Books of the Year

The book blog's final post of the term is our regular 'books of the year' round-up, featuring books from all genres and for all age ranges, suggested by staff and students. Happy reading!

Clockwork Angel - The Infernal Devices 1 by Cassandra Clare
Recommended by Joaquin Birts

 

I recommend this book because it spans across genres - action to romance to thriller and so on. It follows the life of a sixteen year-old New York City girl who is forced to move to London in the late 19th century because of her brother’s disappearance. She then finds out about a whole new world in which her brother had been exploring.

The Kid Lawyer Theodore Boone by John Grisham 

Recommended by Ka Lum Chew

 

 

This book is about the law and a teen boy who tries to solve and resolve crimes as well as win court cases. He is obsessed with the law. Theodore Boone dreams of being like his parents as his mother and father are both lawyers. A man who has been accused of killing his wife: Theodore tries to prove the case against a professional lawyer. 

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Recommended by Dermot Christmas

 

I liked The Kite Runner. Its historical connection provides the reader with an insight into what happened in Afghanistan after the king was deposed. The story is told from a personal level, giving the book a personal touch. The events in the book and the order in which they came were absorbing. The front cover says the book is unforgettable, and it surely is.

The Green Mile by Stephen King

Recommended by Milton Gibney

The Green Mile is a heartbreaking character study and it touches on the supernatural without straying into the absurd. Written from the memories of a guard on death row while he is living the rest of his life in a care home, it flings a barrage of intense emotions at its reader.

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

Recommended by Dr Duits

Winner of the Booker Prize 2019, Bernadine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other is a delightful telling of the stories of twelve different people negotiating their identities through the last hundred years in Britain.  

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

Recommended by Nikhil Dhar

 

Helps us learn our history as a species and gives a glimpse into our future. Also, quite humorous.

The Martian by Andy Weir

Recommended by Elliot Ding

 

This is a thrilling book about an astronaut called Mark Watney on the Ares 3 Mission to Mars, who gets stranded after a storm almost destroys the ship. His crewmates think that he is dead and he’s alone to survive the red planet.

The Five by Hallie Rubenhold

Recommended by Miss Ramsay-Overall

I’ve long been fascinated by Victorian London, and so Jack the Ripper has naturally been a part of this, but after seeing The Five advertised I realised I knew embarrassingly little about the lives of the women he murdered (and indeed could not remember all of their names). Rubenhold’s book is a wonderfully woven tale that firmly places the women back into the narrative and grants them a dignity that was stripped of them many years ago. Highly recommend for Christmas stocking fillers!

The Eagles of the Empire series by Simon Scarrow 

Recommended by Ilias Fhail

 

This is a very interesting and informative series about Roman army life where a recruit rises from the ranks. But with every promotion he becomes sucked into politics where it is a game of who can stick a knife in the others back first.

The Woman In Black by Susan Hill

Recommended by Ryan Gonsai and Benjy Street

 

This book is generally classified as a ghost story, but I believe that it is much more. It explores every corner of literature and the depth of description never stops. The main characters, Alice Drablow and Arthur Kipps, are extremely intriguing and make the book so much more enjoyable to get lost in. Also recommended by Benjy Street, for its intrigue and constant, fluctuating tension. 

What If? By Randall Munroe

Recommended by Andreas Gurdjian

 

 

I love What If? because it asks the most absurd questions that are still incredibly interesting. That with the very humorous comics scattered throughout the book has made this the most enjoyable book I’ve ever read. 

The Invisible Library by Geneive Cogman

Recommended by Thomas Hill

This book is about different realities and about an organisation that is called the Library that, as well as collecting books, spies on people. There are worlds that have dragons, magic and some which are chaos-infested.

The Outsider by Stephen King

Recommended by Kyle Hunt

This is a great book with a crossover of detective fiction and horror/unnatural things. You will get dragged into the book straight away because you will be presented with rock hard evidence against the suspect however the so-called perpetrator then backs himself up with an ironclad alibi. Through all the evidence and clear fingerprints against him there is no denying the impossible fact that he didn’t do it. Read it and guess with the detectives to know who did.

Mr Kemp has three recommendations:

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens 

It’s ridiculous that I haven’t read this book already, but it’s been the best book I’ve read in years. An excellent companion during lockdown, even better than Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Everyone read it! -  “Janet! Donkeys!”

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

What a book! Second best book I read in lockdown. Really clever and great characters. Brilliant on cultural differences. 

Books do Furnish a Room by Anthony Powell

What’s a best books list without Anthony Powell? Number 10 of 12 in the series. Kenneth Widmerpool is an objectionable piece of work. What a superbly awful  character he is. 

