Your Holiday Reading List for 2019

Your Holiday Reading List for 2019

Whether you’re a library card-holding bibliophile or have made the resolution to read more books in 2019, committing to your next read can mean serious business.



Whether
you’re a library card-holding bibliophile
or have made the resolution to read more books in 2019, committing
to your next read can mean serious business. Spanning from literary
debuts to blockbuster sequels, life-changing non-fiction to
feminist dystopias, these are
the books we’ll be stashing in our carry ons, flaunting on
our coffee tables and passing around
the office this year.


How to Be a Grown Up


Daisy Buchanan

We’ve all had one (read: many) of those days when you feel lost
and anxious and scroll green-eyed through
Instagram
while crying into a bowl of cereal. Daisy Buchanan
has been there too. How to be a Grown-Up dispenses emotional and
practical advice for 20-somethings, covering everything from
becoming more confident at work to not needing validation from
others and being more than comfortable in your own company.


Crudo

Olivia
Laing

If you’ve not yet discovered Laing’s writing, you should. Her
latest novel, Crudo, follows commitment-phobic writer Kathy as she
prepares to get married in the summer of 2017 while the world
around her (literally) falls apart. It’s a brilliant, funny and raw
account of love in the apocalypse.


The Source of Self-Regard


Toni Morrison (12 February)

Revel in this luminous collection of essays, speeches and
meditations on society, culture and art from celebrated writer Toni
Morrison. It’s four decades worth of work and thought packed into
one book. In it, she tackles issues such
female empowerment
, money, the press, Afro-American literature
and the power of language.


Uninhabitable Earth


David Wallace-Wells (19 February)

“What does it mean to be entertained by an apocalypse when we
stare down the possibility of a real one?” This must-read book on
climate change, famine and economic collapse is inspired by
Wallace-Wells’ article of the same name that amassed seven-million
views overnight and has become New York Magazine’s most-read
article ever. If you thought rising sea levels were the worst thing
about global warming, think again.


Black Leopard, Red Wolf


Marlon James (28 February)

In this stunning follow-up to A Brief History of Seven Killings
comes James’ Dark Star Trilogy. Dubbed the “African Game of
Thrones”, this first instalment draws on a rich tradition of
African mythology, fantasy and history to weave the tale of an
ancient world, a lost child, an extraordinary mercenary and mystery
set against a backdrop of magic and violence.


Era of Ignition: Coming of Age in a Time of Rage and Revolution


Amber Tamblyn (5 March)

Filmmaker and founder of Time’s Up, Amber Tamblyn explored the
effects of sexual assault in her first novel Any Man. In her
second, she gets personal, digging in to the powers of feminism,
activism and the magic of hitting rock bottom.


Daisy Jones and the Six


Taylor Jenkins Reid (7 March)

Making music is never just about making music. This heady oral
history of the excesses of 70s rock ‘n’ roll is one you’ll be
forcing your friends/ colleagues/ neighbours/ people sat next to
you on the tube to read. It’s so good, it’s already being made into
a 13-episode binge-worthy series by Reese Witherspoon’s production
company, Hello Sunshine. Just make sure you read it first


Naturally Tan


Tan France (15 March)

Don’t pretend you didn’t swoon for Tan while watching Queer Eye.
In this poignant yet witty memoir, our favourite fashion guru
uncovers the realities of growing up gay in a traditional South
Asian family, as one of the few people of colour in South
Yorkshire. This coming-of-age tale of acceptance traces Tan’s
journey as he finds his voice, his style and the love of his life –
a Mormon cowboy from Salt Lake City.


The Path Made Clear


Oprah Winfrey (26 March)

If there’s anyone that is going to make us want to get ourselves
together, it’s Oprah. According to the Queen – sorry, Winfrey –
everyone has a purpose. “Your real job in life,” she writes, “is to
figure out as soon as possible what that is, who you are meant to
be and begin to honour your calling in the best way possible.”
Intense. *Buys 76 copies*.


Spring


Ali Smith (28 March)

What unites Katherine Mansfield, Charlie Chaplin, Brexit and
Beethoven? Spring. If you read Smith’s Autumn and Winter (or even
if you didn’t) the third instalment of her Seasonal Quartet, is
equal parts consoling and inspiring. Riffing on Shakespeare’s
Pericles, it seeks to open the door when around us is a world of
walls.


Girls with Sharp Sticks


Suzanne Young (4 April)

It’s best to think of this dystopian novel as the love child of
Westworld and The Handmaid’s Tale. Set in the not-too-distant
future, the beautiful, well-rounded pupils at an all-girls school
soon discover their controlled existence may not be quite as it
appears. Expect high-octane drama. Some of the prettiest flowers
have the sharpest thorns.


Underland


Robert MacFarlane (2 May)

This is the latest chapter in MacFarlane’s exploration of
landscape and the human heart. Taking in underground networks
through which trees communicate, the rock art of
Arctic
sea caves and Bronze Age burial chambers, the prolific
nature writer takes us on a voyage into the worlds – past and
present – beneath our feet.


The Nickel Boys


Colson Whitehead (16 July)

“Even in death the boys were trouble.” So begins the Pulitzer
Prize-winning author’s novel. Based on the true story of a Florida
reform school, The Nickel Boys dramatises the lives of two black
boys in 1960s America as they are sentenced to the Nickel Academy,
a place of sadism, brutality and corruption.


The Testaments


Margaret Atwood (10 September)

“Dear Readers: Everything you ever asked me about Gilead and its
inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost
everything! The other inspiration is the world we’ve been living
in.” Since The Handmaid’s Tale was published in 1985, Atwood’s
vision has become a rallying call at women’s marches – not to
mention a blockbuster TV series. Set 15 years later, the sequel
lets us in on Gilead’s future and just what happened to Offred.
Praise be!

Discover More
16 of the World’s Most Beautiful Libraries