What to Read Now: Vol XCII
| Wild Places: Selected Stories by Katherine Mansfield £16.99 To mark Katherine Mansfield’s centenary, and the publication of a new biography All Sorts of Lives, here is a selection of her finest short stories. In her short life, Mansfield helped transform the art of short fiction, and was an inspiration to and a contemporary of Modernist authors like Virginia Woolf. This collection is a perfect introduction to her work. Buy Now |
| The Swedish Art of Ageing Well by Margareta Magnusson £14.99 This is not Wim Hof, this is a gentle and humourous take on getting older and prioritising what’s important to you. Octogenarian Magnusson imparts her life lessons in a charming way, and while they won’t prolong your life (à la Tim Spector), they might make it more fun. Buy Now |
| The End of Nightwork by Aidan Cottrell-Boyce £12.99 This is an incredibly original debut novel – with a main character who has a rare hormonal issue that causes him to age in fits and starts, and who has an obsession with a Puritan prophet who seemingly preditcted the Climate Emergency. If you’ve enjoyed books by Max Porter or even Thomas Pynchon, you’re in for a treat with this one! Buy Now |
| To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara £9.99 Now in paperback, the latest novel by the author of A Little Life is another epic. Told in three parts over three centuries, the connections between each story become apparent as you read – Washington Square is a recurrent location. The book explores themes of colonialism, sexuality and illness in a way that’s both very much of our current moment, but feels timeless. Buy Now |
| The Sentence by Louise Erdrich £9.99 We have always loved good books about bookshops, and here is an absolute classic of the genre: not twee, or over-sentimental or even escapist, but an exploration of what literature can achieve. The book follows Tookie, recently released from prison, who gets a job in a bookshop. Erdrich has a bookshop of her own, and in addition to her novels, is a Native American activist, this book demonstrates both thos passions superbly well. Buy Now |
| Failosophy for Teens by Elizabeth Day £8.99 After the teenagers sit mock exams this January, this might be the perfect book to pop in their room. Elizabeth Day expands her Failosophy to encompass younger readers, and to help them build resilience, and empower them, using tips and hints from the celebrities Day has interviewed on her How to Fail podcast. Buy Now |
