https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog daily 1.0 2025-09-23 https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/ashleigh-carr-recommends monthly 0.5 2025-09-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/393b8d7e-cc84-4ece-9d72-3549ba622de9/Ashleigh+as+child.jpg Blog - Ashleigh Carr Recommends - Make it stand out A younger Ashleigh dresses up as Roald Dahl’s ‘Danny Champion of the World’ for one of her school ‘Show and Tells’. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/1758044221979-BC54AFM67QVH872ROH2S/Normal+People.jpg Blog - Ashleigh Carr Recommends - Normal People, Sally Rooney This is a beautiful book by Sally Rooney, the much-celebrated Irish author, full of teenage angst. I missed my bus stop twice whilst reading it. The BBC dramatization is also enchanting. And it brought Paul Mescal into mainstream consciousness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/1758044221948-V49HQI2R4GU4ITEQXJ7D/The+Devil+You+know.jpg Blog - Ashleigh Carr Recommends - The Devil You Know, Dr Gwen Adshead in collaboration with Eileen Horne I completely devoured this book, which is written by a psychiatrist and psychotherapist who works with violent offenders. Each chapter tells the story of a different person, and explores themes of mental health, forensic psychiatry and the concept of ‘evil’. It really appealed to the armchair psychologist in me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/1758044223156-P4OH9DQ2R6G30IZE6I2W/Norwegian+Wood.jpg Blog - Ashleigh Carr Recommends - Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami This was the first book I read by Japanese author, Haruki Murakami. It propelled me to read several more. It’s not exactly a ‘feel-good’ read. Although it is an evocative and beautiful examination of the human condition; and a nod to The Beatles, another of my loves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/1758043459537-ORA8V26NXNZTXR5YSX3S/Ashleigh+Carr-056-Edit+copy.png Blog - Ashleigh Carr Recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/1758044213676-RFZM0B5JXDL7F8S7FZNX/The+Heart%27s+Invisible.jpg Blog - Ashleigh Carr Recommends - The Heart’s Invisible Furies, John Boyne I loved this book and all the characters in it. It begins in 1940s rural Ireland and brings us up to the modern day, exploring a variety of traditional cultural taboos. It made me laugh and cry and become nostalgic for a precious few months spent in Dublin as a law school graduate https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/75a3654c-362e-4fc3-b8a3-e3bb517c3503/Mothers+Milk.webp Blog - Ashleigh Carr Recommends - Patrick Melrose, Mother’s Milk by Edward St Aubyn Patrick Melrose, Mother’s Milk by Edward St Aubyn This is the first (and won’t be the last) book which I have read in the Patrick Melrose series. The protagonist is a barrister, who has a list of vices and struggles with the mundanities of earning a living and raising a young family. It is a pitiful but humorous car crash. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/1758044199358-DTOMOONBUAXGOPOPZH3W/Gabriel+garcia+.jpg Blog - Ashleigh Carr Recommends - One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez I read this during my first visit to Colombia in 2019. I love the humour and irreverence of García Márquez’s books, and the way he examines the most fundamental of themes, like love, death, family and war, through an almost mythical lens. It has the feel of an adult fairy tale. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/sylvia-brownrigg-recommends-ft3th-24pnt-fx3gh-ale64-j3er4-nsfb3-bmxhd-a95dh-gydex-m4eyb-wapb6-88dhs monthly 0.5 2025-09-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/70c01a34-ab9c-49c8-a718-7d5edc87b929/048-FAV-GinaLoganPhotography-GL4_0356.JPG Blog - Sylvia Brownrigg recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/db0e5121-692b-4c32-a25f-b5bf3426832d/71H5bt4LdjL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Sylvia Brownrigg recommends - Make it stand out Nicholas Nickleby Charles Dickens An absolute positive about the pandemic for me was starting to meet with friends via Zoom; and a Dickens reading group we began in 2021 is still going! (There is a LOT of Dickens.) We read slowly, savoring the humor, the mad range of characters, the vivid settings. Nickleby has been my favorite: it’s got a couple of great villains, hilarious set pieces, and the added advantage of being narrated, if you alternate between reading and listening as I have, by the great Alex Jennings. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/5f2a9835-92da-4360-8b82-a3b869dc9516/91YX8S1KpbL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Sylvia Brownrigg recommends - Make it stand out This Strange Eventful History Claire Messud Does it bend the rules here to choose a friend’s novel? But Claire Messud is such a fine writer, and her latest is a remarkable story, largely autobiographical, about a French couple over seventy years (beginning in 1940) of their family’s trials and displacements, across geographies including Algeria, Canada, the US and the French Mediterranean coast. We happened to be writing books based on our grandfathers and fathers around the same time, so I appreciate all the more how artfully she weaves her family stories together! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/71a5d346-411f-4e95-82ef-8d708ab6d56a/81aS9JndklL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Sylvia Brownrigg recommends - Make it stand out Crying in H-Mart Michelle Zauner I want to include one memoir, since it’s a genre I’ve been enjoying lately: it fascinates me how many different ways people find to tell life stories. Michelle Zauner is an American indie pop singer whose funny, poignant bestseller describes her rocky relationship with her Korean mother, and her grief at losing her to cancer in 2014. The mother-daughter love language was always food, and there are brilliantly detailed descriptions of Korean dishes. I recommend not reading this book when you’re hungry. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/5b56ba35-5c94-4a14-80e4-2083e510c848/91%2BDXM%2BZ7cL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Sylvia Brownrigg recommends - Make it stand out The Fell Sarah Moss As a parent who had a teenager at home during lockdown, I feel as though we’re still trying to grasp the pandemic’s many knock-on effects. I often recommend this gripping novel by Sarah Moss for the way it captures the tensions of that time. A single mum breaks the rules by going off on a walk in the Peak District, leaving her teenaged son to wonder when— or if—she might return.… It’s a story about how we look after one another, and the characters’ warmth and wit are a nice counterpoint to the taut suspense. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/6b5ffbcb-cacf-4de0-b354-49730f185837/81SfsmpfAJL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Sylvia Brownrigg recommends - Make it stand out Orbital Samantha Harvey This is a beautiful and consoling book. It’s a novel, and won the Booker Prize last year, but it feels also like a meditation. It’s about six astronauts who are in the international space station, circling the earth, and each one has a distinct story, and reason for having wanted to be an astronaut. Above all, as they gaze down on the blue planet, they are awestruck by its beauty, and by how insignificant are the things that separate humans from one another. Right now, I think many people are finding that reminder welcome. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/c4f0b970-87a2-4f00-8a27-f548000b4c8f/81Kx2VppNYL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Sylvia Brownrigg recommends - Make it stand out James Percival Everett You don’t have to know Mark Twain’s American classic Huck Finn to become immersed in Everett’s brilliant retelling: the story of an escaped slave on the run with a white orphan boy is powerful on its own terms. Anyone who saw the film American Fiction, based on a different Everett novel, will recognize the blade-sharp satire on whites’ perceptions of Black Americans. But the book is also very affecting, and Everett’s James is an indelible creation. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/tara-swart-bieber-recommends-ft3th-24pnt-fx3gh-ale64-j3er4-nsfb3-bmxhd-a95dh-gydex-m4eyb-wapb6-9cdgr monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/289626f3-eecb-49bd-a6eb-7e13478bca8a/71pZ7NWMj4S._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Tara Swart Bieber recommends - Make it stand out After: a Doctor Explores what Near Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond Dr Bruce Greyson I am fascinated by the nature of consciousness and whether the mind can exist separately to the physical body, and therefore what we might be capable of doing if we are able to transcend our brains with our minds. Near death experiences (NDE) give us a rare glimpse into this. Times of extreme duress, such as at the border of life and death, perhaps expose what is always the case – that the mind and body can operate separately. And studies show that you can get some of the benefits that NDE patients report just by learning about this phenomenon. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/f021db7e-df99-42fd-a63b-c92ccf1a1c59/81wQh%2BqANpL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Tara Swart Bieber recommends - Make it stand out The Clan of the Cave Bear Jean Auel I love historical novels because of the combination of learning and reading for pleasure. This is a novel set in the time that Homo sapiens co-existed with Neanderthals. A lot of human behaviour can be explained by how our brains evolved to survive in ancient times, and I enjoyed the dip into shamanism. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/57ac5380-5d4b-4dc3-8227-1a2faf685cbd/71cmftMvsJL._SL1360_.jpg Blog - Tara Swart Bieber recommends - Make it stand out Siddhartha Herman Hesse This is a beautiful novel exploring a man’s spiritual journey and self-discovery, with the Buddha as a character in the story. A lot can be learnt for dealing with the stresses of modern life from ascetic practices. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/83b3d77c-06b2-449c-ad0f-40f76051641d/91Lu1quaH3L._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Tara Swart Bieber recommends - Make it stand out Your Brain on Art Ivy Ross and Susan Magsamen Neuro-aesthetics or neuro-arts is a relatively new field that explores the benefits of the arts, beauty, culture and nature on our physical health, mental health and longevity. You won’t skip that visit to an art gallery or the ballet once you learn that people who engage in the arts every few months have a 31 per cent lower risk of dying. Even if you only go once or twice a year, your risk of mortality is lowered by 14 per cent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/542730cf-d759-4f62-bc9b-0963fc8013f8/Dr.+Tara+Swart+1.JPG Blog - Tara Swart Bieber recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/0acb0ea0-b002-4e6d-87c6-b4f701aac5ad/81qzxgaDbeL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Tara Swart Bieber recommends - Make it stand out The Source Dr Tara Swart I could not resist the opportunity to choose my own book! At the intersection of science and spirituality, this book explores the cognitive science behind visualisation and manifestation. It is a UK best seller and USA award winner with translations in 36 foreign territories, and went to Number 4 on Amazon after I appeared on ITV’s This Morning 6 years after it’s publication. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/de8d6bbb-8981-4f09-9330-f69c05e8d690/61ipRkYs7oL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Tara Swart Bieber recommends - Make it stand out The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat Oliver Sacks This book inspired me to do my PhD in neuroscience. It’s a collection of short stories about rare and unusual neurological cases. We can all benefit from understanding ourselves better and the genre of popular science is a good way to do this. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/joanne-morse-recommends-ft3th-24pnt-fx3gh-ale64-j3er4-nsfb3-bmxhd-a95dh-gydex-m4eyb-wapb6 monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/15794d1b-f126-4ee4-928c-a6cb328d3d1d/jm.png Blog - Joanne Morse recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/3eaf0c63-0d0b-442b-87c4-a64f8adc5ba9/81TLiZrasVL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Joanne Morse recommends - Make it stand out The Great Gatsby F Scott Fitzgerald This might be my favourite book, set in Long Island/ New York during the impossibly reckless and hedonistic 1920s. The mysterious Gatsby comes to town and throws the most decadent parties every Saturday night across the water from where his old love interest, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband live, in the hope of impressing her with his newfound wealth. This book explores themes about the American Dream, social class, marriage and the impossibility of recapturing the past, try as we might (‘so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past’). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/593b1619-9edd-4c59-b3e6-f6da2662d40b/61q11L2zo6L._SL1050_.jpg Blog - Joanne Morse recommends - Make it stand out The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon Styled as a mystery novel, this is a tale set in Swindon in 1998, about a 15 year old boy (Christopher) who tries to solve the murder of a neighbour’s dog. Christopher says that he has some ‘behavioural difficulties’ and whilst he is widely thought to be autistic, the specific neurodivergence is not mentioned. He needs to deal with the number of his eccentricities and/or the challenges of his condition to be able to solve the mystery, and as it is told from his perspective, it gives readers an insight into his own unique world and unconventional, emotionally disassociated mind. Haddon actually wrote the book for adults, but it is equally popular among adults and older children. It is both funny and very moving as it explores the world through the eyes of someone is unable to interpret social or emotional cues. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/2e4cb16b-caf7-45ba-8b20-0ed2d12a9773/71vyLbGvPbL._SL1311_.jpg Blog - Joanne Morse recommends - Make it stand out Le Scaphandre et le Papillon/ The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Jean-Dominique Bauby A memoir by a feted and well-known journalist who suffered a massive stroke at 43 years old which left his entire body paralysed except for his left eye. This memoir was composed by him communicating only by blinking his left eye, and was published two days before his death, just one year after the stroke. Despite the terrible condition that he was left in (he describes his condition as ‘like a mind in a jar’), surprisingly this is not a depressing account. It is a beautiful book about finding the beauty and happiness in life even after going through tragedy. It gives the reader a totally different perspective, and should be an inspiration to us all about what it means to be alive, and the power of the mind. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/e1c409c6-ab4c-4659-8242-981928dedefb/61cxW8Axu1L._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Joanne Morse recommends - Make it stand out Never Split the Difference Chris Voss, Tahl Raz This is one where I downloaded the audiobook, but enjoyed it so much I also bought the paper copy so I could highlight parts and turn down the corners of pages (yes I’m one of those heathens) I particularly wanted to go back to. Chris is an ex FBI hostage negotiator, and he teaches you tips and tricks on persuasion and negotiation. It’s a study of human psychology as much as it is a helpful manual on diffusing a crisis (useful for trustees) and negotiation/communicating effectively. