisis—something St Benedict knew well.

By Samuel Torvend ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Can early medieval monasteries serve as a model of sustainable development and environmental conservation in today's world? Inspired by Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato Si and Benedictine communities around the world whose shared monastic values inform ecological practice, Monastic Ecological Wisdom uncovers the hidden story of early Christian and monastic care for the earth.

In Monastic Ecological Wisdom, Samuel Torvend shows how it is possible that medieval monastic values and practices could assist in the careful conservation of what we claim is God's first gift, God's first gesture of grace: the earth and all that dwells with it. By reflecting on…


Book cover of Lyrical Ballads: 1798 and 1802
Book cover of The Imperative of Responsibility: In Search of an Ethics for the Technological Age
Book cover of Entropia: Life Beyond Industrial Civilisation

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Interested in environmental ethics, Romanticism, and Kolkata?

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