Here are 87 books that The Lady of Shalott fans have personally recommended if you like The Lady of Shalott. Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Dover Beach and Other Poems

Cassia Hall Author Of Songs of Love & Longing: Poem & Songs from the Seasons Cycle

From my list on romantic fantasy poetry to make you swoon and sigh.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up loving the works of Shakespeare and the Romantic poets. Now I write romantic fantasy with a lyrical, fairy-tale vibe. The Seasons Cycle is a spin-off series from my main Lake Traveler saga. My poetry includes Poems of Myth & Magick, and Songs of Love & Longing. I compose songs and background music for key scenes in my stories. My music has been described as GoT meets LoTR with a lyrical twist and a musical theatre vibe. You can check out my songs and instrumental pieces on my youtube channel and my music website.

Cassia's book list on romantic fantasy poetry to make you swoon and sigh

Cassia Hall Why Cassia loves this book

"The Forsaken Merman" is one of the most beautiful and saddest fantasy poems I have ever read. Being a songwriter, I have a keen ear for music in words. This is a lyrical poem that sings in rhyme and meter. It’s a tragic song to love lost. The longing is real. You will feel it and you will be moved by it.

By Matthew Arnold ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Dover Beach & Other Poems (94) by Arnold, Matthew [Paperback (2012)]


If you love The Lady of Shalott...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Book cover of The Complete Poems of John Keats

Cassia Hall Author Of Songs of Love & Longing: Poem & Songs from the Seasons Cycle

From my list on romantic fantasy poetry to make you swoon and sigh.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up loving the works of Shakespeare and the Romantic poets. Now I write romantic fantasy with a lyrical, fairy-tale vibe. The Seasons Cycle is a spin-off series from my main Lake Traveler saga. My poetry includes Poems of Myth & Magick, and Songs of Love & Longing. I compose songs and background music for key scenes in my stories. My music has been described as GoT meets LoTR with a lyrical twist and a musical theatre vibe. You can check out my songs and instrumental pieces on my youtube channel and my music website.

Cassia's book list on romantic fantasy poetry to make you swoon and sigh

Cassia Hall Why Cassia loves this book

"La Belle Dame Sans Merci" may not be Keats’ most well-known poem but it’s right up there with his best, and Keats’ best might just be the very best when it comes to romantic poetry. This is a beautiful fantasy poem that’s both hot and disturbing. It’s dark fantasy at its best. Its lyrical and sensuous beauty will give you chills and goosebumps. Other fantasy-themed poems in this collection include "Endymion," "Lamia and Hyperion," "Isabella," and "St Agnes’ Eve," all based on myths and legends.

By John Keats ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

With an Introduction by Paul Wright.

'What the imagination seizes as Beauty must be truth' So wrote the Romantic poet John Keats (1795-1821) in 1817. This collection contains all of his poetry: the early work, which is often undervalued even today, the poems on which his reputation rests including the 'Odes' and the two versions of the uncompleted epic 'Hyperion', and work which only came to light after his death including his attempts at drama and comic verse.

It all demonstrates the extent to which he tested his own dictum throughout his short creative life. That life spanned…


Book cover of The Wanderings of Oisin: And Other Poems

Cassia Hall Author Of Songs of Love & Longing: Poem & Songs from the Seasons Cycle

From my list on romantic fantasy poetry to make you swoon and sigh.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up loving the works of Shakespeare and the Romantic poets. Now I write romantic fantasy with a lyrical, fairy-tale vibe. The Seasons Cycle is a spin-off series from my main Lake Traveler saga. My poetry includes Poems of Myth & Magick, and Songs of Love & Longing. I compose songs and background music for key scenes in my stories. My music has been described as GoT meets LoTR with a lyrical twist and a musical theatre vibe. You can check out my songs and instrumental pieces on my youtube channel and my music website.

Cassia's book list on romantic fantasy poetry to make you swoon and sigh

Cassia Hall Why Cassia loves this book

Yeats is one of my favourite poets, and while you may not associate him with fantasy, he did write some extraordinarily beautiful poems that are retellings of Irish folk tales and legends. Teeming with faeries, immortals, and other fey creatures, these are poems in the tradition of the great Romantic poets such as Byron, Shelley, Keats, and Tennyson. The titular poem is only one of many beautiful fantasy poems in this collection.