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/7fd1f2af-51bf-4994-b0d2-b008c4ef2189/71r5mud%2BJCL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Joanne Morse recommends - Make it stand out Klara and the Sun Kazuo Ishiguro With all the recent talk of how AI will take over the world, this is like a glimpse into the future, where elite workers have been ‘substituted’ and human like robots are purchased as companions/friends/carers/nannies for people. Set somewhere in the near future, the story is told from the perspective of Klara, a solar powered robot known as an ‘Artificial Friend’ or ‘AF’ waiting to be chosen as a companion for someone. The reader follows her story from the shop floor where she observes the behaviour of those who pass the street outside or who come into the shop. She is eventually purchased by the mother of a sick young girl, Josie, who needs a companion. The story is an exploration of what it means to be human, inequality and the cost of progress. In this story, privileged children are ‘lifted’ (genetically enhanced for greater cognitive ability) but this comes with risk. Some become ill as a result, and some die. Klara and the Sun also shines a light on the risks of prioritising relationships with technology over human connection, at the cost of real friendship/the ability to form real relationships, and ultimately happiness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/8887cdef-6392-41b1-b85b-66053fa440a2/61rGW91SEjL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Joanne Morse recommends - Make it stand out Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About People We Don’t Know Malcolm Gladwell This was recommended to me during a conversation about AI and its likely impact on the legal system. There is a study highlighted in this book about how a blind machine can more correctly judge the character and bail risk of criminals than human judges with lots of data in their hands, and trained law enforcement. The premise of this book is that we simply aren’t well equipped to talk to strangers although at times it is a necessity, and we trust them too easily, which means we end up in conflict and come away with disastrous misunderstandings that can have a huge impact on the world. The book takes us through history with examples of this, like why Neville Chamberlain thought he could trust Adolf Hitler, and why the Bernie Madoff scandal was not uncovered sooner. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/rebecca-fisher-recommends-ft3th-24pnt-fx3gh-ale64-j3er4-nsfb3-bmxhd-a95dh-gydex-m4eyb monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/d0e21b6d-99dd-4f40-8855-f04d0782075d/rebecca-fisher.jpg Blog - Rebecca Fisher recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/f506e5d3-c36a-4a55-babb-94756e62c030/61plkkkkKyL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Rebecca Fisher recommends - Make it stand out In Cold Blood Truman Capote This is an utterly gripping read about the senseless murder of the Clutter family in Kansas. A disturbing insight into post-War America and the jigsaw puzzle style of knowing who, how, when and where but not why. Capote decided to write about the Clutter murders when reading the story in the New York Times. Very shortly after he travelled down to Holcomb accompanied by his childhood friend, Harper Lee (just after she published To Kill A Mockingbird) to assist with one of his great “non-fiction novels”. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/78dc4a06-ebcc-46ae-89c2-685c1f893486/51hxRAoHuxL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Rebecca Fisher recommends - Make it stand out Yellowface R.F. Kuang This is my most recent read so it makes the cut. June Hayward, the narrator, didn’t write the book she claims to have written. She steals this from her best friend, Athena Liu, who meets a rather sticky end. June is also not Asian American. This book raises questions about diversity, racism and is a satirical discussion of cultural appropriation. Sustaining the fraud whilst dealing with the whirlwind of social media and cancel culture make this a dark, hilarious read. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/4de8921d-af2a-47f1-812b-2214e3d367ee/61GyZRnVFVL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Rebecca Fisher recommends - Make it stand out How to Kill Your Family Bella Mackie I am not sure I have ever read a book that got quite the eyebrow raises on the tube as How To Kill Your Family. When Grace finds out that her millionaire, absentee father fails to recognise her mother’s dying wish she seeks revenge and sets out to kill him and every member of his family. It’s certainly one way to deal with a beneficiary dispute! Grace finds increasingly bizarre and ingenious ways to bump off another family member. The book offers some light relief and you will never look at a sauna in the same way again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/ebfc7302-e86e-4afa-b326-b013a3357ada/51%2BORtb3gnL._SY445_SX342_.jpg Blog - Rebecca Fisher recommends - Make it stand out Matilda Roald Dahl “… the books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives”. Growing up I was a Roald Dahl fanatic. This book has it all – villains, heroes and huge doses of comedy. Matilda devours books in her local library from the age of three and discovers she has extraordinary powers. Living with her shallow, uncaring and crooked parents she encounters the warmth and encouragement of her teacher, Miss Honey. Miss Trunchbull, her headteacher, is the very best of childhood pantomime villains! I have since regularly read this to my children and in honour of the book, our boxer dog is named Matilda. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/c4150b3d-73ca-4c04-a40d-614420248ec5/81VZN2lNCyL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Rebecca Fisher recommends - Make it stand out The Last Act of Love Cathy Rentzenbrink This book has really stayed with me ever since I read it 9 years ago. It is a profoundly moving account of the author and her family dealing with a horrific accident involving her younger brother, Matty. The book largely focuses on the aftermath. It is painful and desperately sad at times yet much of it remains filled with humour and warmth. The crux of the book – at what point does a human life cease to be worth living? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/adf675d7-93d3-430b-a36e-4706cf5bb983/712je%2Bic%2BpL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Rebecca Fisher recommends - Make it stand out Still Life Sarah Winman This beautiful story centres around Ulysses who returns to London after serving in Italy during WW2. He has an eclectic group of friends who work in or frequent an East London pub. There is no crescendo or momentous event in the book. It is a wonderful portrait of a group of characters for whom you become invested and remain gripped by their story until the very end. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/richard-turnor-recommends-ft3th-24pnt-fx3gh-ale64-j3er4-nsfb3-bmxhd-a95dh-gydex monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/3bda01df-ff21-40f2-9854-949db9f367f0/81Yv79T%2BXPL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Richard Turnor recommends - Make it stand out Super-infinite: the Transformations of John Donne Katherine Rundell In my adolescent schooldays, John Donne’s sermons were a staple of evening prayers. Every well thumbed copy of his work fell open at “To His Mistress Going to Bed”. Yet John Donne and I still managed to part company for 50 years. No longer. This wonderful book is erudite but full of fun. It is packed with insights into Donne, his work and his troubled times. By the time you finish reading, you will long to meet both the author and her subject. I really cannot recommend this book too highly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/dafb8dc7-379e-4295-b136-e7c2478468df/Turnor%2C+Richard_3582286_1+4126-9555-7446+v1.jpg Blog - Richard Turnor recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/ed0897c2-b46b-4ba6-a575-01f927c6938f/91B5TZN-yEL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Richard Turnor recommends - Make it stand out Papyrus Irene Vallejo Irene Vallejo’s remarkable book, translated from Spanish, vividly demonstrates the profound cultural importance of writing. Papyrus is full of fascinating anecdotes about scribes, writers, philosophers, librarians, booksellers and anyone who inhabited the world of books. It describes how the stories of ancient travelling bards gained permanence and popularity when they could be recorded, and disseminated, in the form of scrolls, codices and then books. It then embarks on a compelling, if sometimes rambling, journey through the history of mainly Western literature. This book is the perfect companion for a trip to the Middle East, Greece or Italy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/766b0f6c-a95b-4dfb-ada7-d1492987c24f/81p64yrAYVL._SL1000_.jpg Blog - Richard Turnor recommends - Make it stand out Rubicon Tom Holland All three of Tom Holland’s books about Ancient Rome (Rubicon, Dynasty and Pax) are superb, but start with Rubicon. Using the language of a modern day reporter, and covering key people and events as well as the everyday lives of slaves and citizens, Tom Holland’s books make you realise the startling relevance of the Roman world for us today. I kept finding myself pondering the lessons for us. Is Donald Trump a modern day Caesar? Can Roman dependence on slavery and free bread be compared to our own dependence on immigration and welfare? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/e2b1bbd6-ddd5-42ae-83c2-1931c7251d04/81EgkvuMZHL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Richard Turnor recommends - Make it stand out Entangled Life Merlin Sheldrake This book is all about fungi, those mysterious organisms that teem in the ground beneath our feet and even on and in our own bodies. The author’s description of highly prized truffles and hallucinogenic mushrooms is so intimate that one wonders whether both may have been his entrée to this subject. The discussion ranges far and wide- from how mycorrhizal fungi enable trees to communicate through the wood wide web to how fungi can break down oils and plastics in an industrial process, for example. A walk in the woods with the author, like the fungi themselves, might change the way you see the world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/c1f44482-d82a-43f0-bf5d-d699162fde0b/716Eo4UqofL._SL1000_.jpg Blog - Richard Turnor recommends - Make it stand out The Stream Brian Clarke This book lyrically tells the story a stream which, after thousands of years of continuity, is choked to death by a few years of thoughtless human activity. It is written from the point of view of the last surviving trout. In my own lifetime, I have seen a stream just like that starved of water by excessive extraction, poisoned by chemicals and infested by alien American signal crayfish. Yet the mayfly still hatch every Spring and the damsel flies in June, and young kingfishers still congregate near their nest in September. Last week an otter swam ten yards from our kitchen window, enjoying a ride on the floodwaters of Storm Bert. Hope springs eternal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/a7c74ae9-4633-430b-aaee-0cb0ced27d84/81S7WKVyCXL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Richard Turnor recommends - Make it stand out A Gentlemen in Moscow Amor Towles This unlikely story is about a Russian aristocrat who is placed by the Bolsheviks under house arrest in a smart Moscow hotel. He cannot get out, but as he morphs from guest to head waiter over many decades, he observes what is happening in Soviet Russia. His relationships with hotel staff and guests, including a senior government apparatchik, a dissident, a beautiful actress, a six year old girl and the chef, are his window on the world. This book shows how a person can survive, and even thrive, when their world has fallen apart. All it takes is charm, curiosity and compassion. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/twelve-little-books-of-christmas-aj2fd monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/966c409b-6b6b-4b96-b95c-992d8fff0734/91%2Bim9LLHWL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Twelve Little Books of Christmas - Make it stand out The Snowman Recommended by Millie Raftery and Clare Powell The original book was narrated entirely through pictures so, as a child, the wordless storytelling lets you use your own imagination to essentially make up your own story. I used to love this book, probably as there was no chance of me getting the words wrong! - Millie Raftery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/422f917c-0dbc-4c57-a5a0-a95816580eec/91SPMT3I8nL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Twelve Little Books of Christmas - Make it stand out A Christmas Carol Recommended by Rupert Ticehurst I read A Christmas Carol every year and, when my children were younger, I read it to them every December. The full text is a bit much for young ones, so I just acted out the dialogue (I love the meeting between Scrooge and his nephew: “What reason have you to be merry? You’re poor enough.”; “What reason have you to be morose? You’re rich enough.”). The book is obviously dated, and younger readers would probably do better with an abridged version (of which there are many). Once they have read the book (or, better, had it read to them), they can watch A Muppets Christmas Carol (which confusingly has two Marleys). A far more challenging TV adaptation of A Christmas Carol (definitely not for children, as it is a bit grim) is produced by FX: this stars Guy Pearce, who is brilliant, and is not a cheesy everything-ends-well version. It was on iPlayer for the last few years, but it has been dropped by the BBC, which is a shame because it is a breathtaking adaptation. You can however find it on YouTube. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/88a395ce-0878-49e2-a458-7def527e1e16/A1QfQYSY1OL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Twelve Little Books of Christmas - Make it stand out The Night Before Christmas Recommended by Claire Weeks, Clare Powell, Mary Campbell, Susan Turnball and Rupert Ticehurst (see below) A true classic. My favourite when I was young and now I am a parent myself. Magical. - Claire Weeks I loved this as a child and still read it every Christmas Eve. - Clare Powell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/0d1e918d-3dd9-4f78-9089-ee9a2598bf50/Screenshot+2024-12-11+111008.png Blog - Twelve Little Books of Christmas - Make it stand out The Jolly Christmas Postman Recommended by Claire Weeks, Stuart Smyth and Mary Campbell Not just a book! Funny for children and adults alike, it contains puzzles, letters and other delights. - Claire Weeks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/74598946-b092-411a-9383-00ff1c9748a7/A1hXiKMpx-L._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Twelve Little Books of Christmas - Make it stand out Goodnight Santa Recommended by Claire Weeks A more modern choice, but one that is great for bedtime in the lead up to Christmas and has real rhythm that makes it a delight to read. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/ab0654ab-5bd7-4a3b-aaa9-121eb82438c9/71gA-ExMI7L._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Twelve Little Books of Christmas - Make it stand out Mistletoe and Murder Recommended by Mary Campbell Children’s Christmas books are generally focussed on younger children – there’s no shortage of stories based on the Nativity story itself or tales of Santa and his elves. By the time kids hit teenage years, it’s generally all about Christmas movies. Or at least that was certainly the case in our house until a couple of years ago when my daughter discovered ‘Mistletoe and Murder’. ‘Mistletoe and Murder’ is the fifth book in the ‘Murder Most Unladlylike’ series written by Robin Stevens. The heroines of the books are Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong who set up their own detective agency at Deepdean School for Girls. In ‘Mistletoe and Murder’, Daisy and Hazel are spending Christmas in snowy Cambridge but are distracted from the festivities by a murder in Maudlin College. The books (there are 10 in the series) are aimed at 9-12 year olds though my 15 year old will still happily curl up this Christmas on the sofa with a mincepie, a hot chocolate and her copy of ‘Mistletoe and Murder’. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/9cc831fc-98ff-4776-a8f4-52ef1c079919/chris-benson-UWq1B5gpBIE-unsplash.jpg Blog - Twelve Little Books of Christmas - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/1fea9dee-af8c-4983-bb93-ef00ce34e5cf/91oNrtvNOZL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Twelve Little Books of Christmas - Make it stand out A Visit from St. Nicholas Recommended by Rupert Ticehurst When my children were young, I read this poem to them every evening in the build up to Christmas – I would leave off the last word of each line and they would take it in turns to give me missing the word (‘Twas a night before Christmas, when all through the ……. Not a creature was stirring, not even a ……..). Now that my children have grown up, I still bring the book out at Christmas, and they humour me by giving me the last word from each line. It is a lovely Christmas poem, and I cannot imagine any child not loving it. There are various readings of the poem on the internet, including one with the King: 'Twas the night before Christmas... https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/cd6995c2-5d10-4f7a-9b6e-ff68e870728f/81CLtlYdHgL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Twelve Little Books of Christmas - Make it stand out A Child’s Christmas in Wales Recommended by Ceris Gardner It evokes wonderful memories of being a very small child at Christmas: getting freezing cold and wet playing in the snow (in the days when we had snow at Christmas!), the huge excitement, unwrapping presents and, typical of Dylan Thomas, the prose is fabulous. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/49a969fc-6aac-42be-9396-ff918ff0b9a2/Screenshot+2024-12-11+112508.png Blog - Twelve Little Books of Christmas - Make it stand out Merry Christmas Blue Kangaroo Recommended by Jennifer Chambers A festive story about the build up to Christmas and finding the perfect present for someone you love – my children loved the sentiment and the beautiful illustrations! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/f0f1e4b5-ab62-499a-a395-82b4f6ebd0fe/81L69F7I9LL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Twelve Little Books of Christmas - Make it stand out Mog’s Christmas Recommended by Claire Weeks Beautifully illustrated, like all Judith Kerr’s family favourites, the disruption of Christmas throws Mog’s routine into chaos – we all know how that feels! Unlike Mog, I do not generally choose to spend the night on the roof… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/1cad1507-b160-4f84-b6d9-9a6de3af221c/81hVts1U%2BxL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Twelve Little Books of Christmas - Make it stand out Stickman Recommended by Claire Weeks Like the debate over whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie (it is), it could be debated whether Stickman is a Christmas book (it is). My favourite of all the Julia Donaldson books, the appearance of Santa (a “stuck man”) and a heartwarming ending are all the Christmas credentials this book needs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/37aaf980-dfb6-4773-8678-26c869292be3/91E3PMDwT%2BL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Twelve Little Books of Christmas - Make it stand out Snow Day Recommended by Rebecca Fisher Whether you are a child or an adult, most dream of a snow days! This is the story of Danny who is the only boy who goes to school on the Snow Day to find his least favourite teacher being the only teacher in school. Danny’s day certainly does not turn out how he expected. This is a beautiful and moving story and one that both my children and I adored. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/simon-davies-recommends-ft3th-24pnt-fx3gh-ale64-j3er4-nsfb3-bmxhd-a95dh monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/e82e094c-87ee-44ff-b824-de10ed44de8f/71Hvy9UZ3PL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Simon Davies recommends - Make it stand out The Six Wives of Henry VIII Alison Weir At almost 800 pages, the book is a very substantial read and contains a treasure trove of fascinating information and insight into the incredible lives of six of the most well-known Queens of England. It is in my view definitely worth the effort and will reward a persevering reader handsomely. I have managed to get through it multiple times, retaining more of it on each occasion. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/b8911dce-dfc2-4136-8bcb-e196bbcab83e/9781473665101_1493x2316.jpg Blog - Simon Davies recommends - Make it stand out Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Giles Milton First published in 2016 following the release of a tranche of Winston Churchill’s WW2 papers. Milton’s fast-paced story of how six men (aided by a number of extraordinary women and a much larger number of incredibly brave soldiers) audaciously, repeatedly and (mostly) successfully engaged in a secret campaign of guerrilla warfare against vital Nazi strategic installations makes for terrific reading (if you like that sort of thing). The 2024 Guy Ritchie movie (the title of which omits “Churchill’s”) is very watchable but much less satisfying than Milton’s book (IMHO). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/3d8edd0a-ca73-4f4d-8ff6-dd56b4ed13ce/61j5Du0EzAL._SL1200_.jpg Blog - Simon Davies recommends - Make it stand out Les Miserables Victor Hugo All 1500 pages of it were first published in Belgium in 1862. I first read this at school well before the first notes of music were played in 1985. You all know the story (or at least the bits told in the fantastic musical, the Hollywood movie and the recent Dominic West TV series) so I won’t say anything more about that. I was personally delighted when I learned that most of the book was written whilst Victor Hugo was in exile in my home island of Guernsey (the exiles lasted from 1855 until 1870 and then again from 1872-1873). Les Miserables was clearly a labour of love: the first pages were written (I think) in Paris in 1845 but the last were penned in Belgium (in a field overlooking the battlefield at Waterloo, apparently) in 1862. But the majority were written just down the road from where I am typing these words some 162 years after it was first published. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/cec07727-6307-44df-978b-ccefc768f19b/818qyOxgVCL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Simon Davies recommends - Make it stand out The Running Grave Robert Galbraith We all know that Robert Galbraith is the pen-name of the fabulous J. K. Rowling. I could very easily have just listed all of the Harry Potter books in this piece. My son (at the age of less than 1) gifted me the first three books for Christmas 2001. I think my wife may have helped but since then I have been enchanted with the prose of JKR. This is the sixth of the Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacot’s detective agency “adventures”. I could have suggested any of the other books in the series as well but I do think this latest book is the most compelling (and terrifying) of the books so far. It’s terrifying because Robin goes undercover into a dangerous cult who starve and abuse their members. The writing is compelling and tells a tale that some pigs are more equal than others. Much more. And I won’t even begin to tell you how the Strike/Ellacott relationship is left at the very end of the book. If you’ve read the other books, it’s worth reading for that alone. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/c47a04e6-dd31-4d90-a51b-f46d9d1239df/A1jbiN7GpCS._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Simon Davies recommends - Make it stand out Lewin on Trusts I read some paragraphs of this really helpful text every day as a contentious trusts lawyer. Sometimes I read them out loud in court in Guernsey as persuasive in my jurisdiction. I haven’t worked out who the heroes and the villans are (or indeed what the plot is) but perhaps before I retire I might? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/647f6f27-ab55-4120-b773-c09bc2672e3c/81R-UQ5MDcL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Simon Davies recommends - Make it stand out My Family and Other Animals Gerald Durrell This is the favourite book from my childhood (only Roald Dahl’s Danny Champion of the World is in the same league for me). It inspired me to read every night as a child. It’s the first and the best of Durrell’s Corfu Trilogy (the other books being Birds, Beasts and Relatives (1969) and The Garden of the Gods (1978)). It’s an inspiring tale of the adventure of the youngest child, his three siblings and Louisa (his extraordinary mother) moving from Bournemouth to Corfu and residing there from 1935-1939. It’s not an autobiography and I suspect that much is fictionalised or at least dramatized but it is a compelling tale of a 10-year old’s thirst for knowledge and his love of all animals great and small. And of the devotion of his elder brother, Leslie, to firearms. As a Guernsey resident, I should make clear that the fact that Gerald Durrell went on to found the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Jersey only improves his literary contribution to me! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/e4cadc98-65d2-428d-9aee-986aa2b58a76/formal-4516-simon-davies-edit-1.jpg Blog - Simon Davies recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/alyssa-haggarty-recommends-ft3th-24pnt-ttzpw monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/55a6eda4-3918-4bc4-ad21-ca643ee26b68/91azu56RVeL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Alyssa Haggarty recommends - Make it stand out 100 Morning Treats Sarah Kieffer For sweet treats, my mom recently introduced me to Sarah Kieffer’s 100 Morning Treats and 100 Cookies. One bite of the carrot cake muffins with brown butter cream cheese frosting was enough to convince me to add Sarah’s book to my collection. The Great MTG Bake-Off is kicking off soon, and the carrot cake muffins are a strong contender. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/48074d0b-cc95-4ff1-98f4-cf5254dfe06f/A1aERCOF4ZL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Alyssa Haggarty recommends - Make it stand out Berber & Q: On Vegetables: Recipes for barbequing, grilling, roasting, smoking, pickling and slow-cooking Josh Katz The newest addition to my collection is Josh Katz’ cookbook on vegetables which comes highly recommended by Ed Powles in our team. Before opening his own restaurant, Josh worked with industry greats including Ottolenghi. I have never heard so many people rave about charred hispi cabbage and this is the first on my list of recipes to try this autumn. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/506290fb-f6f7-4a02-ae87-38d7ed6cdb8a/915J2%2BkWSeL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Alyssa Haggarty recommends - Make it stand out Eating Out Loud: Bold Middle Eastern Flavours for All Day, Everyday Eden Grinshpan Eden is the host of Top Chef Canada. Her recipes are big and flavour and fun. I love the bold and colourful ingredients that are found in Middle Eastern food. On weekends you will find me at the greengrocer carrying armfuls of herbs and vegetables to chop, blitz and pickle. My favourite evenings with friends involve a table filled with colourful bowls of Eden’s zingy dips, salads and spreads that are stuffed into pitas and promptly devoured. Eden’s Tahini Caesar has become a weeknight staple in my house. Her Chicken Shawarma, complete with garlic tahini sauce, chopped salad, zhoug, amba (pickled mango sauce) and pickled onions is a crowd pleaser. Like me, Eden is Canadian and appreciates sneaking a little maple syrup into recipes wherever possible. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/fa239779-d829-4b7f-b407-e76bd05cdfdf/alyssa-haggarty.jpg Blog - Alyssa Haggarty recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/0384a798-69e2-41c7-939f-17e2ac6415a7/71DsV1SOtfL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Alyssa Haggarty recommends - Make it stand out Everyday Dorie: The Way I Cook Dorie Greenspan If I could only keep one cookbook out of my collection, it would be this classic by Dorie Greenspan. Dorie has worked with some of the greats, including Julia Child and Pierre Hermé, and likes to “sneak in a surprise” to her recipes, like cranberries in her Subtly Spicy, Softly Hot, Slightly Sweet Beef Stew. This is my dish to impress. I often ask my friends what they would make if they were auditioning for Masterchef - this is mine! This is a cookbook that makes you feel like a proper chef, with French classics (hello, lemon fennel chicken-in-a-pot) mixed with unexpected flavours like gochujang, ginger and star anise. For those with a sweet tooth, Dorie’s apple custard crisp is the best apple crisp I have ever had. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/4e552243-5df1-4054-97c5-949fc71c38ad/712to-oIcGL._SL1248_.jpg Blog - Alyssa Haggarty recommends - Make it stand out What’s Gaby Cooking: Eat What You Wany Gaby Dalkin Gaby Dalkin lives in the US and is a former personal chef to the stars. Gaby is one of my favourite chefs for (truly) 30 minute weekday meals, as well as party menus and cocktails. I own four of her cookbooks, one of which can usually be found on the kitchen counter. Chicken Larb Bowls is one of Gaby’s most popular recipes and is available on her website here. I am a fan of bold Thai flavours, and with lemongrass, lime leaves, coconut milk and Thai basil, this recipe does not disappoint. It’s a great “clear out the fridge recipe” and I never make it the same way twice. When deciding how much garlic and ginger to add, the limit does not exist. As my French friend likes to say, “Garlic should not be measured, but felt by the heart”. A word of caution - despite attempts to double this recipe, it rarely results in leftovers. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/james-von-simson-recommends-ft3th-24pnt-fx3gh-ale64-j3er4-nsfb3-bmxhd monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/6de19d6e-310c-4acb-a2b4-8a37dca144fa/716wsM2HDQL._SL1000_.jpg Blog - James von Simson recommends - Make it stand out Memphis Tara M. Stringfellow Stringfellow’s lush, florid, writing juxtaposes the grim reality of trauma inflicted on three generations of the female members of the family across a century. It’s only as I type this that I now see quite a patten in my favourite fiction! Perhaps I’m now rejecting all the Flashman novels I read as a child. Memphis is told through constantly shifting perspectives, moving back and forth though time, capturing the creativity and strength of each of the four main characters as they face the challenges of societal change to the horrors of extreme familial violence. In the end, rather than feeling battered on their behalf, you are energised by their resilience and loyalty. The book is a love letter not just to the town of Stringfellow’s birth but the women who built it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/ebe37ec6-f18e-4bd7-b33c-a93a25f305e6/71xbQRcqSzL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - James von Simson recommends - Make it stand out The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear Walter Moers We all know cats have nine lives, but did you know blue bears have twenty seven? Covering the first half of his lives, the book starts with Bluebear, found adrift in a walnut shell by a band of mini-pirates. He is elevated to stardom by hobgoblins, befriended by talking waves, saved by a pterodactyl, traverses a desert of sugar, visits the 2364th Dimension and defeats the King of Lies in an epic 99-round Duel of Lies™. In the pantheon of Hitchikers Guide… and Discworld, did I read this as a bedtime story for someone or myself. Who could possibly say… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/c7d5c17f-48bf-441a-9d90-fb48964d2c2b/61OEqSKOHxL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - James von Simson recommends - Make it stand out Igifu Scholastique Mukasonga Mukasonga’s writing career only started in her mid-fifties, 20 years after 37 members of her family were killed during the Rwanda genocide, with her multi-award winning autobiographical debut Cockroaches. Originally published in French in 2010, Igifu is her follow up collection of short stories and her first work of fiction. Heartbreaking in their evocation, at the centre of the stories lie the struggle of the Tutsi community, portraits of exiles in Burundi and France and the insidious legacy of Rwanda’s Christianisation; the eradication of history and tradition by missionaries. Something she subsequently describes as an urgent duty of remembrance, paper graves she had to build for her family, to counteract the anonymity of those without a burial. Immediately beautiful, the stories begin gently, almost inconsequentially, before falling into the inevitable heart rendering, frequently violent, conclusions. Igifu reads like a liberation of memories, a form of therapy, to release but never forget. When I finished I immediately started again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/f9313c5b-e313-4750-bf08-fa7406d4e0b8/81fN5Y9c0sL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - James von Simson recommends - Make it stand out Home Going Yaa Gyasi Homegoing is about the afterlife of the transatlantic slave trade and an unflinching look at West Africa’s role. Beginning in the 18th century in what became what become Ghana with a young girl sold by her father to a slaver trader as his child bride. Only to be taken to live in Cape Coast Castle where her half-sister is held in the dungeon after being kidnapped in an earlier raid. The book then unfurls across seven generations of their different blood lines across the US and Ghana and three centuries. From the horrors of slavery and colonial rule to the struggle for independence in one country to the struggle for civil rights in another. It is love rather than suffering which binds the stories together. Sweeping in scope and yet so personal as to make the time and place of each story inconsequential. Gyasi successfully braids the two tales together, a true generation saga. “We believe the one who has the power. He is the one who gets to write the story. So when you study history, you must always ask yourself, Whose story am I missing?” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/a3f71843-9ade-4d5a-b4f6-8b945dd1ed0c/James-Von-Simson_0.jpg Blog - James von Simson recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/58000dc2-9f5e-4593-80ab-9ca3165c62a1/61vz6J2X55L._SL1500_.jpg Blog - James von Simson recommends - Make it stand out Faith, Hope and Carnage Nick Cave & Seán O’Hagan I’m neither a Nick Cave fan, nor a man of faith, and yet his book, in the form of a series of interviews, about the creative process, failed rehab, the power of, and his battle with, Christianity and grief in the face of losing his son literally stopped me in my tracks several times (listening to Nick’ baritone voice read the book on Audible added an extra, gutpunching, dimension). The book is both intensely personal and yet supremely generous; Cave has a way with words I judiciously steal from. Hope is optimism with a broken heart. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/c227d1f8-15f4-44a3-8c34-663c53280c4d/71aG0m9XRcL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - James von Simson recommends - Make it stand out The Psychology of Money Morgan Housel From senior trustees to the rising gen of enterprising families. no other book recommendation has elicited so many “THANK YOU” responses. Our individual experiences mean we learn profoundly different lessons on about risk and reward, lesson that fail to appreciate the role luck plays in our individual success and envy plays in our recklessness. Competitive advantage comes from nuance, communication, empathy and flexibility, not intelligence and technical skills which are increasingly automated away. Success comes from recognising wealth isn’t just financial and the destination is ‘enough’ and not ‘more than’. These are the shared and timeless lessons on wealth, greed and happiness. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/annmarie-carvalho-recommends-ft3th-24pnt-fx3gh-ale64-j3er4-nsfb3 monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/051a9672-7ef7-4bc3-b562-e15a4d24a6aa/61neqHuLu5L._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Annmarie Carvalho recommends - Make it stand out Leading Professionals: Power, Politics and Prima Donnas Laura Empson This is an excellent book about the inner workings of law firms and other professional services firms. Professor Empson describes lawyers as classic ‘insecure overachievers’ and encapsulates beautifully the phenomenon of imposter syndrome in high achievers. She also has valuable insights on leadership, good and bad, within professional services and how power dynamics evolve. A brilliant read for anyone who wants to understand the profession’s inner workings more thoroughly. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/e9874931-c8a6-4234-b290-2a9c82637f33/content.jfif Blog - Annmarie Carvalho recommends - Make it stand out The Creative Lawyer Michael Melcher This is a great book for anyone in the profession who is feeling hum drum, uninspired and unsure about what they want to do next. It contains various exercises and helps to spark ideas as to how to reignite your career. I love the fact this book focuses on imagination and inspiration – putting paid to the idea that lawyers can’t be creative in their work and their lives! I used it myself when I was at a crossroads in my career and it helped me to create the (very fulfilling) career I have now. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/4a8f9d43-e34f-46cc-a85a-e4632aa01bcd/174635.jpg Blog - Annmarie Carvalho recommends - Make it stand out Goddesses in Every Woman Jean Shinoda Bolen I finish my list with another fabulous female writer. A Jungian Analyst and author of a number of fabulous books, my favourites are this one and its counterpart ‘Gods in Every Man’. Bolen brings the Greek archetypes to life and explains how each one can manifest in our present day lives in our characters. She’s a beautiful writer, describing how these archetypes can assist and hinder us in our lives. I so enjoyed seeing different archetypes come to the fore at different stages in my life. It’s fascinating spotting yourself in this book – for me, I saw a strong Artemis streak. Check it out and see which archetypes you relate to! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/5fa33e51-abdb-4d00-896d-9a6f361b839d/9781572244252.jpg Blog - Annmarie Carvalho recommends - Make it stand out Get Out of Your Mind and Into your Life Steven C. Hayes This is another therapeutic workbook which is really effective and which I often recommend to others. A cognitive behavioural therapist I worked with when I was a trainee solicitor and struggling with self-doubt and low self esteem introduced me to it and I still go back to it. It’s one of the main texts from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy – the new wave of CBT which I find much more effective than the old approach. Traditional CBT focuses on trying to change thoughts and feelings. But with ACT the focus is on working towards noticing and accepting your feelings whilst becoming more conscious of your values and keeping them at the forefront of your life. I find it much more effective. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/91c55640-0bbe-4e1e-bda1-00a987b575be/0W0A9439.jpg Blog - Annmarie Carvalho recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/b86a61f5-7f2a-4126-806c-45a376c1a935/content+%281%29.jfif Blog - Annmarie Carvalho recommends - Make it stand out When Things Fall Apart Pema Chödrön I go back to this book time and time again when I’m having a hard time. Pema Chodron is a remarkable woman – an American woman who became a Buddhist nun, teacher and author with a down to earth, gritty approach to helping you find peace in turbulent times. She writes beautifully about her own experiences, including her own divorce, which gives so much power to her message. I love all of her books but this is my personal favourite. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/22d0769d-9c0e-4f73-abf0-4a999c33bd3b/71Xq5apH1hL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Annmarie Carvalho recommends - Make it stand out Rebel Ideas Matthew Syed I love all of Matthew Syed’s book but this is the one I’ve read most recently and, again, this book is all about creativity at its heart. About thinking about things differently. I love writers like Syed and Malcolm Gladwell who are so readable and who fuse ideas from all over the place – from all sorts of different countries and industries which you might assume have nothing in common. A number of law firms I’ve worked with have used ideas from this book to help them improve openness at work and to conduct team meetings differently, encouraging communication and breaking down the aspect of hierarchies which can stymy people’s honesty. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/nearly-departed-ft3th-24pnt-fx3gh-grekw-ld5pc monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/0d812a9c-ab60-4daf-8eb1-ebec60710808/813YONgzmhL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - MTG Recommends - Nearly Departed - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/catherine-grum-recommends-ft3th-24pnt-fx3gh-ale64-j3er4 monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/72c34f96-da9e-4e78-9045-d31362e3e27a/Catherine%2BGrum_high%2Bres.jpg Blog - Catherine Grum recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/1a990717-0ffb-4fbb-8398-0cdfa58babb8/81tNrXctI2L._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Catherine Grum recommends - Make it stand out Postmortem Patricia Cornwell This book and the series that followed still remain favourites of mine years after I first read them. “Postmortem” is the gripping debut that introduced me to Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a crime-solving medical examiner in Richmond, Virginia. Cornwell’s strong female characters, meticulous attention to forensic detail and her ability to craft a real page-turning narrative make them standout for me in what I have to admit is my favourite genre. This first story follows Scarpetta as she investigates a series of brutal murders targeting women in Richmond. Using her expertise in forensic science she uncover the critical clues in a race to unlock what has been going on before the killer strikes again. What I found most compelling is how Cornwell weaves together the technical aspects of the investigation with Scarpetta’s personal struggles and determination. The result is a character who is both deeply human and exceptionally skilled. Not for the squeamish, Cornwell’s writing brings the gritty reality of crime scenes to life, making you feel as though you’re right there with Scarpetta. The stories are full of suspense and I find them hard to put down right until the very end. It’s not just a story about solving crimes; you also become invested in the characters, their relentless pursuit of justice and the toll it takes on them. For anyone who loves a good mystery with a strong, intelligent protagonist, “Postmortem” is a great read. It’s a powerful introduction to a series that has become a cornerstone of the crime thriller genre. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/19890744-3c86-4233-bd39-c9ea3f22824a/714cA0RQWlL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Catherine Grum recommends - Make it stand out Wild Cheryl Strayed This memoir by Cheryl Strayed really captivated me. It describes the author’s journey as she hikes over 1,000 miles along the Pacific Crest Trail. Struggling in the aftermath of her mother’s death, her marriage breakdown and a period of self-destructive behaviour, she embarks on this adventure alone, with little experience or preparation, barely able to stand under the weight of her rucksack. I really loved how vividly Strayed captures the breathtaking landscapes and gruelling physical challenges she faced. From blistered feet and brutal weather to close encounters with the local wildlife, every step of her journey is a testament to her resilience. At the same time, it deals with her emotional journey too. She writes with raw honesty about her struggles and how she finds strength, solace and ultimately redemption. As someone who enjoys the outdoors and loves a good challenge, I found “Wild” incredibly inspiring. It’s a beautiful tribute to the healing power of nature and a reminder of what can be achieved with determination and perseverance. If you’re looking for a book that will move you and make you want to lace up your hiking boots, this is it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/d7f81fa0-1094-4b03-b344-c6326124485b/91j4%2BAuhuUL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Catherine Grum recommends - Make it stand out Family Trusts James E. Hughes Jr., Hartley Goldstone, and Keith Whitaker The book “Family Trusts” by James E. Hughes Jr., Hartley Goldstone, and Keith Whitaker changed the way I think about trusts. While I have mixed views on the use of trusts, I was still surprised to read quite how many beneficiaries often have a negative relationship with their trusts, feeling burdened rather than blessed by them. In one survey they mention, as many as 80% of beneficiaries view their trusts as a burden. This negative perception is often due to the complexities and responsibilities associated with managing the trust, as well as feelings of disconnection from its purpose. The book goes on to provide strategies to transform these negative experiences into positive ones. The concept of a ‘good gift’ is central to this. The authors make a crucial distinction between a gift and a transaction: a gift is given with the intention of benefiting the recipient without expecting anything in return, whereas a transaction is an exchange of value. The impact on the recipients can be very different. They argue that a well-structured trust can be a gift of love that goes beyond financial support. To achieve this, it requires careful planning, clear communication, and a commitment to nurturing the well-being of all involved. The book provides practical advice on how to build and maintain a trust that truly benefits the family, emphasizing the importance of positive relationships and emotional intelligence. Another thing that sets this book apart for me is its focus on what it takes to be a good beneficiary. The authors emphasize that being a beneficiary is not just about receiving financial benefits but also about understanding the responsibilities and opportunities that come with it. They explore how beneficiaries can engage positively with the trust, fostering a sense of stewardship and responsibility. For anyone working with trusts, this book offers a new perspective with its deep insights into the emotional dynamics at play. I believe that trusts aren’t always the best solution for families with significant wealth and this book reinforces that view. However, it also demonstrated how, when trusts are used well (and as part of a broader strategy), they can provide not only financial benefits but also support the personal growth and well-being of their beneficiaries. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/c7e81b72-a02d-489b-b36a-aa1afc58a7a2/81PdkxXJObL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Catherine Grum recommends - Make it stand out The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Charlie Mackesy This delightful book was a Christmas present for my son, but I must confess, it was also a gift for myself. “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” is a beautiful exploration of friendship and the wonders of nature, accompanied by equally enchanting illustrations (you may well have seen some of these as they are widely shared on social media). The story follows four unlikely friends—a boy, a mole, a fox, and a horse—on a heartwarming and poignant adventure. What makes this book so special are the profound yet simple conversations the characters engage in. Each represents different aspects of human nature: the boy embodies innocence and wonder, the mole is curious and pursues simple joys (especially cake!), the fox symbolizes the struggles and fears we all carry, and the horse stands for wisdom and tranquillity. The artwork beautifully complements the narrative, enhancing the emotions conveyed through their journey. The insights in this book resonate deeply with me, emphasizing the importance of kindness, having courage to ask for help, and the value of being present in the moment. The language is accessible for children, especially when paired with the illustrations, yet it never feels simplified. The book is filled with short, impactful quotes that I find myself returning to often. If you’re looking for a heartwarming and uplifting read that celebrates the essence of friendship and the beauty of life’s simple moments, “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” is a must-have. It’s a treasure for both children and adults alike. