There are among readers of the Spike quite a large bluestocking contingent; I am very proud to have you here. And I know you are the sort of people who think above all things that one ought to give books at Christmas.
So here are the best books I’ve read recently, with links to Waterstones rather than Amazon, (although I daresay they will be cheaper on Amazon), which may inspire you for what to give fellow bluestockings or bookish teenagers, grumpy uncles and lively, fast-reading pre-teens.
As always, please leave a comment at the end of this post with the best books you have read recently for the benefit of the casual browser.
A NYC beauty decides to go to sleep for a year.
This book will make you feel less mad.
There are many books about the catastrophic relationship between Truman Capote and the beauties of the Upper East Side, but Swan Song is the best.
A meticulously-researched and funny family drama set in the Home Front.
Ever wanted to turn a love rival into a hideous sea monster? This book shows you how to.
Complicated and long but very rewarding family drama.
Another domestic setting – are you sensing a theme? – written in that atypical modern American style that I really dig.
Something completely different; I adored this book, such a thoughtful explanation of soldiering, cracking up and recovery through talking therapy. I don’t usually like soldier memoirs, they’re normally stupid and macho and impenetrable – but Jason Fox has a brilliant ghostwriter who nails it.
I have read every single Wimpy Kid book and they make me cry with laughter. This is the new one.
Kitty loved this, so it must have something good about it.
A note to those without children; if you have to buy a gift for a young niece/nephew or godchild, get a book. It’s not boring and if they’ve already got it, it doesn’t matter (just don’t get something really obvious Peepo or The Gruffalo).
Do not get sweets or chocolate – that is for parents and parents alone to distribute, it is totally not your job to be naughty and spoil small children with stuff like sugar, parents do not think that is funny. Also don’t get clothes unless they’re pyjamas and if you do get pyjamas, get a size larger than the largest you think they are.
In fact really, honestly, a book is best.
I loved Educated by Tara Westover
Yes! I just finished it today. Powerful
Yes to the books for children and NOT sweets! Drives me mad!
There’s also lists of ‘what to read next if you liked x’ for kids, which can be useful if you’ve got a vague idea of what they’re into.
Or choose one and slip a book token inside, readers won’t be disappointed with the chance to choose for themselves.
I always buy books for children but spend ages trying to work out what is age suitable. Went with Dinosaur Rescue for my little niece following your recommendation so thank you! (Also I am sending this post to my husband in the hope he will select one of these recommendations for me! x)
Interesting list, Esther, will investigate some of these! Perhaps fellow Spikers could nominate their favourite local independent bookshops – you know, use it or lose it and all that. I’d like to recommend Pitshanger Books in Ealing W5.
I am the aunty that all my nieces and nephews hate as I always give books for Christmas and birthdays. Glad to know I’m not the only one. And I hate when my kids get toys for Christmas. I honestly ask for pyjamas and socks for them. Obviously I’m very popular in my household.
Sensible x
Not a new book but still one of my favourites- haunts me – is Still Alice by Lisa Genova. The book is much much better than the movie that followed it.
Hi Esther, I am using Hive.co.uk for book buying as part of my campaign to boycott amazon . Worth a look x
Thanks so much for this tip!
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was the best book of 2018 for me by a mile. A mix of Quantum Leap and whodunnit ,which sounds a bit lame as a premise, but was fantastic.
Er you had me at Quantum Leap
YES! Truly excellent book – I devoured it and loved it!
Between this, the handbag post and the trainer post my life is completely sorted. Thank you! Really pleased to see you rate Circe as I loved The Song of Achilles and have been wondering whether I would love Circe as much. I was totally unprepared for The Song of Achilles to break my heart.
I preferred Circe to Achilles actually. Just had the edge for me.
My book of 2018 is Claire Allan’s Her Name Was Rose. A thriller played out in shopping centres and bedrooms rather than Westminster or Washington. Very timely too. Also refreshing to have a book set in Northern Ireland that’s about regular problems not specifically The Troubles.As someone born and bred in NI, yes there are important stories to tell about all those years but people are living other lives there too.