If you love Alfred Lord Tennyson...

Book cover of The Duty of Memory

The Duty of Memory by Vicki Olsen,

Separating the true stories from the myths, The Duty of Memory provides a deeper understanding of the diverse motivations that drove ordinary people to join an underground network of French Resistants despite terrible odds and horrifying consequences.

This book takes the reader inside the true story of men and women…

Book cover of A Treasury of Shakespeare's Verse

Cassia Hall Author Of Songs of Love & Longing: Poem & Songs from the Seasons Cycle

From my list on romantic fantasy poetry to make you swoon and sigh.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up loving the works of Shakespeare and the Romantic poets. Now I write romantic fantasy with a lyrical, fairy-tale vibe. The Seasons Cycle is a spin-off series from my main Lake Traveler saga. My poetry includes Poems of Myth & Magick, and Songs of Love & Longing. I compose songs and background music for key scenes in my stories. My music has been described as GoT meets LoTR with a lyrical twist and a musical theatre vibe. You can check out my songs and instrumental pieces on my youtube channel and my music website.

Cassia's book list on romantic fantasy poetry to make you swoon and sigh

Cassia Hall Why Cassia loves this book

This book is a beautifully illustrated work of art. I absolutely adore the well-chosen excerpts from some of the Bard's most famous plays, including his fantasy ones (The Tempest and Midsummer Night’s Dream). This book contains some of the most beautiful passages in the English language. If you love the language of Shakespeare, you will swoon over this book. I do every single time.

By William Shakespeare , Emma Chichester Clark (illustrator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Treasury of Shakespeare's Verse as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

An engaging introduction to Shakespeare, this lyrically llustrated anthology has been carefully edited to be accessible both to older children and teenagers. More then 200 short gems of verse, arranged in thematic sections -- heroics and love, good and evil, fun and frolic, magic and mystery -- capture the rich, powerful language and imagery of Shakespeare without overwhelming the reader who is new to Elizabethan poetry. A beautiful book that the whole family can treasure. Includes index of plays and first lines.


Book cover of Rain Through Her Fingers

Christina Baehr Author Of Wormwood Abbey

From my list on gaslamp heroines with tea and adventures.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up surrounded by a library of dusty vintage novels, so perhaps it wasn’t that surprising that I went on to write my own gaslamp fantasy influenced by English folklore and Victorian heroines. I love historical novels that provoke wonder, and magical novels that are rich with history, and (blame it on being an only child?) most of all I love a female protagonist I’d want to have tea with.

Christina's book list on gaslamp heroines with tea and adventures

Christina Baehr Why Christina loves this book

I loved the soft and quiet governess Elaine and the way she uses her unique magic. The surprising 1820s post-apocalyptic setting draws you in immediately, and the allusions to The Lady of Shallot are perfect.

I’d like to share a nice cup of tea with Elaine, and with her magical abilities, we would always have fresh water for the teapot. 

By Rabia Gale ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Brighton, 1824.

Elaine thought she’d be safe in Brighton. But then the sea rose up and flooded the city. Now, fish dwell in submerged ground floors, mists wreathe the ruined houses, and faery creatures roam the watery streets.

Trapped in an attic for several months, protected by small enchantments, Elaine’s supplies are running low. But she doesn't dare risk the dangers outside, until the night her hiding place is discovered by a roguish treasure hunter who brings trouble in his wake.

Forced into the open, Elaine must finally confront her past, battle an old foe, and protect the family legacy…


Book cover of Virtue's End

James Sale Author Of HellWard

From my list on epic poems to stir the warrior and the wit in you.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been writing poetry for over 50 years and realized that as soon as I read Milton’s Paradise Lost – which blew my mind and emotions with its power of language – that epic poetry is the highest and greatest form of poetry. Thus, I have been assiduously reading epics ever since! I love them. And I write books on poetry writing (e.g. The Poetry Show: Macmillan, 1987), write on poetry for New York’s The Epoch Times, and am on the Advisory Board of The Society of Classical Poets. My own HellWard demonstrates a lifetime’s distillation about writing epic poetry, and shortly volume 2, StairWell, will be available.

