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THE BARTON BOOKSHELF
"Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers," said 33rd US President Harry S Truman.
I agree, and so twice a year I publish a list of the fiction / non-fiction / poetry books I've recently enjoyed, as recommendations for your summer or Christmas holiday reading. Here's the latest ...
DECEMBER 2024
FICTION
1 William Boyd, Gabriel's Moon
A clever, page-turning spy-thriller set in the 1960s - in which travel journalist Gabriel Dax gets
reluctantly drawn into international espionage. The opening chapter is a masterpiece.
2 Tessa Hadley, The Party
A short novella about two sisters, stepping from adolescence to adulthood in post-war Bristol,
and focused on one night's party which will define their respective futures.
3 Robert Harris, Precipice
The astonishing true story of Prime Minister HH Asquith who leads Britain into the start of WW1 First World War
whilst conducting an obsessive letter-writing passion with a young woman.
4 Samantha Harvey, Orbital
Deservedly , this novel won the 2004 Booker Prize.
Short , optimistic, and exquisitely written, the story follows one day in the lives of a diverse group of astronauts
circling our fragile planet in the International Space Station.
5 Alan Hollinghurst, Our Evenings
Dave Win is a gay, half-Burmese actor. The novel tracks his life from childhood, as he navigates his place in a society
which - on the surface at least - is becoming more socially and racially tolerant.
My novel of the year.
6 Elizabeth Strout, Tell Me Everything
Another novel from one of our finest storytellers.
These are the apparently random interwoven tales of ordinary, even mundane, people,
but which somehow morphs into a compelling murder mystery.
NON-FICTION / POETRY
7 Oliver Burkeman, Meditations for Mortals
A magnificently thought-provoking and perspective-restoring set of reflections on how to embrace the challenges and uncertainties of modern life.
8 Wendy Cope, Collected Poems
From one of our finest - yet still underrated - poets, this collection gives us
the laugh-out-loud playful writing for which Cope first gained her reputation,
and her later, deeper reflections on love, separation and grief.
9 Malcolm Gladwell, Revenge of the Tipping Point
He 's back! I've always loved Gladwell's ability to take seemingly unconnected themes and to make coherence of the world.
He explores the behaviour of cheetas, unexpected suicide rates in a small US town, the development of elite athletes.
Compelling as ever.
10 Fiona Hill, There is Nothing For You Here
Telling the story of her journey from growing up in a decaying Durham mining community to becoming a White House adviser to three US presidents,
this is an extraordinary and candid insight into the state of democracy and how we salvage it.