Fletch by Gregory McDonald

Recommended by Gus Jacobson

 

This detective/comedy novel from 1974 was written by Gregory McDonald. Through witty comedy and genius plot McDonald describes the struggle of journalism for the protagonist Fletch. While investigating a drug source he has became addicted to, he stumbles across a rich man who offers him a large sum of money to murder him. Through a clever plot McDonald explores the struggle of finishing a journalism story and the temptation of the drug underworld for the poor. Fletch contains wonderful plot twists and clever banter that will be sure to keep you reading!

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Recommended by Luke Jeffries

 

I like this book because it portrays a dystopian future and is one of the classic books of the 20th century. The book follows Winston Smith, a worker for the Party, the totalitarian regime that rules Oceania, a futuristic country. Orwell follows themes of love, torture and creates a totalitarian world in a way in which you feel that you are really there, under the rule of the country. Nowadays the book has been used in many political newspapers or magazines as an argument against any political view that they do not agree with, but Orwell’s vision of his dark, scary world sticks with you for a long time after.

Good Vibes, Good Life by Vex King

Recommended by Nikhil Malik

Great book on how to approach life. Good for people who are too hard on themselves. Teaches self love. Really relatable as well.

The Beast by Adebayo Akinfenwa.

Recommended by Alex Meyohas

This is a biography about an English professional footballer called Adebayo Akinfenwa, he has for many years been the strongest player to exist on earth. This book deals with his struggles to get to the top of his game. The most prominent of these struggles being racism, which he has experienced throughout his career. Over the course of the book he stands up to racism and strives for equality in football.

Wild Swans by Jung Chang

Recommended by Dr Ruddick

The book I’ve enjoyed most this year is re-reading the non-fiction book Wild Swans by Jung Chang. I first read it about 25 years ago and I was thrilled to find a second-hand copy this summer at the wonderful Barter Books in Alnwick, Northumberland while I was on holiday. It’s the story of three generations of women in a Chinese family, starting with the author’s grandmother, who was a concubine to a warlord in the early years of the 20th century, but fled her ‘marriage’ with her baby daughter despite being more or less crippled by her bound feet. The story continues with the author’s mother, who worked undercover for the Communists during the civil war against the Kuomintang that followed WWII, then became a high-ranking official after the Communist victory in 1949. The book concludes with the author’s own autobiography, covering her experience of the terrors of Mao’s Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. It’s a vivid, compelling read which narrates the huge changes in Chinese society through the lens of three individual women’s experiences. It’s also a moving account of the author’s gradual disillusionment with the Communist ideals with which she was indoctrinated as a child and teenager. Highly recommended and hard to put down once you start reading!

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Recommended by Kush Patel

This is an amazing piece of writing, I recommend it because of the plot and the interesting dialogues with the characters. It is based around a black girl and a white boy, who like each other despite the fact that they are not allowed to mix. It's about their adventures to try and come together despite the struggle of being different races. 

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Recommended by Olly Pennington

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a dystopian novel written in 1944. It is set on a farm in England and is about a group of animals who take control of the farm they live on. The animals get fed up with their master, Farmer Jones, so they kick him out. Once they are free of the tyrant Jones, life on the farm is good for a while and there is hope for a happier future of less work, better education and more food. 

No Way Down: Life and Death on K2 by Graham Bowley

Recommended by Aarush Ranjan

This book is about the 2008 K2 disaster, where 11 mountaineers died near the summit. If you are interested in mountaineering/trekking, this is something you must read. In my opinion, it is a gripping novel with every single page adding to the tension. It is also factually accurate with a section of pictures, and stories from survivors. 

Educated by Tara Westover

Recommended by Mrs Wilkinson

I loved this book, however it was a traumatic read.  I found it completely absorbing.  It showed the resilience of the writer growing up in an unusual and sometimes harrowing household.  It also shows the hope that education gave to Tara Westover.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Recommended by Zayn Shabeeh

This is the original Frankenstein book and it includes the thrill of a famous horror tale but also enlightens us to darker aspects of the world. It makes us question very basic foundations that we are taught from a young age. Many children hear the scary tale of Frankenstein so actually reading the book and understanding the answers to all those unanswered questions is a fulfilling moment. 

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

Recommended by Henry Smith

 

I chose this book because it is a book of short stories, so you can read the book at many different times without forgetting what recently happened. The stories are really dark and ominous, so I find them quite gripping. Its chills are what makes it a real page turner. My favourite story is ‘The Raft’, because it is very dark and really puts you in the terrified shoes of the protagonist, and has a dark twist.