I too am from NI and I am really struggling with The Milkman. So this is ace to read. That you Jules C – I shall buy!
That is so true about buying books, I always tried to buy something “fun” or “cool” for the kids in my life, but now I’m a parent I really appreciate people buying them books. You get a small view into someone’s personality when they buy you a book, it’s something that kids will come back to over time and they really appreciate and remember a good book. We have an excellent independent bookshop locally with a owner with a huge knowledge of genres – it always makes me happy to go in there, that’s surely what shopping and gift buying should be all about? 🙂
LOVE book lists such as this. This time of year is perfect for them! Just started reading The Luminaries (I know, 5 years too late) and it is EXCELLENT so far. Loved Crooked Heart so much – Circe and My Year of R & R are on my hideously large to be read pile… I’m taking a 2 month sabbatical next year (going to Paris for the entirety) where I am going to read SO much mate. Can’t wait!
If so inclined – I’m @thebookpervert on Instagram!
Ooh I loved the Luminaries
Thank you Esther! Nothing I love more than a good book recommendation. Sone of your suggestions are new to me so I am really happy to have some ideas to put on my book list.
Some books I have really enjoyed (and maybe some of your other readers might find them interesting)this year are (not all of this are ‘new’ this year, but I just happen to have read them in 2018):
Little Fires Everywhere – Celeste Ng
In Byron’s Wake – Miranda Seymour (fascinating biog of Byron’s first wife and their daughter Ada Lovelace, a phenomenal mathematician who, some say, foresaw the birth of the modern computer)
Lethal White – Robert Galbraith
A Life of My Own – Claire Tomalin (talk about fortitude! This woman is impressive)
Travelling to Infinity – Jane Hawking (wife of Stephen – the story of their family life, unputdownable, even more fortitude!)
Swing Time – Zadie Smith
How to Stop Time – Matt Haig
Bedsit Disco Queen – Tracey Thorn
Clothes, Music, Boys – Viv Albertine
All of the Patrick Melrose novels – Edward St Aubyn
The new collected letters of Sylvia Plath, in 2 volumes from 1940-1963
The Wild Other – Clover Stroud
Looking forward to hearing lots more book reviews in the comments section!
For kids could I add in the suggestion of that old school eye roller, the BOOK TOKEN! My Dad gives my two a £50 one every Christmas, it totally passes them by on the day but then I get to use it throughout the year (it goes surprisingly far) and their treat last beyond the Christmas rush plus they can choose what they want when they’re a bit older.
Loved Mother of All Jobs, bought after reading your great interview with the author. Also massively agree re: books for kids. Even if they’re to “grow into” ie a bunch of Roald Dahls for a toddler. Sooooooo much easier to store than an enormous plastic thing. Socks also good for babies/ toddlers as they’re constantly being ditched on the pavement 🙄
To stop losing socks, you need Sock-Ons! Game changer.
Love a good book list, thank you – I read The Cazalet Chronicles and A Song for Achilles following your recommendations and absolutely loved them.
Best book I read this year was A History of My Family in Seven Maladies by Stephen McGann [I don’t watch Call the Midwife but back in the 1980s he was in a short-lived sitcom called Help! and pre-teen me thought he was lovely]. Anyway, his personal take on the social history of the last 150 years is really well written, informative – emotional but not mawkish.
For kids, my son [7] really enjoyed both Shiny Pippin books by Harry Heape. They’re quite daft, and have pop culture references that parents will get but that blend in seamlessly with the more obvious kid-focused humour.
That is such good advice about buying for children. My son can’t wait for the new Wimpy Kid and has asked for Head Kid by David Baddiel and the Walliams Ice Monster one. He also loves the 13 Storey Treehouse series, they are quite silly and he reads them in about an hour, but they have him in hysterics and he goes back to them a lot. There are lots of them too. He also likes Tom Gates though I wittered on in an unhinged way about lip gloss to the author after a punishing 2 hour queue with my children, so I have an inward twist of embarrassment now whenever I see one. Both my children have loved being read the My Naughty Little Sister books and they stand up very well unlike some, if you want to get something more substantial than a picture book for a younger child. I have bought a new edition of Pippi Longstocking illustrated by Lauren Child for my daughter, and Great Women who Changed the World. I am hoping someone gets me Erebus by Michael Palin, The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker and The Overstory by Richard Powers.
