Kelsey’s favourites were unexpected but utterly unputdownable!
Edible Economics: The World in 17 Dishes by Ha-Joon Chang: Myth-busting, witty and thought-provoking, Edible Economics shows that getting to grips with the economy is like learning a recipe: if we understand it, we can change it – and, with it, the world.
Of Cabbages and Kimchi: A Practical Guide to the World of Fermented Food by James Read: A playful and accessible guide that investigates the extraordinary cultural and historical backgrounds of fermented foods, exploring how the microbes that bring them to life have developed alongside our culinary evolution. Featuring over 50 recipes, its beautifully illustrated and deliciously helpful!
Shady Hollow by Juneau Black: The first in a cosy murder series, where the characters are all woodland creatures. Farthing Wood meets Agatha Christie. A book of ‘rare and sinister charm. Entertaining and perceptive, Shady Hollow is fast-paced and witty, with characters that jump off the page and a hugely satisfying mystery to solve’.
Alice’s hands down favourites this year were wrapped up in matters of the soul.
The Candy House by Jennifer Egan: Author of A Visit from the Goon Squad. It’s 2010. Staggeringly successful and brilliant tech entrepreneur Bix Bouton is desperate for a new idea. In spellbinding linked narratives, Egan spins out the consequences of Own Your Unconscious through the lives of multiple characters whose paths intersect over several decades. Intellectually dazzling and extraordinarily moving.
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld: With a series of heartbreaks under her belt, Sally Milz – successful script writer for a legendary late-night TV comedy show – has long abandoned the search for love. Skewering all our certainties about why we fall in love, a witty and probing tale of how the heart will follow itself, no matter what anyone says.
In Memoriam by Alice Winn: In 1914, war feels far away to Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood. Though they find fleeting moments of solace in one another, their friends are dying in front of them, and at any moment they could be next. An epic tale of the devastating tragedies of war and the forbidden romance that blooms in its grip, In Memoriam is a breathtaking debut.
Sandra really couldn’t put down these staggeringly good books.
Antarctica by Claire Keegan: The stunning debut story collection. A missing girl. In Antarctica, an astonishing sequence of stories, one of our most gifted writers illuminates human longing and fallibility in all its variety.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin: This is the story of Sam and Sadie. It’s not a romance, but it is about love. What comes next is a decades-long tale of friendship and rivalry, fame and art, betrayal and tragedy, perfect worlds and imperfect ones. And, above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love.
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver: Demon’s story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking ‘like a little blue prizefighter’. For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise. An award-winning novel for good reason.
Sally favourites will linger in her mind and heart for sometime.
The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman: Daughter Mia has only known the claustrophobic life of the Community. While out serving the Community one weekend, she secretly commits a transgression – reading. Discovering a world beyond the edges of the Community’s property is intoxicating. But breaking rules carries serious consequences, and sends Mia on a path she could never have imagined. With two fiercely wonderful heroines, this is a heart-breaking and hopeful novel of family, redemption and the power of love.
Foster by Claire Keegan: It is a hot summer in rural Ireland. A girl is sent to live with foster parents on a farm, not knowing when she will return home. In the strangers’ house, she finds a warmth and affection she has not known before and slowly begins to blossom in their care. But in a house where there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers how fragile her idyll is.
The Color Purple by Alice Walker: Beloved by generations of readers, narrates the lives of women through their pain and struggle, companionship and growth, resilience and bravery. One of the most haunting books you could ever wish to read.
Freja’s stand out books of the year were exceptional.
I’m a Fan by Sheena Patel: It tells the story of an unnamed narrator’s involvement in a seemingly unequal romantic relationship. With a clear and unforgiving eye, Sheena Patel makes startling connections between power struggles at the heart of human relationships to those in the wider world, offering a devastating critique of social media, access and patriarchal systems.
Shy by Max Porter: From the bestselling author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers and Lanny, Shy is a novel about guilt, rage, imagination and boyhood. It is about being lost in the dark, and realising you are not alone.
All Along the Echo by Danny Denton: Audacious and imaginative, this glorious state-of-the-nation gem from the author of The Earlie King and the Kid in Yellow follows a radio talk show host and his producer on a surreal road trip across Ireland to deliver a Mazda 2 to an emigrant from London. Special mention to Demon Copperhead from her as well.