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend

Recommended by Daniel Taylor

 

This is a book which I really enjoyed. It is very lighthearted and a relatively easy read. It is about a 13¾ year old boy in the late 20th century (1980’s I think) and is a diary about what he thinks and feels. It’s formatted just like a diary with a paragraph for each day. It talks about his experience with adolescence among other things. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Mrs Cummings has two recommendations:

The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo

The Honjin Murders is a 1946 classic locked-room murder mystery. Hugely popular in Japan it has only recently been translated into English. It tells the story of a rural wedding in a snow-bound hotel. On the wedding night wild music is heard and the couple are found brutally murdered in their room. A sword is found stuck in the ground but there are no footprints in the surrounding snow. It has lovely descriptions of the Japanese countryside, the people and their traditions and their anxieties about how society is changing.  I love the certainty of detective novels and I read so many I can usually guess who did it and how, but this one had me completely foxed. 

My second book is Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity from Bronze Age to Silver Screen by Greg Jenner of Horrible Histories fame. 

He has some serious points to make about the difference between fame and celebrity and why both are important to how society thinks about everything from wealth to religion. But he also has some great stories of astonishing lives, which he tells with verve and wit. Favourites of mine are the cheetah-owning, coffin-sleeping, one-legged French actress Sarah Bernhardt and Edmund Kean, the dazzling Shakespearean actor whose monstrous ego and terrible alcoholism saw him nearly murdered by his own audience.

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

Recommended by Zach Tydeman

 

 

The Rest of Us Just Live Here is a book about a group of friends who are living in a world where there are kids with magical powers and they are attacked by an external power every few years. This group of friends however, just wish to finish their GCSEs and get into university and not have their school blown up. What I enjoyed was the contrast between an average group of children who have the same aims as normal 16 year olds, however there is a supernatural war going on around them.

Sam Strachan has three recommendations:

Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne

 

 

A truly unique literary work, from absurdity to levity, his comedic style is conversational, free flowing and at times, confusing. Digressions and silliness are married with mixed-media and morality. In the style of learned wit, it follows the tradition of Cervantes with its own wonderfully distracting comedic style. Come for the humour, stay to try and work out what the hell the story line is.

Omeros by Derek Walcott

 

A modern iteration of the classical epic style. This poem's visceral imagery will transport you to the Caribbean and then reflect on the implications of colonial history and race in the context of a Saint Lucian 'hero'. Walcott struggles with his own role as a poet and his duty to represent and reconcile his home's forgotten history with the modern world and literature.

Gulliver's Travels (not the picture book version*) by Jonathan Swift

No one seems to have read it in its original version, only corruptions of it. It is an cornerstone of biting English satire combined with a 'savage indignation' for society. Hilarious and morally compelling in equal measure, will make you reconsider your own hypocrisy. If nothing else, a stunning fantasy journey.

*Editor's note: Martin Rowson's adaptation - a graphic novel rather than a 'picture book' - is worth a look

We That Are Young by Preti Taneja

Recommended by Mr Staniforth

It is a chunky and chaotic recasting of King Lear set in contemporary India. A compelling, angry look at the world we live in, with characters and behaviours that should resonate within the current political and economic situation. Mysterious and poetic, energetic, unflinching and fierce, great fodder to keep you warm in the dark this winter.

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Recommended by Teddy Ackery

A depiction of what the Wild West was really like. Strips away the glamour of the western films and leaves you with 400 pages of grim hardship. The detached narrative style and convoluted writing make for engaging, intriguing reading.

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

Recommended by Phelim Owens

Death in Venice deals with the a man’s obsession with a young boy who he perceives to be the Platonic Form of beauty. The novel deals with issues of age, sexuality and art.

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

Recommended by Mr Hager

A beautifully written novel which puts Shakespeare’s wife at the emotional centre of the story, and very much the centre of the household, and explores the ‘dark spaces’ in history by focusing on the emotional (and literary) impact of the death of Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet.  This novel is lyrical and moving, and ultimately uplifting, although desperately sad in places.  It is well worth your time whether you know Shakespeare’s work well or not.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Recommended by Lachlan Budd

Despite the obvious depravity, it is surprisingly very funny and Humbert's dry humour, wit and irony somehow manage to make the reader enjoy having him as narrator (despite his obviously being an awful, awful person). The language is also rich and it is very well written.

Herzog / Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow

Recommended by Saul Sarne

I found these two books by Saul Bellow deeply moving portrayals of people going through existential struggles. I enjoyed the philosophical content behind the novels and how this content spurred Saul Bellow's characters through the worlds of a Jewish New York and Africa respectively.

In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway

Recommended by Zack McGuire

A series of vignettes and short stories depicting war and the post-war world which in classic Hemingway style are brilliantly written. Can be both a short easy read but also can be extremely thought-provoking if you want to get deeper into it.

King Lear byWilliam Shakespeare 

Recommended by Freddie Harrison

A really entertaining and great play that explores social, political and moral themes through the presentations of different contrasting characters and their loyalty to and betrayal or each other.