No The Silence of the Girls is awful
Oh no. I got a bit fed up with Pat Barker a long time ago but was hopeful for that one. I won’t hear a word against Michael Palin.
I am determined to start reading again properly, the main casualty of having many children in not many years has been reading for pleasure (along with my body, privacy and sense of humour) so will def check these out, aka forward the list to my husband pre Christmas, thank you.
Absolutely agree on the books for kids thing – actually I wrote a list of books that might work well, after being gifted about four thousand copies of the Very Hungry Caterpillar, here: https://themumandthemom.com/2016/12/10/books-to-give-to-children-that-they-wont-already-have/
And also recently came across the Parrot Street Book Club who do a v lovely job of putting together a book a month along with a no-junk activity pack, think this is a really lovely idea for grandparents etc
Xx
Great idea from reader above about indie bookshops! You cannot go far wrong with my local, which is Heffers in Cambridge – totally bloody brilliant bookshop.
The bookshop thing was a good idea – The Book Hive in Norwich is great and has good unusual selections for children. They let my kids sit in there and read for ages and will order you anything at speed and are so friendly. When I was a child we used to make a special trip to Swan Books in Upminster for anything you couldn’t get in WH Smith (so most things) and I see they are still there so shout out for them.
My local bookshop (and also where I used to work) is a great place for kids’ books. Daunt Books on Haverstock Hill, or the one in South End Road (both in London) are bloody great for kids, and the one in SER even has a grotto where you can abandon your kids whilst you browse through great books like Golden Hill by Francis Spufford and Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney. If you want the Mr Men books, you have to ask, because ewe had to start putting them behind the till because people kept nicking great piles of them. I can also recommend Owl Books in Kentish Town, they’re also part of the Daunt family. Basically a whole side of the shop is dedicated to children’s books!
I’ve brought The Truth Pixie by Matt Haig for several children this year, an amazing book
Can I recommend the book Suffragette by David Roberts for children 8-10. It’s really stunning, full of information and the illustrations are wonderful. Lots of books about suffragettes published recently but this one was really special and my daughter has read it countless times. Also as it’s a hardback and nice and big, it makes a good gift.
Any recs for clever 13 year old boys please? I have NO IDEA whatsoever. Was in W’stones and thought, ah yes, football biography, get him into biographies good and young, and was just reaching for it when the alarm bells went off on the drink/drugs/sex content. Phew.
Hitchhiker’s Guide or Terry Pratchett? The His Dark Materials trilogy if he hasn’t got to those.
Hi Sophie, my thirteen year old son likes Anthony Beavor Military History books (which can be a bit hardcore but he does love them and I figured it will help with school so double win) he’s also read John Grisham and some Stephen King (worth asking in your local bookshop if you have one as some of them are suitable for younger readers). Or the good old Hunger Games/Divergent style books, and also Young Bond which Charlie Higson has written – he loves them also. Sports biogs are a good call though! ones by non-footballers tend to be a bit less debauched (not to stereotype footballers, of course!). L x
Also this website http://www.hive.co.uk/Books gives a portion of your sale to an independent bookshop of your choice.
The willoughby book club do a really brilliant book subscription service for kids. I got it for my godson (7) last year and he asked me to renew it this year. You tell them all about the kid and they send appropriate books, you can update interests etc at any point with a quick email and they adapt. He’s found a few new book series from these that he loves and has become a real bookworm. Also their customer service is impeccable which is so helpful with stuff like this.
The Morrigan Crow stories are a huuuge hit with my bookworms (7+9) and I loved them as well tbh.
Thank you all! I ran out of inspo after the Hardy Boys Adventures (no children, no brothers …)