A Shakespeare Summer Reading List
Whether you’re brushing off your breeches from an outdoor summer theatre performance or you’re just craving some iambic pentameter, we’ve got the perfect Shakespearean summer reading list. Take a romp through Elizabethan England with young Will himself or, for a female perspective, some of his women writer contemporaries in and around Stratford-upon-Avon. Explore the contemporary innovative retellings of the Bard by authors like Jane Smiley and Margaret Atwood for a fresh new spin on the classic stage dramas.
10 books
"It’s companionable and compelling – if you love Judi Dench or Shakespeare (and most of us do), look no further." - The Guardian
michael simkins & Kirkus Reviews
Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent
Judi DenchThis new bestselling oral history of Dame Judi Dench’s relationship with Shakespeare, written in conversation with actor and director Brendan O’Hea, is filled with British wit and insider anecdotes from Dench’s illustrious career of acting in 21 (!) of Shakespeare’s 38 plays. It’s the ultimate love letter from one of the Bard’s most faithful contemporary collaborators.
michael simkins & Kirkus ReviewsHardcover, 2024
$32.00$16.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book
“Vividly written, richly detailed, and insightful from first chapter to last.” - William E. Cain for the Boston Globe
Henry Porter The Convention. & iBrowsebooks
Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare
Stephen GreenblattFrom Pulitzer Prize-winning literary historian Stephen Greenblatt, Will in the World is a New York Times bestselling work tracing the life of young William in a rich prose. This magnificent biography transports readers back to the 1580s with stunning detail and a dazzling narrative of how a young man in medieval England could become the English language’s greatest playwright.
Henry Porter The Convention. & iBrowsebooksPaperback, 2016
$18.99$9.49 + Free shipping50% off your first book
"Shakespeare's Sisters is a valuable addition to our understanding not only of women's writing at the turn of the 17th century, but of their lives." - The Guardian
Shakespeare's Sisters: How Women Wrote the Renaissance
Ramie TargoffElizabethan-era women, who were legally the property of men, were unlikely to have a room of their own to write in. Yet, there is evidence that the Bard’s female contemporaries were producing great work despite the societal constraints of the time. This brilliant nonfiction book takes us into the world of four talented women writers in Shakespeare’s time, offering a much-needed feminist perspective on his era.
Hardcover, 2024
$33.00$16.50 + Free shipping50% off your first book
“Bryson is a pleasant and funny guide to a subject at once overexposed and elusive...forever there and not there.” - Publishers Weekly
Dr Kate Forsyth & Terry Geo: Writer/performer
Shakespeare
Bill BrysonThis biography of the Bard by one of the funniest nonfiction writers out there masterfully combines Bryson’s signature dry humor with an informative look at Shakespeare’s legacy in literature. Drawing from a myriad of sources, Bryson revels in the one-of-a-kind language found throughout so many of the great poet’s sonnets and plays, and brings to life some of the colorful characters of the Elizabethan era. If you can’t get enough of Shakespeare’s comedies, this one’s not to miss.
Dr Kate Forsyth & Terry Geo: Writer/performerPaperback, 2014
$13.99$6.99 + Free shipping50% off your first book
"Magnificent and searing...A family saga so bursting with life, touched by magic, and anchored in affection." - Boston Globe
Celeste Ng & .
Hamnet
Maggie O'FarrellMaggie O’Farrell’s novel on the death of Shakespeare’s only son is as piercing, heartbreaking, and beautiful as his best plays. Simultaneously a portrait of grief, an exploration of medieval marriage, and an inquiry into Shakespeare’s personal life, Hamnet is a singular work of art deserving of the Woman’s Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award it won upon its release.
Celeste Ng & .Paperback, 2021
$18.00$9.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book
"What makes the book thrilling, and hugely pleasurable, is how closely Atwood hews to Shakespeare even as she casts her own potent charms." - Boston Globe
Margaret E Atwood & Janet Emson
Hag-Seed: William Shakespeare's the Tempest Retold: A Novel
Margaret AtwoodThe bestselling author of The Handmaid’s Tale crafted a wonderful retelling of The Tempest that both involves a production of the play itself and a transformation of its directors and actors into characters from the fantastical story. Filled with surprise, betrayal, and redemption, Hag-Seed is a powerful novel that brilliantly honors the Bard’s original enchanting tale.
Margaret E Atwood & Janet EmsonPaperback, 2017
$17.00$8.50 + Free shipping50% off your first book
"A family portrait that is also a near-epic investigation into the broad landscape, the thousand dark acres of the human heart...The book has all the stark brutality of a Shakespearean tragedy." - The Washington Post
Jean Chen Ho & Stephanie Danler
A Thousand Acres
Jane SmileyA modern retelling of King Lear situated in Iowa, this novel catapulted Smiley into the mainstream after it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992 and was adapted into a film starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Colin Firth. Set on the namesake thousand-acre farm, A Thousand Acres is a tense family drama full of secrets, grief, and freedom.
Jean Chen Ho & Stephanie DanlerPaperback, 2003
$18.00$9.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book
Shakespeare's First Folio: 400th Anniversary Facsimile Edition: Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories & Tragedies, Published According to the O
William ShakespeareThis is a splurge, but if you’re looking for a complete collection to round out your bookshelf, you can’t go wrong with this ornate edition produced by the British Library. A must have for any dedicated reader of Shakespeare.
Hardcover, 2023
$135.00$110.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book(max discount $25)
The Sonnets
William ShakespeareShall I compare thee to a summer’s day? If you’ve always gravitated more to Shakespeare’s language than to theatrical productions of his work, you can’t go wrong with this beautiful anthology collecting all of his sonnets - including some of the most widely-read poems in the world.
Bee Wilson & China Xinhua NewsHardcover, 2021
$25.00$12.50 + Free shipping50% off your first book
Coming soon - Preorder now!
Shakespeare's Silent Partner: An inquiry into the Shakespeare problem and authorship
David TaylorWhat if Shakespeare wasn't really Shakespeare at all? One of the most heated controversies in literary history involves the authorship of his plays and the true identity of this colossal figure who could have been hiding behind a pseudonym. This book, forthcoming in October by noted investigative journalist David Taylor, delves into the hidden symbols in his work, the bard's disguised collaborators, and the history of Shakespeare’s larger-than-life significance in our culture.
Hardcover, 2024
$60.00$35.00 + Free shipping50% off your first book(max discount $25)