And finally, an epic list of excellent recommendations from LE2:

Pale Fire byVladimir Nabokov

His other masterpiece. A foreword, a poem, a commentary, and an index. Each section has multiple layers of narration from a dead professor and/or (!) his narcissistic neighbour / publisher / murderer. The puzzle for the reader is unravelling the hints laid throughout the novel to discover the ‘objective truth’ - a fantastic fantasy kingdom and  an exiled king, or a mundane university professor in a 60s American town. Who has the ‘last word?’

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

In this Nobel-Prize-for-Literature-winning trilogy Sigrid Undset sets a developing young woman in an internal battle between social convention, the wishes of her father, and her own impulse, to a stunningly detailed backdrop of 14th century Norway. It is, however, over 1000 pages long. 

Waterland by Graham Swift

A watery postmodernist world in which themes of murder, revolution, storytelling, beer, teenage relationships, marital discord and the eel are all interwoven. Three hundred years of fictional family history in the isolated towns of the Fens are retold within this cleverly written novel and the influence of the past on the future is explored by Swift through genealogical retracing.

The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

A man loses his wife and his cat. He tries to find his cat.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Very touching quasi-coming of age novel set in a dystopian future. Profound exploration of the idea of mortality. Called the best book of 2005 by TIME magazine. 

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

Set in a future in which science eclipses humanity and life is entirely organised by the state following rational principles, led by a totalitarian leader in a communistic society, Zamyatin’s masterpiece is one of the best and most esteemed dystopian novels, inspiring the likes of Huxley and Orwell 

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula le Guin

Set in a sci-fi universe, it follows an emissary to a planet where every human is both male and female. Fascinatingly good to anyone interested in what makes a society’s culture what it is or the people who comprise it.

The Hothouse by Harold Pinter

When patient 6457 (but it might be 6459???) dies, Roote, the unnamed director of an unnamed institution orders his ambitious subordinate, Gibbs, to investigate. A gripping play that is told through quick and witty dialogue, you’ll be taken through an intricately woven mystery featuring the alcoholic Lush, the cunning Miss Cutts, and institution watchman Lamb, all with their own unique idiosyncrasies. If you’re looking for an interesting, short, but still highly developed read, Pinter’s masterpiece is the one for you. Also recommended by Andrew Spielmann: A quick read, it is one of Pinter’s earliest written plays, but  not published until later. Thought-provoking, funny, and rather spooky at the same time. Politically lethal.

Warlord by James Steel

A very gripping thriller exploring former cavalry major turned mercenary Alex Devereux’s life in the heart of Africa as he battles bloodthirsty Congolese militia. Best of the trilogy, which includes December and Legacy. Enjoys themes of political turmoil alongside the riveting action. 

On The Road by Jack Kerouac

Truly embodies the free spirit of sex, drugs and jazz. True freedom in America best embodied by the travels of wandering intellectuals trying to find their true spirit of living. Truly a life changing read. 

Sharks in the Time of Saviours by Kawai Strongburn 

Set in 1990s Hawaii, which follows a young protagonist’s struggles in an economically struggling family, and discusses the conflict between tradition or typical Hawaian culture and ambition as the siblings are attracted by the success found in mainland America.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins 

The prequel to the Hunger Games series which came out this May. It follows a young Coriolanis Snow, before he was president, in the early days of the Hunger Games - 10th. Highly recommended for those who are a fan of the Hunger Games, want an origin story for President Snow and would like to know the development of the Hunger Games, which we see in the original trilogy. 

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

The first book in a fantasy series which follows the assassin Calaena Sardothien as she struggles against deep-rooted corruption in the continent. It’s a must read if one enjoys themes of political turmoil mingled with magical elements. To top it all off there is graphic passion interspersed in the novels.    

Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome by Robert Harris 

First of a trilogy of three, Imperium is a fictional biography of Cicero, through the narration of his secretary / scribe Tiro, following his path to power in Rome, and beginning with the prosecution of Verres.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling

The best Harry Potter book in my opinion. It’s very good. French resistance vibes. Delectable storyline, spicy dialogue. Me like!

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Stevens the butler goes on a leisurely holiday to the west country, however it thrusts him back into his regrets of his past and what could have been. A story of morality, duty vs love and the cost of pursuing absolute professionalism at the expense of true meaning. 

The Beast Quest series by Adam Blade

A gripping series of a band of friends versus evil beasts. Who will win?

The Penguin History of Latin America by Edwin Williamson

An all-encompassing and definitive guide to the history of the continent that gave the world the Amazon, Maradona and magical realism. More narrative than argument, it is a comprehensive introduction to a story of cruelty, pain and hope.

Many thanks as always to all those students and staff who generously contributed their suggestions to our post, and to all our contributors throughout this particularly challenging year: have a fabulous Christmas, and see you all in 2021!!