James' book list on epic poems to stir the warrior and the wit in you

James Sale Why James loves this book

Sometimes one has to come clean: does nepotism rule? It’s true: Joseph Sale is my son, a successful horror and fantasy novelist. But here he has taken Edmund Spenser’s C16th masterpiece, The Faerie Queen, which was unfinished, and completed it using a different stanzaic form. I’d like to recommend The Faerie Queen itself, but it is too dense and archaic. Joseph’s sequel, by way of contrast, is modern, fast-paced, action-packed, thrilling, and imaginative in the highest order. To see what the heroic is like (and bring out the warrior in you) read Book 6 and Canto 5: the epic descent of Thoth into hell – a match for Gandalf and the Balrog in writing style and power. 

By Joseph Sale , Brian Barr (illustrator) ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Virtue's End as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Virtue’s End is a spell, a magickal incantation designed to invoke and vivify that which has been lost by the modern world. This lyrical, occult fantasy-epic follows the account of Horus, a magickal sorcerer blessed with both hellish and heavenly powers, who, upon meeting the demon Melmoth, embarks on a strange quest to save the mystical realm of Ethismos, the seat of human imagination. There, Horus will meet great warriors and friends who will aid him in his battle against the coming darkness, as well as ghosts of his past, spectres of the traumas he has endured, and old enemies…


If you love The Lady of Shalott...

Book cover of The Deviant Prison: Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary and the Origins of America's Modern Penal System, 1829-1913

The Deviant Prison by Ashley Rubin,

What were America's first prisons like? How did penal reformers, prison administrators, and politicians deal with the challenges of confining human beings in long-term captivity as punishment--what they saw as a humane intervention?

The Deviant Prison centers on one early prison: Eastern State Penitentiary. Built in Philadelphia, one of the…

Book cover of Early Autumn

Mark Warren Author Of A Copperhead Summer

From my list on child’s immersion into wilderness.

Why am I passionate about this?

The child’s immersion into nature is a most relevant theme for me as an environmental educator, but it is critical to America as a whole. Our future depends upon it. We continue to live in a culture that shoves nature into the background, something viewed as pleasant scenery but not truly interactive in our lives. The “store” has become the source of things to many young people. The current generation of American parents is not equipped to teach children about nature and its indelible place in our survival as a species; therefore, books must become surrogates in this mission. 

Mark's book list on child’s immersion into wilderness

Mark Warren Why Mark loves this book

Though this book has a terrific storyline, a finely fleshed-out cast of characters, and a very appealing writing style, what mattered to me most was a tacit bond of honor between the main character (the well-known private detective, Spenser) and his cohort in danger (Hawk). Their banter and ripostes are Parker’s trademarks that have made him a bestseller.

But what lies beneath that friendship is a code of honor that appeals to me in a powerful way. In this story, a young boy must rise above the pettiness of his parents’ friction and divorce. Spenser and Hawk provide the physical protection that he needs, but just as important is what the boy comes to understand about friendship and loyalty by observing his protectors’ interactions.

By Robert B. Parker ,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Early Autumn as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“[Robert B.] Parker's brilliance is in his simple dialogue, and in Spenser.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

A bitter divorce is only the beginning. First the father hires thugs to kidnap his son. Then the mother hires Spenser to get the boy back. But as soon as Spenser senses the lay of the land, he decides to do some kidnapping of his own.

With a contract out on his life, he heads for the Maine woods, determined to give a puny 15 year old a crash course in survival and to beat his dangerous opponents at their own brutal game.


Book cover of The Last Man

Susan Grossey Author Of The Man in the Canary Waistcoat

From my list on the 1820s (officially the best decade ever).

Why am I passionate about this?

If you ask people to name a book set in the Regency period, your money is safe if you bet on them picking a Jane Austen. But the Regency was about much more than manners and matrimony. In my own areas of interest – justice, money, and financial crime – everything was changing, with the widespread introduction of paper money and cheques, the recognition that those on trial should have a defence as well as a prosecution, and the creation of modern police in the form of the Metropolitan Police. Dickens made the Victorian era famous, but the decades before good Queen V ascended the throne are equally fascinating.

