Books of the Year

It's time for our annual Books of the Year post, where staff and students share their recommendations of the best books they've read this year.  So if you're in search of something to read during the holidays, you've come to the right place!

Our recommendations kick off with Booker Prize joint-winner Margaret Atwood. Mr Jacoby recommends The Testaments: 'I first need to admit that I 'listened' to this book rather than read it. If that does not disqualify this then read on. The story is a continuation of The Handmaid's Tale, though fast forwarded some 12 or 13 years and is told by multiple narrators in interview style who describe simultaneous events and fill in some of the history of the start of Gilead.

'This is an extremely absorbing read – though we know that Gilead will meet its end from the start. The fate and person of ‘baby Nicholl’ the escaped Handmaid's baby is revealed though the plot twists are not really that unexpected. Nevertheless the multiple viewpoints keep the plot moving and engrossing as the reader seeks for the tipping point in Gilead’s future. The book ends with an escape, a chase and fast forwards to an academic historical conference on Gilead. Overall a very satisfying end to the 30 odd year wait for the sequel.'

Mr Francombe, however, definitely preferred Atwood's original: 'The Handmaid’s Tale. Shocking, stark and bleak. Much better than this year’s joint Booker Prize Winning sequel.

'Scarily paints a more plausible, dystopic future when read in today’s polarised times versus when first published back in 1985. Then, the future was bright, Ronald Reagan was President and it was ‘Morning in America’. Civil war, the suspension of the constitution, right wing ideological government, fake news, environmental disaster. Margaret Atwood, with her crystal ball, confronts all of these in this compelling book. The Hulu produced TV series is also great.'

Booker prize novels did well in our recommendations this year, with Christian Rowell choosing the winner from 2015: 'My favorite book I have read this year has got to be A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James. A fascinating insight from multiple perspectives surrounding the assassination attempt on Bob Marley.

'Brimming with an ensemble cast of characters, and with a range of dialects and stylistic choices, it is a book that perfectly captures an era and can most aptly be defined as a 'true epic.' And Hector Worsley went for the winner from 1999, JM Coetzee's Disgrace: 'an English professor leaves modern society due to his questionable sexual morals to live with his daughter in the countryside, where life is far from peaceful as he expected.'

Ryan Ko recommends Educated by Tara Westover: 'I really enjoyed reading it as I am a big fan of Jeannette Winterson, and this has a very similar literary style and autobiographical plot. It depicts the author’s life living in a devout Mormon family, subject to her father’s ideologies that demonize the government, healthcare, education and many other societal structures, and charting how she lives her life juggling her family and her attempt to reach conventional education and normality.

'I think it will be a great read as it is not only an incredible life-story, but her past is presented almost humorously - some of the things she goes through you cannot believe would happen to someone simply as they are too out of the ordinary.'

L8th and U8th readers alike spoke up for Gothic fiction. Will Gee enjoyed Emily's Bronte's novel Wuthering Heights: 'the complex nature of this story within a story combined with the abstract repetition of names down through generations, makes this book an engaging read. This contemporarily controversial book was ahead of its time as it challenged strict Victorian ideas relating to religion, social class and gender roles.'

And Guy Ward Jackson chose Henry James's novella, The Turn of the Screw: 'a classic gothic horror, in which James explores the nature of suppression, evil, sexuality and innocence.'

Mr Kemp generously offered us several recommendations. 'The Kindly Ones by Anthony Powell. I am now on book 9 of Powell’s 12 volume A Dance the Music of Time, his study of upper middle class life during the wars.

'This whole novel sequence has been one of the best things I have ever read. And book seven, just before the outbreak of the second world war, is unbelievable. There is an episode with a dotty servant in the narrator’s childhood.  There is a bit with a party in a castle. There is a bit with an occultist whose follower throws herself off a cliff. Knocks Evelyn Waugh into a cocked hat.

'The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner. I have Sebastian Rodger’s review of this for the 2018 SPS Booker Prize to thank for my reading this. Really brilliant novel. Should have won the Booker. Terrible things happen to a rabbit in it.

'Lanny by Max Porter. Starts off really well. Ends poorly. A thriller masquerading as experimental fiction. Terrible things happen to a hedgehog in it.

'Down There on a Visit by Christopher Isherwood. 4 snap shots of life in Germany, America, and a Greek Island, during and after the second world war. The Greek one is the best. Terrible things happen to a chicken in it.'

Animal lovers: you have been warned. While Mr Kemp feels that Anthony Powell easily outclasses Evelyn Waugh, Daniel Illis nevertheless sticks up for Brideshead Revisited: 'the so-called 'Oxford novel', a must read for all Paulines with scholarly illusions of the university. As ode to the fading upper-classes and a comment on religion, Waugh’s opus will take the reader on an easy jaunt through the journey of a naive young artist.'

Fantasy novels were a popular choice this year. Dan Staniforth nominated The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon: 'Shannon was born in Hammersmith and signed a book deal before finishing University at Oxford. That series, The Bone Season is a seven book supernatural dystopian series that is three books and a short story in so far.