Susan's book list on the 1820s (officially the best decade ever)

Susan Grossey Why Susan loves this book

And this choice is a sneaky one: it was published in 1826, but it’s actually set in the late 21st century. I couldn’t resist including it for three reasons: it’s a product of the 1820s (and deals with several social concerns of the time, such as republicanism), it’s written by a woman (and my other four choices aren’t), and its rather apposite storyline concerns a mysterious pandemic that rapidly sweeps across the entire globe, ultimately resulting in the near-extinction of humanity (leaving just the last man)… It wasn’t popular at the time – widely considered to be Shelley’s weakest work – but to be fair to her, she was simply ahead of the game and had invented the genre of dystopian fiction. Read in that light, it’s a brave and fascinating work.  

By Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

With an Introduction and Notes by Dr Pamela Bickley, The Godolphin and Latymer School, formerly of Royal Holloway, University of London.

The Last Man is Mary Shelley's apocalyptic fantasy of the end of human civilisation. Set in the late twenty-first century, the novel unfolds a sombre and pessimistic vision of mankind confronting inevitable destruction. Interwoven with her futuristic theme, Mary Shelley incorporates idealised portraits of Shelley and Byron, yet rejects Romanticism and its faith in art and nature.

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851) was the only daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, author of Vindication of the Rights of Woman, and…


Book cover of Ballads and Lyrical Pieces

Virginia Crow Author Of Beneath Black Clouds and White

From my list on inspirational stories of the romantics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I fell in love with Romantic poetry when I was young. Then, after a gap of several years, I began to write historical fiction, and it was at this time that I found myself being drawn once more to the Romantic poets, this time as people as much as for their work. I discovered their place in the world, contested and controversial, and their influence became a driving light to me and my characters. In Beneath Black Clouds and White, Delphi explains: “It has a pulse, you see, like any other living thing. You must treat each poem as though it were alive.” I feel the same way!

Virginia's book list on inspirational stories of the romantics

Virginia Crow Why Virginia loves this book

I’m a person with limited interests so, as well as loving history and poetry, I also collect bits of both… Ballads and Lyrical Pieces is one of the only books I can boast about having a first edition of!

I have a lot of time for Walter Scott, not only as a writer, but as a cultural politician and a folklorist. A lot of the pieces in this book are not solely his work, but the reimagining of local ballads. After scooping up these, there’s no wonder he went on to invent the romanticised “Scottishness” we recognise today. This book, 15 years before Scott influenced George IV’s visit to Scotland, shows where his own influences came from.

By Walter Scott ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Leopold is delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure…


If you love Alfred Lord Tennyson...

Book cover of Pioneer Paddles of the Colonial South

Pioneer Paddles of the Colonial South by William D. Auman,

Award-winning novelist William Auman, author of If Trees Could Testify..., takes the reader on a time-traveling odyssey featuring 345 bodies of water in six states within the historical context through which they unfold.

Journey into remaining Colonial-era wilderness with stories of pirate treasure, epic frontiersmen, Indigenous Peoples, and Revolutionary…

Book cover of The Spirit of the Age

Virginia Crow Author Of Beneath Black Clouds and White

From my list on inspirational stories of the romantics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I fell in love with Romantic poetry when I was young. Then, after a gap of several years, I began to write historical fiction, and it was at this time that I found myself being drawn once more to the Romantic poets, this time as people as much as for their work. I discovered their place in the world, contested and controversial, and their influence became a driving light to me and my characters. In Beneath Black Clouds and White, Delphi explains: “It has a pulse, you see, like any other living thing. You must treat each poem as though it were alive.” I feel the same way!

Virginia's book list on inspirational stories of the romantics

Virginia Crow Why Virginia loves this book

I’m a sucker for a good primary source, but I’m even more of a fan of the 1.5 sources. I love the sources which are of the time but are influenced as much by rumour as fact. This collection of essays does its best to be objective, but there are people amongst these pages who have been so strongly immortalised in popular opinion, but sometimes facts have been discarded in favour of Hazlitt’s own opinion. But, from the point of view of a historical fiction writer, this is priceless, because it unearths a contemporary viewpoint and opens a window onto the thoughts of a people about The Spirit of the Age!

By William Hazlitt ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.


Book cover of Dover Beach and Other Poems
Book cover of The Complete Poems of John Keats
Book cover of The Wanderings of Oisin: And Other Poems

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