'The Priory of the Orange Tree stands alone. Currently in the Goodreads Choice Final for Best Fantasy, this is 'enthralling epic fantasy about a world on the brink of war with dragons – and the women who must lead the fight to save it.' This is what contemporary fantasy should be.'

Mr Lowes also went for another fantasy fiction rising star, Nicholas Eames and his debut novel: 'Pitching monster-killing ‘bands’ of heroes as the rock stars of their land, Kings Of The Wyld manages to be both extremely funny and terrifically exciting, with hugely memorable and engaging characters. The follow-up, Bloody Rose, is similarly excellent.'

Alex Barker chose a classic of 20th century fantasy fiction, J R R Tolkien's The Silmarillion: 'This is a collection of five separately titled texts in which Tolkien has collected decades of his work on the imaginary world in which both  The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are set. It begins with the birth of a universe and moves through ages in this supernatural dimension.

'It is quite a complex book with an index of names, maps and scholarly apparatus on the pronunciation of certain characters' names. If you enjoy books like The Lord of the Rings or which focus on battles and alternative realities, then I would recommend this book. He worked on this while writing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and the constant altering and expansion on these stories within The Silmarillion leads to an exciting and interesting read.'

Dr Ruddick notes that while she usually reads fiction when not reading for work purposes, this year she's particularly enjoyed two non-fiction books: 'Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker is a fascinating – and occasionally terrifying - insight into the reasons why our bodies need sleep and the significant costs for our physical and mental health when we neglect it. As a perennial night owl, it made me think twice about staying up late!

'It also explains that there are genuine scientific reasons why teenagers struggle to get up in the mornings and why it’s a bad idea to revise for exams late into the night. There is also an instructive diagram of the relative effects of caffeine versus illegal drugs on spiders’ web-building abilities…Factfulness by Hans Rosling has received a lot of hype this year so I thought I’d take a look. It’s an eye-opening look at the statistics and facts behind common assumptions about social, economic and environmental development around the world, based on the work of his Gapminder Foundation.

In ten short and accessible chapters (with plenty of helpful diagrams along the way for the non-specialist), Rosling expounds his thesis that human society around the globe is increasingly less poor, dangerous and unhealthy than most people think it is. Is he overly optimistic? Read it for yourself and decide.'

Mrs Cummings wondered 'can I recommend two very different books? One is a wonderful science fiction epic called Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. This imagines a future where Earth is dying and the last members of the human race take to space to look for a new home. When they find a new Eden it is not quite as straightforward as they had hoped.

'The twists and turns of the plot keep the reader engaged, but there are also a lot of scientific and philosophical ideas which leave you thinking. This has been one of our most popular books in the library, and has a sequel for those who enjoy it. 

'The other is Wilding by Isabella Tree. Tree and her husband, Charlie Burrell, inherited a farm on the famously heavy soil in Kent. Despite their best efforts, much machinery and pesticides, the farm loses money almost every year. After much heartache they decide to stop farming, sell their equipment and leave the land to go wild.

'Over time it regenerates and wildlife diversifies to the point where you can visit for wildlife safaris today. There are some funny moments, including a badly behaved stallion, but mainly this is a story of hope and inspiration. A good one for biologists and geographers, it’s also just an excellent read. And available in the library.'

Mr Hager also opted for a book about country living,The Shepherd’s Life: A Tale of the Lake District  by James Rebanks, which is 'a fascinating insight into the life of a modern-day shepherd, exploding myths, challenging our perceptions of our selves and our relation to the world around us.

'It is also an articulate challenge to our values about education, and even to the Romantic movement and some of the most celebrated aspects of the Lake District. Reading it after taking a joint trip with SPGS to the Lake District, I wondered what the author would have thought of our endeavours.'

In contrast, Jonty Yin went for a classic of early 20th century urban paranoia that strikes a chord in our post-truth world - The Trial by Franz Kafka: "Someone must have been lying about Josef K, for without having done anything wrong, he was arrested one fine morning."

'A novel about the bureaucracy of the judicial system, the protagonist, Josef K, struggles to find a way to clear his name, but is thwarted at every step.'

Phelim Owens opted for another classic, this time by the master of magical realism, Gabriel Garcia Marquez: 'I would like to nominate Love in the Time of Cholera as I believe that Marquez is able to capture the nature of love in his book through his use of the character of Florentino trying to forget his childhood love and the inescapable grasp that it has had on his life.

'Marquez uses the metaphor of cholera to represent love in the book. He also uses his book to criticise one night stands and their inability to replicate the feeling that true love is able to provide.'

Zinedine Diabate also opted for a novel with a philosophical dimension: 'I would recommend The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I would recommend this because it was very interesting as a concept of afterlife and was well written. The story came together well and kept me interested throughout, the depth of the main character develops well. The ending is also satisfyingly good.'

The best book Miss McLaren read this year was Picnic Comma Lightning by Laurence Scott: 'inspired by Humbert Humbert's famously parenthetical description of his mother's death in Lolita '(picnic, lightning)'. Part memoir (prompted by the death of the author's parents) and part meditation on ways in which the contemporary digital world is changing the way we understand who we are: sounds a bit sombre but actually it's absorbing, perceptive and thought-provoking.'

On a more cheerful note, she also recommends Jess Kidd's mash-up of Victorian detection and supernatural romance, Things in Jars, in which a determined private investigator and the ghost of a bare-knuckle boxing champion team up to find a missing and possibly monstrous child.

Mr Smith opted to nominate 'a book that I came across this year, but which is not new.  A History of Knowledge by Charles Van Doren.  It is a history of ideas and what different civilisations learned, knew and passed on while they existed.  It is immense in its scope, but it weaves together threads of religion, history, geography and exploration, philosophy, art, literature and science.  In the 500th anniversary of Colet’s death and Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe, it seems like a fittingly magisterial work to read.'

And David Pinto also went for a historical choice: 'For a very readable but substantive analysis of a fundamental question of our times, What is History? by E.H. Carr is a must-read. It is a skillful intellectual exploration that makes effective use of historical events to illustrate its points, and offers a poignant interpretation of one of the foundational spheres of academia. It has become a must-read for armchair historians and students alike.'

Matthew Ainsby opted for historical fiction: I would recommend the novel Munich by Robert Harris for the book blog. The novel is about the Munich Agreement of 1938 and the turmoil of the British Ministry through Hitler’s increasing demands over Czechoslovakia. It follows the story of two men from the nations of Britain and Germany who attempt to stop the seemingly inevitable outbreak of war at the hands of Hitler’s dictatorship.

'I would recommend Munich because it provides an insight into how the British Government reacted during the build up to the war, and also because of the different narrative type. Harris often switches between two characters throughout the novel, who ultimately meet at the climax, which I found quite interesting.'

Mrs Wilkinson's selection was an autobiography rooted in contemporary politics and social change,  Becoming by Michelle Obama: 'great insight into behind the scenes of The White House.  Starting out with her life from humble beginnings, you learn what drives Michelle Obama, her first impressions of her husband when he starts practising law as her mentee, and what life on the campaign trail is like.

'This is a candid look at a truly driven and inspirational woman.' And Dr Duits opted for activist Caroline Criado Perez's brilliant expose of gender bias in data collection, Invisible Women. 

This year, three students recommended plays as their books of the year.  Michael Bryceson enjoyed The Lieutenant of Inishmore, by Martin McDonagh: 'this black comedy tackles themes of extremists in splinter groups from the IRA, and what love can drive you to do - even love for a pet. The play makes you laugh, even through shocking images of extreme and grotesque violence.

'The play explores loyalty to Ireland in different ways, and different groups inside of the IRA. All coming in at under an hour and a half, it is a seriously good play.  Another book that I would recommend is the complete collection of Sarah Kane's plays, edited by David Greig.

'It is an incredibly dark and beautifully written collection. Kane battled with mental health disorders and this is very present in her work. Her pieces - Blasted and 4.48 Psychosis - were particularly interesting to read, shocking and complex. This collection is definitely worth the read.

Teddy Ackery also opted for a play that shows some of the darker aspects of human nature, Blood Wedding by Federico Garcia Lorca: 'A tale of wealth and love in a small Spanish Town written by an equally mysterious playwright. This play addresses issues of class and marriage, and is a pleasure to read.'

In contrast, Henry Ferrabee chose classical comedy: 'My book of the year is Lysistrata by Aristophanes.  Make sure you read the translation rather than the Greek. The story follows a comic idea where the Greek women band together to go on a sex strike as a way of forcing their husbands out of going to war.

'Furthermore, I assure you I am not easily amused but this was genuinely very funny even though it was written over 2100 years ago. The play is both crude and at times quite uncomfortable to read but is a brilliant 30 page read that really is something you must read in your life.'

Mr Cairns opted for the magnificently titled The Suburbs of Hell by Randolph Stow: 'The subject-matter of antipodean Stow’s fiction is extremely varied.  I’m slowly working through his novels and a biography (which I was delighted to be able to buy in a bookshop only a ’roo-leap from celebrated Dame Edna Everage’s place of birth on Christowel Street).

Born in 1935, Stow spent his early years in Geraldton, Western Australia; he suffered a mental and physical breakdown while doing anthropological work in the Trobriand islands (see his novel The Visitants) and lived out his final decades (d.2010) in East Suffolk and Harwich, the latter probably the setting for his final novel, The Suburbs of Hell. 

'When a succession of murders shatters the tranquillity of the unnamed coastal town, irrational suspicion spreads. In the murky pubs and on the cobbled street corners gossip is rife.  Be warned: as a ‘literary’ thriller, you may not get quite what you expect but I found it very atmospheric and haunting - an Australian equally at home in describing the flora and fauna of Western Australia, Papua New Guinea and Essex.  I also enjoyed Icelander Ragnar Jónasson’s The Island.  I was disappointed with his previous, much praised The Darkness but this was gripping.'

Thanks so much once again to all our contributors who generously gave up their time at the end of a busy term to send us their suggestions.  Merry Christmas from the book blog, and best wishes for a relaxing holiday with plenty of good books!!!