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/f45be5b5-4593-47dd-9e25-a4cdc225d5fd/71K%2BW8hBgDL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Catherine Grum recommends - Make it stand out The Top Five Regrets of the Dying Bronnie Ware Authored by Bronnie Ware, a former palliative care nurse, “the Top Five Regrets of the Dying” offers a unique glimpse into the experiences of patients nearing the end of their lives. While this is obviously a moving topic, the approach is caring and inspiring, rather than grim. Through her narrative, Ware gently conveys the wisdom gained from her patients during their life reflections and provides a compelling perspective on what truly matters. Based on her experience, Ware identified the most common regrets expressed by those nearing the end of their lives as (i) wishing they had the courage to live a life true to themselves, (ii) not working so hard, (iii) expressing their feelings more openly, (iv) staying in touch with friends, and (v) allowing themselves to be happier. She brings these to light with stories that are both hart-wrenching and uplifting, emphasising the importance of living authentically and prioritizing relationships and personal happiness over societal expectations and material success. This book is a gentle reminder that it’s never too late to make changes and live a life without regrets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/1650825e-e63f-4f58-9de4-81d5f8a4653b/61zDFL%2BbJ6L._SL1250_.jpg Blog - Catherine Grum recommends - Make it stand out The Beekeeper of Aleppo Christy Lefteri “The Beekeeper of Aleppo” by Christy Lefteri is a novel that left a profound impact on me, especially as a mother. It tells the heart-wrenching story of Nuri, a beekeeper, and his wife Afra, an artist, as they flee war-torn Syria in search of safety and a new life in Europe. Their journey is fraught with unimaginable challenges and loss, yet it is also a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. What struck me most about this book is how Lefteri brings the refugee crisis to life through the eyes of one family. The personal narrative of Nuri and Afra is far more vivid and powerful than any news report or statistic. Their love, pain, and hope are palpable, making the broader crisis feel deeply personal and immediate. Lefteri’s writing beautifully captures the landscapes and the emotional turmoil of their journey. From the bustling streets of Aleppo to the perilous crossings and refugee camps, every scene is rendered with poignant detail. The story is not just about survival, but about finding light in the darkest of times and the enduring power of love and memory. I think one of the values of reading fiction is that it can really connect us to the human experience which makes “The Beekeeper of Aleppo” a must-read for me. It’s a powerful reminder of the individual lives behind the headlines and the incredible strength and resilience that can emerge from the most harrowing circumstances. If you’re looking for a book that will move you and open your eyes to the human side of the global refugee crisis, this is it. Tissues recommended. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/bertie-russell-recommends-ft3th-24pnt-fx3gh-ale64 monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/afa87c94-9b23-4c4e-8e1d-e085d3df30b1/content.jpg Blog - Bertie Russell recommends - Make it stand out Matilda Roald Dahl This is the first book I couldn’t put down. I read this voraciously as I was walking between school lessons at the age of 10 so transfixed in the wonderfully vivid world of Dahl’s imagination. With my kids I have rediscovered his stories and many family car journeys are now filled with his audio stories. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/2d9dd03c-34a6-40a8-babb-88384291ead1/81k9w0hE9%2BL._SL1500_+%281%29.jpg Blog - Bertie Russell recommends - Make it stand out Lessons in Chemistry Bonnie Garmus Wonderfully fast paced novel with great characters and insights into 1960s America from a female perspective. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/38560683-73e6-4d21-959f-f5d8e5d9a106/81L9R4t40OL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Bertie Russell recommends - Make it stand out The Millionaire Next Door Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko I have a secret obsession of personal finance. This book is certainly not for the masses, but I loved how this book uncovers the humility of the vast majority of the financially wealthy. In a world filled with brash social media narcissism this book brings some honesty and reality to the quietly humble and consistent people out there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/9f5bf0cd-1d56-4bf1-9c20-157c15a82a6d/Bertie+Russell+%28portrait%29.jpg Blog - Bertie Russell recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/ca89fba0-6c8c-4e37-afeb-76f55a23d562/71HamifdtQL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Bertie Russell recommends - Make it stand out Never Split the Difference Chris Voss and Tahl Raz Former Head of Hostage Negotiation for the FBI, Christopher Voss is a MASTER of negotiation. As someone involved in a sales business this is fascinating, but he also brings to your attention that negotiation takes place in every aspect of life including with your kids! The lesson is really about genuinely listening. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/04f678cd-a8f4-449c-939a-6dc250d7ced7/71V-PeMYiJL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Bertie Russell recommends - Make it stand out The E-Myth Revisited Michael E. Gerber My siblings and I read this book during Covid in 2020. This book was the inspiration for many great things that have happened for our family business since that date. This book was revolutionary for personal and business development for me and I am very grateful for its learnings. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/29c0002f-8fae-47d4-8c67-810d05ab4886/71UiXYhxZNL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Bertie Russell recommends - Make it stand out Surrounded by Idiots Thomas Erikson An exploration into the four personality types. For self-awareness, self-discovery and empathy this book blew my mind! https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/mtg-recommends-ft3th-24pnt-fx3gh-grekw monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/38a96727-2415-48c4-a173-0395c1f98ad7/Screenshot+2024-05-28+100803.png Blog - MTG Recommends - Summer Edition - Make it stand out The Vietnam War Ken Burns and Lynn Novick Instead of a book I am recommending a TV series: The Vietnam War – a documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. It is over 17 hours long, but it is brilliantly made, and the subject matter is so extraordinary that it is totally compelling, informative, and appalling. It may not be how you envisage spending your summer sitting by the sea, but if you are interested in history it is essential viewing. You will be left in no doubt of the utter futility of war. Recommended by Rupert Ticehurst https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/9531e7e0-1014-4cbf-ab1b-54ae6deb3858/link-hoang-UoqAR2pOxMo-unsplash.jpg Blog - MTG Recommends - Summer Edition - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/e57e9148-c244-4c86-902b-6b49137e378b/81k9w0hE9%2BL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - MTG Recommends - Summer Edition - Make it stand out Lessons in Chemistry Bonnie Garmus A recommendation for a beach read. Recommended by Jennifer Emms https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/359ce556-918a-417a-8a6d-15e9e9317881/61ZVwuIAxdL._SL1000_.jpg Blog - MTG Recommends - Summer Edition - Make it stand out Slough House Mick Herron My recommendation is the Slough House series, by Mick Herron, recently made famous by the “Slow Horses” series on Apple TV. Brilliantly written and very funny. For anyone who loves spy novels! Recommended by Claire Weeks https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/a8ac29b7-f989-4840-a909-8c964d353112/81Ji5-ROqSL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - MTG Recommends - Summer Edition - Make it stand out The Romantic William Boyd Recommended by Fiona Poole https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/6a895dcf-c7d8-4797-a021-64201a7e713a/81Jk-jl3JfL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - MTG Recommends - Summer Edition - Make it stand out All The Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr Recommended by Fiona Poole https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/7be980c8-8208-4034-ad04-c546d0a119c3/810XLL7gvRL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - MTG Recommends - Summer Edition - Make it stand out Anxious People Fredrik Backman A sweet and sad and happy story with plot twists that take you by surprise. It’s an easy read that will make you smile. And if you liked “A man called Ove”, you will love this. I was reminded throughout of similarities in style before I realised it was by the same author! Recommended by Sophie Mazzier https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/991daf93-7cd6-47d8-a3ec-319f2ce28615/91CJqp3RwHL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - MTG Recommends - Summer Edition - Make it stand out Small Pleasures Clare Chambers Recommended by Fiona Poole https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/07c4d4b2-77c2-4140-b082-7ede1b64836c/71e7qo6ctbL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - MTG Recommends - Summer Edition - Make it stand out Sushi for Beginners Marian Keyes Recommended by Fiona Poole https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/dawn-register-recommends-ft3th-24pnt-fx3gh monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/559186f3-4222-480a-a599-32e867171924/71yuL6MgsUL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Dawn Register recommends - Make it stand out Follow The Money Paul Johnson Okay, this is the ‘tax geek’ in me bubbling to the surface! Also, if you are interested in politics and public finances, this is a book brimming with data and information. For me, I am always a fan of Paul Johnson’s budget commentary and so it was a natural purchase in the bookshop. It manages to hold your attention and not be dull at all. There are many interesting facts and myths misspelled. A relatively easy read if you want to understand how the UK economy raises and spends £1 trillion every year. In a year of so much political change around the world, I do think this is a great 2024 read. It was both education and pleasure at the same time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/9fcfc9ac-0ad0-41f8-98ed-261f98e20269/81S0J%2BRNVkL._SL1453_.jpg Blog - Dawn Register recommends - Make it stand out Real Cooking Nigel Slater This is ‘an oldie but a goodie’ on my permanent bookshelf for weekend reference and comfort. Also whenever I am asked to recommend one cookbook, particularly to people who either are nervous to get started, or want straightforward recipes this is the book I suggest. It is simple cooking for people who enjoy great food and want to cook it themselves. Nothing fancy or ‘cheffy’ here. Having grown up in the rich farmland of East Anglia surrounded by allotments and farm shops, this goes back to seasonal cooking of fruit and vegetables. Nigel Slater is brilliant at using seasonal produce to create meals that are both simple and tasty. In a complicated world, I find real pleasure in this book and the tips and learning it brings to you at home. He also usually has a glass of red wine on the go while cooking… which is not a bad tip either! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/16621888-af96-44df-b12c-d19f4d0d2228/Dawn+Register+Picture.JPG Blog - Dawn Register recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/72ef3e9c-71c2-42d1-8e71-82f4195072b7/91fmmjCP6FL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Dawn Register recommends - Make it stand out Grit Angela Duckworth Although this is an old business book. I go back to it time and time again for motivation and regularly recommend it to anyone in business asking for mentoring. Duckworth is a psychologist and focuses on what we need to succeed at anything in life, not only business. She focuses on concepts covering passion, resilience and hard work. There is a noticeable shift away from the notion of natural talent or luck. I particularly enjoy the practical examples, and find the back up, and notes helpful in my everyday routine. Unlike some academic psychology books, I find that this author writes in an accessible and interesting style that is directly applicable to personal and business life. I go back to it time and time again when I am faced with a new challenge or need a reminder on the basics. As my children reach the teenage years, I will be re-reading chapter 10 “parenting for grit”… maybe I will cross my fingers too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/2fa505d0-0172-4b79-8326-6a13e1f15e1d/81BjEV7Fv-L._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Dawn Register recommends - Make it stand out Drawn to The Garden Caroline Quentin Okay this is a bit of a cheat book as it has pictures and recipes. However, it is sheer indulgence for me as I am huge fan of Caroline‘s comedy and when I found out she also loves pottering around in the garden and growing her own fruit and vegetables, I knew she must be a soulmate. This book is a beautiful canter through an English garden with all the seeds, herbs, fresh fruit and flowers you can imagine. So vivid you could almost smell them on the page. I particularly like the whole chapter dedicated to our insect and fluffy friends in the garden. Writing this in springtime and reading this was a total joy. Also, in a world now focused on caring for our environment, this book gives you fantastic ideas for a healthy garden and a kitchen using all seasonal produce. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/0cc4e844-fbda-4608-8356-b3881b7099f1/81c6Npe7yKL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Dawn Register recommends - Make it stand out Mythos Stephen Fry A wonderful retelling of the Greek gods and goddesses for the current times. I was not so familiar with these extraordinary myths but this book brings them to life in a captivating way. It is a wonderful reminder of history of love, arguments and desires. From Athena and Zeus to Pandora. It is fun to read and left me feeling both relaxed and enthusiastic to discover more. Once you are in, you will not put it down. Joyful escapism. However, of course most of the myths are relevant to our troubled world and can be interpreted for their deeper meaning too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/61ddaf70-c55c-4c64-8fe1-c88992d0373f/71d0LrHLFkL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Dawn Register recommends - Make it stand out Give and Take Adam Grant For all you people who are interested in human psychology plus you enjoy TEDTalks and/or LinkedIn, I would suggest reading this book and following Adam Grant on LinkedIn. For organisational psychology he is fantastic. This is one of his older books, it is a great introduction and an ‘easy to read’ book to demystify lots of business jargon and concepts. It was for me one of the clearest explanations and practical examples of what we often call ‘business development’ and ‘building a network’. Grant looks at business collaboration and reciprocity, all of which can seem alien as a starter in business. However, this book is a great help to understand what this means and how to achieve success in practice. It also has plenty of support from the academic study and theory he uses in the book. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/ceris-gardner-recommends-ft3th-24pnt monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/7b999e45-fa8c-485f-9485-b1db631bbe89/ceris-gardner.jpg Blog - Ceris Gardner recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/a388fb10-b0c8-40ab-bd24-3f61d561a380/9780140177626.jpg Blog - Ceris Gardner recommends - Make it stand out The Quincunx: The Inheritance of John Huffam Charles Palliser This is a very long (over 1000 pages) Dickensian-like mystery novel set in 19th century England and follows the varying and intricate fortunes of a young man called John Huffam and his mother. The novel is described as a Victorian pastiche but don’t let that put you off. The novel is intriguing, the narrative is fast paced and presents a hidden story within the story. It is a compulsive read, so much so that I couldn’t put the book down even when in Venice celebrating my husband’s 50th birthday. It was almost the end of a marriage! Perhaps that’s why it is in my most memorable novels list… It really is such a page turner! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/4890d9e4-ae30-4604-b46f-407f1b562095/71sDDGFkInL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Ceris Gardner recommends - Make it stand out Lessons in Chemistry Bonnie Garmus I read this book a few months ago on the recommendation of MTG’s Sophie Mazzier (also a contributor to MTG Recommends) and I have been recommending it to friends ever since. They have all come back to say they enjoyed it so much that they couldn’t put it down. The story is about a female chemist in the 1960s whose career goes off the rails (misogyny at work) and eventually finds herself the reluctant presenter of a highly unusual cooking show that eventually becomes a huge success against all the odds. A lovely novel in every way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/4bd5c1ed-1fbb-4470-a8d7-15bf89077943/184708432X.jpg Blog - Ceris Gardner recommends - Make it stand out The Luminaries Eleanor Catton This novel is a really cleverly constructed and complex historical ghost/detective/crime story. It is set in New Zealand in 1866 and a young Walter Moody has arrived to make his fortune in the New Zealand goldfields. It evokes a world of shipping, banking, and gold rush boom and bust. Shortly after his arrival, Moody is drawn into the mystery of a series of unexplained events. A wealthy man has vanished, a prostitute has tried to end her life, and an enormous fortune has been discovered in the home of a luckless drunk: a network of fates and fortunes ensues. The novel is a gripping page-turner and I really enjoyed the many twists and turns. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/5c8e7146-dc3b-4b4b-9e1f-200be10106f1/816wm05KxxL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Ceris Gardner recommends - Make it stand out The Wolf Hall Trilogy Hilary Mantel I am sneaking three books in here for the “price” of one! These great historical novels are set in England in the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne but has no male heir and wants a divorce from his wife Anne Boleyn which the Pope is refusing to grant. Enter the “fixer” Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell is the son of a blacksmith, a devastating and ruthless political operator, an arch manipulator who bribes, charms and bullies to get results both on behalf of the King and in pursuit of his own interests. In Hilary Mantel’s brilliant novels, the psychology of the characters, what makes them tick, is explored in vivid and rich detail and there is never a dull moment. An absolute tour de force! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/c1310df2-ca4d-47c6-bcdc-7e26aed3911e/91%2BZ1x15cIL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Ceris Gardner recommends - Make it stand out One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest Ken Kesey This one falls into my category of “harrowing” novels. It had a profound effect on me at the time and has forever stuck in my mind as a great book. It has, as many of you will know, been adapted into an excellent film starring Jack Nicholls which was highly acclaimed but as is often the case, it is well worth reading the novel as it contains many subtleties that cannot be portrayed in a film. The novel is set in a mental ward and explores how the individuals on the ward are controlled and manipulated through subtle and coercive methods employed by the formidable and cruel Nurse Ratched. The novel portrays the mental ward as a miserable instrument of oppression but don’t think the novel is overwhelmingly depressing. It is a must read in my view. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/a744259d-5da9-4fe4-967d-623f5f1c2734/91ieYfmjksL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Ceris Gardner recommends - Make it stand out The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas John Boyne This harrowing novel tells the tale of the secret friendship between two young boys at Auschwitz, on different sides of the wire fence. One is German from a comfortable home and the other a Jewish boy in Auschwitz concentration camp. The young German boy is oblivious to the appalling cruelties being inflicted on the people of Europe by his country. All he knows is that he has been moved from his home to a house in a desolate area where there is nothing to do and no one to play with. The novel is cruel and touching at the same time and the ultimate end is shocking. Unforgettable. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/myles-mckay-recommends-ft3th monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/1bf71e19-550c-4ee5-9ef3-db1511b25483/men+mort.jpg Blog - Myles McKay recommends - Make it stand out All Men Are Mortal (Tous les hommes sont mortels) Simone de Beauvoir My French is sadly not up to reading the original, but I found this book truly fascinating. Regine, a successful actress, meets Fosca, and he reveals to her that he is immortal. She seeks to attain her own immortality through his memory, so he tells her his life story. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/46cb9087-411c-445b-915f-aeb286e0fa24/gift+of+rain.jpg Blog - Myles McKay recommends - Make it stand out The Gift of Rain Tan Twan Eng Set during the tumult of World War II, on the lush Malayan island of Penang, The Gift of Rain tells a riveting and poignant tale about a young man caught in the tangle of both wartime issues and those which are common to young people everywhere. It explores diaspora, and conflicting loyalties in a time of great duress, and I can’t recommend it highly enough! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/9838a39c-00dc-46db-b0bd-7a93111f6007/wolf.jpg Blog - Myles McKay recommends - Make it stand out Wolf of the Plains Conn Iggulden Finally, I have a historical book, and again it is the first of a trilogy. This novel is heavily based on fact, with only occasional dalliances from the the historical sources for the sake of improving the story. The protagonist is Temujin, who is better known under the title he later bestows upon himself, Genghis Khan. The first book follows his rise to power, and how he battled the odds to rise from his humble beginnings to uniting the Mongol tribes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/d1d64c8e-057d-4647-ab79-415e1640e8f7/american+gods.jpg Blog - Myles McKay recommends - Make it stand out American Gods Neil Gaiman An epic, and deeply strange book. The protagonist, Shadow, is informed that his wife has been killed in a car crash a few days before he is due to be released from prison. He meets the enigmatic Mr Wednesday on his flight home, and the book follows the pair of them as they travel across America. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/973e1125-5fc3-4bc7-9415-9e8d2c1e5d4f/McKay%2C+Myles+4132-5638-0237+v1.png Blog - Myles McKay recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/77934c8a-856e-4be2-8461-2bc249d93048/name+of+wind.jpg Blog - Myles McKay recommends - Make it stand out The Name of the Wind Patrick Rothfuss A brilliant fantasy novel. Patrick Rothfuss writes brilliantly and employs a split narrative, of an old barkeep struggling in his day-to-day life, whilst reliving the glories of his youth. I only hesitate to recommend it as it has been 13 years since the second book in the trilogy was released, and the third one is still yet to be published! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/3028d21c-07c7-4ea8-9983-72bfb46ab93c/lords+lad.jpg Blog - Myles McKay recommends - Make it stand out Lords and Ladies Terry Pratchett Another fantasy book, this time from my favourite author, Sir Terry Prachett, who uses the lens of comedical fantasy to explore real life issues. The entire Discworld series is brilliant, but as I cannot recommend all 41 books, I have chosen this one. In Lords and Ladies Sir Terry flips the usual working order of fantasy novels and this book features well-meaning witches and evil elves. This book works fine as a stand alone, although I would recommend reading the other books in the witches series first! https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/marina-boterashvili-recommends monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/5135c8b5-9926-4255-ae65-09912b95ace9/81fyRJM9OKL._SL1500_+%281%29.jpg Blog - Marina Boterashvili recommends - Make it stand out Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow Gabrielle Zevin A beautifully written story about growing up, identity, friendship, failure, and love, through the prism of friends who create a video game together. I devoured this in one day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/d68f594e-aac7-41c8-9d15-ea6d87c03b49/81UxgyI55BL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Marina Boterashvili recommends - Make it stand out Pachinko Min Jin Lee A multi-generational story of a Korean family in Japan, this book explores the immigrant experience, sacrifice and the human pursuit of belonging, against the backdrop of real-life historic events. It gripped me right from the start, and I am now thoroughly enjoying re-living the story through AppleTV’s screen adaptation (although the book is always better). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/c09c880c-5c96-4919-8d4b-62651e0ec001/81RFQC%2BFXML._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Marina Boterashvili recommends - Make it stand out The Human Stain Philip Roth I knew that I wanted to include at least one Roth novel, but picking my favourite was the hardest. Set in the late 20th century, The Human Stain tells the story of Coleman Silk – a professor involved in a scandal that makes us question our sense of morality, identity and societal expectations. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/8a5c3d3d-d51a-4290-8f2e-c9e2cd1778af/71q6y0hWveS._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Marina Boterashvili recommends - Make it stand out Life After Life Kate Atkinson A very dear friend often jokes that my favourite literary genre is what he has coined as ‘alt fiction’: human stories, grounded in real life historical events, but which imagine different outcomes depending on choices made by the main protagonists. I have no idea if this is a recognised category in the literary world, but this novel by Kate Atkinson would be a perfect example: each time the protagonist dies, she is reborn into the same life, and has the option to alter her fate. Atkinson’s prose is captivating and she manages to weave multiple timelines in a way that makes the book impossible to put down. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/2d2f0190-3906-4466-b873-2495a23d9b13/81sSscgIxBL._SL1500_.jpg Blog - Marina Boterashvili recommends - Make it stand out Jerusalem Simon Sebag Montefiore An exception to an otherwise very fiction-heavy list: anything by Simon Sebag Montefiore, but Jerusalem, in particular. Starting from ancient times and through to (nearly) the present day, he vividly describes the tumultuous (and bloody) history of the holy city through the diverse cast of characters and stories that have shaped the city. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/8ac71d2b-f3ea-47b9-ab49-e4821b1d39c0/51RcuPqc%2BlL._SL1200_.jpg Blog - Marina Boterashvili recommends - Make it stand out The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas The story of a young sailor, falsely accused of treason, who seeks revenge on those who wronged him. A classic tale of adventure and retribution, which navigates themes of justice, betrayal, and redemption. I have lost count (excuse the pun) of the number of times I have read this book, and I keep coming back to it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/6d297f5d-de04-4328-8121-b3c4d24c818f/untitled-design-2.png Blog - Marina Boterashvili recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/12-screens-of-christmas monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/df4fe48f-f36a-4e8f-847d-d6d77fed319c/dibley.jpg Blog - 12 Screens of Christmas - Make it stand out The Vicar of Dibley Christmas Specials (1996 - 2006) Recommended by Sophie Mazzier I have a slight vested interest in these as I appeared on stage alongside the late Emma Chambers (admittedly, at primary school) - but the fact remains that these can still make me laugh at a distance of many years. The gentle humour and memorable characters are perfect for a post Christmas-dinner watch (although if you’re feeling full, maybe skip the episode where Geraldine attempts to consume four Christmas meals to avoid letting anyone down…) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/512b7510-e891-4b13-b436-9eddd8ad52e8/Screenshot+2023-12-08+121904.png Blog - 12 Screens of Christmas - Make it stand out Klaus (2019) Recommended by Laura Pettit Yes, it’s a cartoon, but it’s also one of the most beautiful and heartwarming Christmas stories ever produced (in my opinion). Serving as an alternative origin story for Father Christmas himself, and using a fictional 19th-century setting, the plot revolves around a postman stationed in an island town to the Far North who befriends a reclusive toymaker. I won’t say more and risk giving away some of the twists and turns of this story, but I will say that if the ending doesn’t make you weep, there’s a chance that your heart is made of stone… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/f4403474-9c83-4db1-8eec-7d2abacca822/Screenshot+2023-12-08+114804.png Blog - 12 Screens of Christmas - Make it stand out Santa Claus - The Movie (1985) Recommended by Susan Turnbull My family watch this every Christmas. The legend of Santa Claus is put in jeopardy when an unscrupulous toy manufacturer attempts to take over Christmas - it’s probably a bit dated now, but we love it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/2f1423cb-1e51-481c-9928-296f973eb22e/snowman.jpg Blog - 12 Screens of Christmas - Make it stand out The Snowman (1982) Recommended by Sophie Mazzier Because both the music and the animation are beautiful. It is timeless and appeals to children and adults alike (although the latter are more likely to cry). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/2ee87488-9b87-4b16-bd69-583467a5c978/800px-It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life_%281946_poster%29.jpeg Blog - 12 Screens of Christmas - Make it stand out It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) Recommended by Ceris Gardner Who can top a film with an angel called Clarence Odbody (or one starring James Stewart)? Another variation on a Christmas Carol (loose, admittedly) it makes me cry every time I watch it and it doesn’t age. A really lovely schmaltzy feel good movie. Perfect for Christmas. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/4413263e-494b-4ff1-af0f-c23ebe544bf9/christmas+carol+19.jpg Blog - 12 Screens of Christmas - Make it stand out A Christmas Carol (2019) Recommended by Rupert Ticehurst This is not your typical adaptation of this old Christmas favourite. It is a very dark and twisted but utterly engrossing investigation into the mind of Ebeneza Scrooge. There is no Muppets Christmas Carol happy ending: it is dark from beginning to end. Not one for the children, but for those who love Dickens and A Christmas Carol, but find the various adaptations a little cheesy, this is worth a watch. It is available on BBC iPlayer in a 3-part series and stars Guy Pearce, who is a brilliant Scrooge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/8c6f5ac7-38a8-4eb9-a4e0-d7801b164ff2/Screenshot+2023-12-08+121618.png Blog - 12 Screens of Christmas - Make it stand out Muppets Christmas Carol (1992) Recommended by Laura Pettit Ignore the nay-sayers: this is the definitive retelling of the Dickens classic. From Michael Caine’s incredible performance as Scrooge (reportedly, he only accepted on the condition that he could play the role completely straight and as if his co-stars were members of the Royal Shakespeare Company) to the impossibly catchy songs, double the Marleys for your money and *that line* about Tiny Tim (if you know, you know) - it’s no wonder that I have this film on repeat from mid-November onwards. Or that I have an annual pilgrimage with a group of Muppet-loving friends to a strictly grown-ups only singalong version at a London cinema. Remember, light the lamp, not the rat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/3ac2922a-96e9-462b-b0fa-762cf8035d9b/josh-sorenson-4jKM-nyIIHw-unsplash.jpg Blog - 12 Screens of Christmas - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/aa7dab27-39d3-4e3e-a5bc-cb92e0ae6d71/Love_Actually_movie.jpg Blog - 12 Screens of Christmas - Make it stand out Love Actually (2003) Recommended by Claire Weeks Needs no introduction: Best. Film. Ever. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/ba3697aa-2a6c-4549-abf4-1c8b0947a39c/Screenshot+2023-12-08+114530.png Blog - 12 Screens of Christmas - Make it stand out Doctor Who Christmas Specials (2005 onwards) Recommended by Sonika Panesar Although Doctor Who is a show which airs across the year, there is nothing greater than the Doctor Christmas Episode(s). They always seem to get the whole family quiet around the TV after Christmas dinner! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/2e687488-96b6-4c3b-a619-94029e270b86/Miracle_on_34th_Street_poster.jpg Blog - 12 Screens of Christmas - Make it stand out Miracle on 34th Street (1994) Recommended by Dominic Condé-Cole Ok – so not a choice for the purists who may suggest the original 1947 film with Edmund Gwenn deserves the listing instead but a movie that includes a visit to a courtroom and evokes some Christmas sparkle is a sure-fire winner. Preference for the remake is mainly down to the late Lord Richard’s performance and also my preference for colour movies rather than black and white. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/9901254b-2861-47c1-8cf5-7b9988fc0feb/MV5BMTM1MTI5ODU4MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTYyNTU4Mg%40%40._V1_.jpg Blog - 12 Screens of Christmas - Make it stand out A Christmas Carol (2009) Recommended by Heather Hinds I took my daughter to see it when it came out in 2009 and she was 8 (I think she was a bit too young for it but she insisted we take her!). We now watch it every year. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/5669c52d-83d9-4ceb-b7c8-70c637aa3c33/Scrooged.jpg Blog - 12 Screens of Christmas - Make it stand out Scrooged (1988) Recommended by Alicia Thomas I love all versions of A Christmas Carol, but “Scrooged” is one of my go to films when I feel like a more modern, quirky twist on the Christmas classic. Bill Murray plays a cruel eighties TV Executive version of Scrooge who is forced to learn the true meaning of Christmas. I really enjoyed the dark vibe of this film when I was younger, especially the usual ghosts from Christmas past, present, and future. They did scare me as a child, but I liked the thrill of it anyway! https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/anna-josse-recommends monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/1e260186-047a-4252-b23b-12916e2d9001/The+Miniaturist.jpg Blog - Anna Josse recommends - Make it stand out The Miniaturist Jessie Burton Enchanting, beautiful, and full of suspense, The Miniaturist is a story of love and obsession, betrayal and retribution, appearance and truth. In 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives at a house in the wealthiest quarter of Amsterdam. She has come from the countryside to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt, but instead she is met by his distant and difficult sister, Marin. Johannes eventually appears and presents her with a wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. It is to be furnished by an elusive miniaturist, whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in unexpected ways. With many compelling characters the book is laced with intrigue and twists and turns. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/2e1aaf12-c658-4b5f-9d58-014a875f6463/Pride+and+Prejudice.jpg Blog - Anna Josse recommends - Make it stand out Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen At its core, Pride and Prejudice tells the love story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, both of whom have to overcome their biases in order to end up together. Some people consider Pride and Prejudice to be the precursor to the modern romantic comedy. Given our obsession with that genre, it's no wonder, then, that Jane Austen's book has been adapted countless times over the years. I think as a teenager I appreciated the love story but also the challenges of an intelligent woman expected to behave in a certain way during that time period. And of course, it has one of the most famous opening lines of any book: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." I am sure the many successful women we meet today, will be happy to debate this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/9b8efacb-5efb-48cb-9fee-2e6aa759daa2/Timeless.jpg Blog - Anna Josse recommends - Make it stand out Timeless Nicholas Tchkotoua I didn’t think I would so enjoy this small engaging novel set in the 19th century in Georgia. Prince Shota d'Iberio of Georgia returns to his country after an education abroad to find himself not only in love with the beauty of his snow-capped homeland, but also with the Russian Princess Taya. The book moves between Paris, Tbilisi, Davos, and the remote Caucasus mountains, while exploring first love and the power of its timelessness. Maybe I do like love stories? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/d42ff0a2-0b66-4524-af5a-a254b2c9dcce/The+Marriage+Portrait.jpg Blog - Anna Josse recommends - Make it stand out The Marriage Portrait Maggie O’Farrell Having really enjoyed Hamnet by O’Farrell I went onto read The Marriage Portrait. This is the story of Lucrezia who is a 16 year old woman and believed that her death was the work of her husband. Based on real historical events this makes it even more engaging. Two powerful families unite through marriage (the House of Tuscany and the House of Ferrara) and the isolated and powerless Lucrezia is found dead. However, the cause of death has never been accepted nor proven, by the di’Medici family or anyone else. Lucrezia took her dead sister’s place in marriage and against her wishes. She is the link between the House of Tuscany and the House of Ferrara. The characteristics of the period with its churches and palazzos, and the royal courts was beautifully highlighted. Throughout one felt the sense of impending doom because of the inevitable, which we know about from the beginning. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/70f129ef-0f48-49e4-ba33-9b9a9f849324/Rodham.jpg Blog - Anna Josse recommends - Make it stand out Rodham Curtis Sittenfield The novel is a reimagining of Hillary Rodham Clinton. What if she had not married Bill Clinton? What would her life have looked like? What would have been her trajectory? A totally absorbing read that combines fiction with factual historic events. It is easy to forget that as one is reading, it is not reality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/fad2b2fb-bd97-4e7d-b7ff-37e39920014c/Anna+Karenina.jpg Blog - Anna Josse recommends - Make it stand out Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy Let me finish on a classic. It is a masterpiece of literature from 1877. Looking at humanity and life in general in Russia, it provides memorable characters. Anna is a sophisticated woman who abandons her empty existence as the wife of Karenin and turns to Count Vronsky to fulfil her passionate nature - with tragic consequences. Anna pays a hefty price, not so much because she transgresses the moral code but because she refuses to observe the customs and rules of the hypocritical high society to which she belongs. I clearly like tragic love stories! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/89cc25bb-41ba-4091-9dc1-1b612f5172eb/Anna+Josse.jpg Blog - Anna Josse recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/vas-james-recommends monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/91e3b1d0-5267-4a25-a3cc-e1d71e11025d/book+6.jpg Blog - Vas James recommends - Make it stand out Oh Caledonia Elspeth Barker This is a little gem of a book. It is an gothic, quirky coming-of-age story about a misunderstood Scottish girl at odds with her family, who seeks refuge in books and animals. It is so beautifully written, and portrays a strong young woman who refuses to bend to the stereotypes and societal boundaries set for good little girls. It also painfully lays out how the world can be cruel to those on the outside. It starts with a murder, and goes back in time - some might struggle with this topsy turvy beginning - I know my husband, Rupert Ticehurst, didn’t get beyond the first few pages, but it is worth persevering! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/7d07a067-d8bc-46c1-a73f-1b2e55a90298/book3.jfif Blog - Vas James recommends - Make it stand out Do Not Say We Have Nothing Madeleine Thien Another Canadian title - this an epic tale spanning three generations of a family, and how music (and in particular the wonderful JS Bach and The Goldberg Variations) brought them together in times of extreme hardship. This book opened my eyes to the extreme brutality of China’s Cultural Revolution. It is a beautiful portrayal of a difficult period of history that stays with you long after you read the last sentence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/0fb7c25e-f535-4254-8563-dbbf94d40d9a/VJames-photo-e1675854136180.jpg Blog - Vas James recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/38fe6326-ad41-41d8-8a06-8a9adb404167/book1.jpg Blog - Vas James recommends - Make it stand out Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead Olga Tokarczuk Olga Tokarczuk won the International Booker Prize in 2018 for this powerhouse of a novel. Despite its ominous title this book is funny, clever, thought-provoking. It has a wonderfully different main character at the heart of the story: an eccentric, middle-aged woman with a love of William Blake’s work. It touches on a number of philosophical questions, including our difficult relationship with nature and animals, but in a captivating, accessible way. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/756e9a91-2e17-4c91-8bbc-3a7685a10718/book2.jpg Blog - Vas James recommends - Make it stand out All My Puny Sorrows Miriam Toews Another sad title from a brilliant Canadian author (I am Canadian, and felt compelled to share some Canadian content!). This book covers some profoundly sad themes, including how depression can affect a whole family. Mental illness is a difficult subject, and Miriam Toews treats it with dignity, grace, and even humour. It is also an achingly heartfelt story about the power of family, and more specifically, the bond between sisters. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/cfcca579-ee0a-4d68-b631-c48103c59714/book5.png Blog - Vas James recommends - Make it stand out My Brilliant Friend Elena Ferrante I read Ferrente’s ‘Days of Abandonment’ first, and was surprised at how brutally honest she was about the female experience. ‘My Brilliant Friend’ is a more accessible story, but still carries the honest, multi-dimensional portrayal of womanhood, acknowledging the flaws, vulnerabilities and imperfections of the main characters. This is also a story of the intensity of female friendships, and the harsh realities for women in a patriarchal society. I love that the author has kept her true identity a secret, and I’m happy for her to keep her anonymity! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/92faf816-1e54-4014-981a-c3ce63a835fe/book4.jpg Blog - Vas James recommends - Make it stand out Girl, Woman, Other Bernardine Evaristo This won the Booker Prize in 2019, and it kept me company during the pandemic summer of 2020, as we processed the murder of George Floyd. The book is a series of interconnected stories, following a diverse group of Black, British women. It’s all in there - the complexities of identity, race, gender and the intersectionality between these - it challenges stereotypes and offer a vibrant perspective on the diverse cast of characters from different generations and backgrounds. Her style of writing uses a mix of poetry and prose in a unique way, as it celebrates womanhood and the strength of female bonds. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/one-year-of-mtg-recommends monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/515ac0c1-6005-46f5-b638-e3f034ce4fa1/Capture.JPG Blog - One year of MTG Recommends - Make it stand out Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone JK Rowling Recommended by Claire Weeks and Fiona Poole. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/c36aeaf2-6326-4839-9420-6afc2dad3f2a/A1fs-ErenkL.jpg Blog - One year of MTG Recommends - Make it stand out A Gentleman in Moscow Amor Towles Recommended by Sophie Mazzier, Clare Maurice, Claire Weeks and James Jarvis. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/205a38e3-fca0-49d5-ba9d-c9b1ebe04c62/81HgvMtSsPL.jpg Blog - One year of MTG Recommends - Make it stand out A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving Recommended by Sophie Mazzier and Clare Stirzaker. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/dab40693-d883-4945-8477-d5ad20a1115b/WBD-logo-eyes-down-right-DATE-01-1-e1657705663216.png Blog - One year of MTG Recommends - Make it stand out Other authors we loved…. Bill Bryson - recommended for The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid and A Short History of Nearly Everything Charles Dickens - recommended for A Christmas Carol and Bleak House George Orwell - recommended for Nineteen Eighty-Four and Burmese Days Ian McEwan - recommended for Atonement and Lessons: A Novel Malcolm Gladwell - recommended for Talking to Strangers and Outliers Margaret Atwood - recommended for The Handmaid’s Tale and The Blind Assassin Oscar Wilde - recommended for The Importance of Being Earnest and Collected Works Thomas Hardy - recommended for Tess of the d’Urbervilles and The Return of the Native https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/84de68a5-0256-45df-9fcc-6aba67df8b70/Half-of-a-Yellow-Sun-2hm8pc2.jpg Blog - One year of MTG Recommends - Make it stand out Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Recommended by Emma-Jane Weider and Anna Tragotsi. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/ab89d2bc-8705-42c0-bfbe-e5d3e57cea36/91B3%2BSe-8eL.jpg Blog - One year of MTG Recommends - Make it stand out Shantaram Gregory David Roberts Recommended by Jennifer Emms and Paul Whitehead. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/c869e579-5170-486d-94e6-5cc414932dd7/71ihyc3%2BL8L.jpg Blog - One year of MTG Recommends - Make it stand out Any Human Heart William Boyd Recommended by Paul Whitehead, Nicola Boulter and Clare Maurice. Also recommended by the same author: Trio, The Romantic and Sweet Caress. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/23e9fb27-a008-4ed3-a36e-eecfa8230f7b/81dDwAzxtrL.jpg Blog - One year of MTG Recommends - Make it stand out Becoming Michelle Obama Recommended by Anna Tragotsi and Stella Mitchell-Voisin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/ae31bcea-2c97-4162-9add-48f63d7f0df4/Capture2.JPG Blog - One year of MTG Recommends - Make it stand out Lessons in Chemistry Bonnie Garmus Recommended by Sophie Mazzier and Laura Gordon. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/sonika-panesar monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/019fc0c7-af2b-47b3-b16c-9f4b85a6433a/A1A9JKGKzLL.jpg Blog - Sonika Panesar recommends - Make it stand out Pillars of the Earth Ken Follet This book is the first of four. It is set against the backdrop of a new cathedral being built in the medieval town of Kingsbridge, England. The characters move in and around the building, forming relationships and developing skills across the centuries the book spans. It is a fantastic read and is incredibly enlightening in terms of showing the reader how much time, effort and attention to detail went into creating the magnificent cathedrals we see today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/c81d5328-ea61-49eb-ba19-d8b67317330a/wide-sargasso-sea.jpeg Blog - Sonika Panesar recommends - Make it stand out Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys Whilst this is not an official prequel to Jane Eyre, this book will offer a new perspective to the classic. It has wonderfully detailed descriptions of Jamaica and Dominica and is an interesting view of the story of the ‘madwoman in the attic.’– I would however offer a warning to any Mr. Rochester fans! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/16a0dd16-87ef-4a30-b060-8d213eb4f18d/9780857526922.jpg Blog - Sonika Panesar recommends - Make it stand out London Clay Tom Chivers This non-fiction books speaks to another passion of mine: London. I have always loved walking around the city and unlocking the centuries of history in its buildings and streets. This book offers yet another way of enjoying it all, looking particularly at the geological mysteries which make their way through the concrete. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/7f57ab9b-27b1-47c8-b0f5-c70d97f1e170/the-priory-of-the-orange-tree-1.jpg Blog - Sonika Panesar recommends - Make it stand out The Priory of the Orange Tree Samantha Shannon Kings, Queens, Dragons and Witches- this book has it all. It is a great example of effective world-building, which the Sunday Times had no problem comparing with the Lord of the Rings. I cannot recommend highly enough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/d0587df7-4253-4afa-b1b7-bf7318e908ff/original_temp_img.jpg Blog - Sonika Panesar recommends - Make it stand out Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society Adeline Yen Mah This was my favourite book as a child - I read it so much that the copy I have has had to undergo some major sellotape spinal repair. It is centered around a young girl called Ye Xian, who meets a group of boys and Grandma Wu at the height of World War II in China. Escaping from a hard family life, she learns Kung Fu and joins the ‘Society of Wandering Knights’ on a series of adventures. Ye Xian is loosely based on the author herself, whose award-winning biography ‘Chinese Cinderella,’ spoke of the difficult life experience she had as an unloved child who could only find relief through books. When I read this children’s novel now, I cannot help but think of the young Adeline thinking up this story of heroism and friendship. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/b8cb6b49-5569-4616-b9da-20821c7fd001/A1m8bco0AyL.jpg Blog - Sonika Panesar recommends - Make it stand out Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafron The novel opens at the Cemetery of Forgotten Books - every time I read it, this always captures my attention. It makes me think of the many great books that have been written and lost throughout time (some of which I am sure would be worthy of a spot on MTG Recommends!). Carlos Ruiz Zafron capitalizes on this idea, and a single book from the Cemetery inspires a life-long ambition and obsession in a young boy named Daniel. It is definitely worth a read, along with the two other books in the series. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/yann-mrazek-recommends monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/72f62358-dc4a-4367-8c6e-a6178f71c5bb/yannmrazek1_1+-+Arabian+Business.jpg Blog - Yann Mrazek recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/fcf542b8-8487-404a-befa-50667a4cdb79/Drunk.jpg Blog - Yann Mrazek recommends - Make it stand out Drunk Edward Slingerland We became who we are because we love a good glass. Seriously. How we sipped, danced and tumbled our way to civilisation. To read in conjunction with: A History of Drunkness by Mark Forsyth: how, why, where and when the humankind has got merry from the Stone Age to the present. A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage: a world trade history from the perspective of people's favorite - and most impactful - drinks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/0b8d0f2c-51c2-446a-aabe-005e4b84b50a/9781442234635.jpg Blog - Yann Mrazek recommends - Make it stand out Money, Taste & Wine Mike Veseth Century-old commodity, largely basic but sometimes uber-luxurious product, uncorrelated asset class (see M/HQ's podcast Foundations & …….Wine?), infinite source of inspiration - and sometimes, bragging! - wine is much, much more, than fermented grape juice. To read in conjunction with the following from the same author: Wine Wars Extreme Wine Around the World in Eighty Days: exploring the world, one wine at a time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/bd29858d-a741-442b-a258-609299177b77/Real+Food.jpg Blog - Yann Mrazek recommends - Make it stand out Real Food Fake Food Larry Olmsted Fake is everywhere - why you don't know what you're eating, and what you can do about it. To be read in conjunction with: Extra Virginity by Tom Mueller: the sublime and scandalous world of olive oil. Animal, Vegetable, Junk by Mark Bittman: how food went from sustainable to suicidal. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/1ee35b22-7afd-4781-b886-0aef3a2006d2/Rebel+Talent.jpg Blog - Yann Mrazek recommends - Make it stand out Rebel Talent Francesca Gino What do the world’s best chef, an airline captain who brought his flight to safety in a daring water landing, and most successful entrepreneurs have in common? They love their jobs, they break the rules, and the world is better off for it. They are rebels - just like us at M/HQ. To be read in conjunction with The Little Book of Talent by Daniel Coyle: in sports, music, art, and business, talent is a skill - and like any skill, it can be nurtured, improved and ultimately mastered. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/a6a5c446-1967-4bdb-a51c-10022b61d6bf/Go+Giver.jpg Blog - Yann Mrazek recommends - Make it stand out The Go-Giver Bob Burg and John David Mann The book that started it all [thanks, Harry Martin!]. A ‘little story’ about the power of giving - small in size, BIG in impact. To be read in conjunction with The Go-Getter by the same author: a (still little) story that tells you how to be one! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/0f1431d4-feda-4a17-b903-7ab8376320a4/Sneaker+wars.jpg Blog - Yann Mrazek recommends - Make it stand out Sneaker Wars Barbara Smit Adidas vs Puma - but really, the family feud that created modern sport. To be read in conjunction with Shoe Dog by Phil Knight: the war started with Adidas v Puma; Nike emerged on top! https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/laura-gordon-recommends monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/85a44b6a-cfeb-4379-9d08-9bf378837f6a/Beyond.jpg Blog - Laura Gordon recommends - Make it stand out Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0 Jim Collins The culmination of a lifetime of research on what differentiates good businesses from great businesses and what makes a business last, Jim Collins is one of the foremost leadership thinkers of our time. This book specifically focuses on entrepreneurs and innovators, and those scaling up their businesses. There’s a huge focus on people – on getting “the right people on the bus” to coin one of his famous terms, and laser focused on the vision. I recommend this book to all my clients who are at the early stage of their business journey. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/a3f2fa0a-2ac4-42cb-b787-64d83c98449a/Chemistry.jpg Blog - Laura Gordon recommends - Make it stand out Lessons in Chemistry Bonnie Garmus Definitely my top read of 2022 – this debut novel of a woman aged 65 has sat in the Sunday Times Top Ten for most of the year, and is about to be adapted to TV by Apple+. The characters are simply wonderful, especially the dog, called Six Thirty, and the storytelling is quirky, different, and captivating. It has you voraciously turning pages (or tapping your kindle!) and it’s impossible to put down - laugh out loud funny, but sad too. It follows a single mother who is a brilliant chemist in the man’s world of 1960s America, and who finds fame as an unlikely cooking show phenomenon. Read it – you’ll love it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/4c8ed65a-4443-42c8-bc1a-f081b5548760/Atomic+Habits.jpg Blog - Laura Gordon recommends - Make it stand out Atomic Habits James Clear I listened to this on Audible, early in lockdown, when we were all reflecting on and examining our lives, and it helped me really change some bad habits and behaviours I’d developed over the years, replacing them with more positive, healthier habits. The main message is that tiny changes in behaviour can result in the formation of new habits and help you achieve greater things, and that consistency is always more important than intensity. There are a lot of online resources to support the book on James Clear’s website which you’ll find here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/e8ec397d-fabb-450d-bd9d-1be635385cea/Rebel+Ideas.jpg Blog - Laura Gordon recommends - Make it stand out Rebel Ideas Matthew Syed I love reading Matthew Syed’s column in the Sunday Times and so far, have read Black Box Thinking and Bounce, two of his earlier books, but Rebel Ideas is so relevant for today’s world. It’s about the power of diverse thinking – cognitive diversity as he calls it. This, he explains, is the fundamental ingredient in solving complex problems, and by harnessing it we can create positive change at work, in politics and when tackling global issues. We see the importance of diversity in boards and the huge body of research which demonstrates this. I also see it in the diverse peer-to-peer leadership Groups I run, and how advice and challenge from a variety of perspectives can help achieve greater results. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/176ab220-b2eb-41f8-909f-0947b1454d99/Infinite+Game.jpg Blog - Laura Gordon recommends - Make it stand out The Infinite Game Simon Sinek I’ve read all of Simon Sinek’s books, starting with Start with Why, but this one resonated with me for several reasons. The underlying message is that we view life as an infinite game – living a life of purpose, and with what he calls an infinite mindset. It’s also a call out to business leaders to build businesses that last for generations, not just chasing short term wins, by putting the focus on to sustainable practices that build strength and stability and enhance the bottom line. I work with one such business, a large accountancy practice whose business model is about building the business for future generations. At almost 100 years old, they’re certainly living their values. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/8fddeca9-d823-42e4-92a4-8b7e079004a2/Tuesdays.jpg Blog - Laura Gordon recommends - Make it stand out Tuesdays with Morrie Mitch Albom I would like to recommend each and every one of Mitch Albom’s books, but this has to be an all-time favourite. I also recently watched one of the several film adaptations on YouTube. It’s a true story of how the author’s life was changed when he caught up with his former sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz, who he discovered was dying of ALS and visited him once a week until his death. The conversations he recalls were deeply philosophical and thought provoking, transforming his perspective on life and bringing the reader along with him. I fell in love with Morrie and cried at his passing, but it also gave me an ongoing passion for all of Mitch Albom’s work. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/de19d3db-3022-4575-a24f-4816c6b79fc2/Laura+Gordon.jpeg Blog - Laura Gordon recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/12-books-for-christmas monthly 0.5 2025-05-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/830274eb-f071-436f-bbaa-ab46d440843c/Adrift.jpg Blog - 12 Books for Christmas - Make it stand out Adrift Tami Oldham Ashcraft Recommended by Becks Grant-Jones. As a female sailor I have been recommended this book by many seafarers. Frustratingly, I watched the film before reading the book, but yet, Tami’s written memoir did not disappoint. In short, a carefully planned passage from Tahiti to San Diego aboard the 44ft yacht, Hazana with fiancé Richard goes horrifyingly wrong. With plenty of artistic license, the Hollywood blockbuster version of Tami’s story is exhilarating, but reading the account, straight from the horse’s mouth, simply cannot be beaten. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/a7f576d1-8d73-479f-b400-c63a2c21f495/Ghost+Stories.jpg Blog - 12 Books for Christmas - Make it stand out Collected Ghost Stories M. R. James Recommended by Ed Powles. M. R. James is widely regarded as the father of the modern ghost story, and his tales have influenced horror writers from H. P. Lovecraft to Stephen King. First published in the early 1900s, they have never been out of print, and are recognized as classics of the genre. This collection contains some of his most chilling tales, including “A View from a Hill”, “Rats”, “A School Story”, “The Ash Tree”, and “The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/5396d51d-a0d4-4a0f-9bad-a0dbb97b406f/The+Romantic.jpg Blog - 12 Books for Christmas - Make it stand out The Romantic William Boyd Recommended by Paul Whitehead. *Spoiler alert* This book has parallels with “Any Human Heart” in that it is the story of one man’s life, but this time in the 19th Century – he grows up initially in Ireland then Oxford, is involved in the Battle of Waterloo, and meets Lord Byron, and Percy and Mary Shelley – all in the first 100 pages or so. Boyd guides readers expertly through the richly imagined life of this fictional figure, tracing his passage from adventurer and bankrupt to African explorer and minor diplomat in perfectly crafted, immersive prose. A joy! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/94cdac41-266b-49ca-ba27-cdc347d52d82/The+African+Trilogy.jpg Blog - 12 Books for Christmas - Make it stand out The African Trilogy Chinua Achebe Recommended by Nativ Gill. In these masterly novels, Achebe brilliantly imagines the lives of three generations of an African community as their world is upended by the forces of colonialism from the first arrival of the British to the waning days of empire. The trilogy opens with the ground-breaking “Things Fall Apart”, the tale of Okonkwo, a hero in his village, whose clashes with missionaries--coupled with his own tragic pride--lead to his fall from grace. “Arrow of God” takes up the ongoing conflict between continuity and change as Ezeulu, the headstrong chief priest, finds his authority is under threat from rivals and colonial functionaries. But he believes himself to be untouchable and is determined to lead his people, even if it is towards their own destruction. Finally, in “No Longer at Ease”, Okonkwo's grandson, educated in England, returns to a civil-service job in Lagos, only to see his morality erode as he clings to his membership in the ruling elite. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/64ec6cdd-de75-41ea-801b-20dffa87485a/Freeing+Order.jpg Blog - 12 Books for Christmas - Make it stand out Freezing Order Bill Browder Recommended by Rupert Ticehurst. “Truth is stranger than fiction” Mark Twain - if you read Browder’s two books, “Red Notice” and “Freezing Order”, you will undoubtedly agree. The books are impossible to put down, as they tell the extraordinary account of a $230m tax refund fraud in Russia. Can tax fraud make for good reading? Believe me in this case it certainly can. The books lay bare the utterly ruthless corruption that has become normalised in Russia. It also tells the story of the incredibly brave people who give up their lives or put their lives at risk to call out this corruption. Either of these books would be well received by somebody who enjoys reading contemporary legal/political non-fiction. The books can be read separately, but there is a certain logic to reading “Red Notice” first. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/7719b990-3448-4f6c-b5a7-80d9c67b7d98/jessica-fadel-TEHp90W2jGw-unsplash.jpg Blog - 12 Books for Christmas - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/51983717-6bb5-4a1d-8e7f-7c1dbd50a5db/Little+Women.jpg Blog - 12 Books for Christmas - Make it stand out Little Women Louisa May Alcott Recommended by Sonika Panesar. This book, for me, encapsulates Christmas; the general chaos of living with all your siblings, the big Christmas dinner you have been waiting all day for and the occasional sisterly fight which may or may not end up with someone leaving you alone on a frozen lake (no spoilers intended!). It is a heart-warming and easy read by the fire. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/085ba231-e3eb-4386-9c34-31fcac0898d4/A+Woman+Lived+Here.jpg Blog - 12 Books for Christmas - Make it stand out A Woman Lived Here: alternative blue plaques Allison Vale Recommended by Aalia Hulf. At the last count, the Blue Plaque Guide honours 903 Londoners, and a walking tour of these sites brings to life the London of a bygone era. But only 111 of these blue plaques commemorate women. “A Woman Lived Here” shines a spotlight on some of these forgotten women to redress the balance. The stories commemorate some of the most remarkable of London's women, who set out to make their world a little richer, and in doing so, left an indelible mark on ours. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/cd63e355-ed5b-4096-9052-5c4fe67a7c37/Lessons.jpg Blog - 12 Books for Christmas - Make it stand out Lessons: A Novel Ian McEwan Recommended by Emma-Jane Weider. While the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War and the Iron Curtain has descended, young Roland Baines's life is turned upside down. Stranded at boarding school, his vulnerability attracts his piano teacher, Miriam Cornell, leaving scars as well as a memory of love that will never fade. Twenty-five years later, as the radiation from the Chernobyl disaster spreads across Europe, Roland's wife mysteriously vanishes and he is forced to confront the reality of his rootless existence and look for answers in his family history. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/c88de692-83e7-44b3-908c-0e5d8e171acf/Lessons+in+Chemistry.jpg Blog - 12 Books for Christmas - Make it stand out Lessons in Chemistry Bonnie Garmus Recommended by Sophie Mazzier. “Lessons in Chemistry” was so enjoyable for the sheer unexpectedness of the story line. It starts in the 1960s and is a painful reminder of how difficult life was for women at the time, particularly academics, and has the theme of underestimation running through it. Despite this and various tragic events, it is very uplifting. The main characters are unconventional and uncompromising and beautiful portrayed with all their foibles. One of my favourite characters is the dog, named Six Thirty for reasons which are obvious when you read the book. A first novel for Bonnie Garmus and I hope there are many more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/05ccdfcf-9a6a-48c5-8992-e0d541572d83/Still+Life.jpg Blog - 12 Books for Christmas - Make it stand out Still Life Sarah Winman Recommended by Sophie Mazzier. I loved “Still Life” for so many reasons. It contains several very different types of love story (some requited, some not and some for places, inanimate objects and pets), and is beautifully written with the sympathetic and colourful descriptions of the various characters, and their antics and exploits which while defying credibility at times do not detract from the story. All are portrayed tenderly and evocatively. It starts in Tuscany in 1944 and follows the life of Ulysses Temper, then a soldier and Evelyn Skinner, an art historian who was working for the government, ending up in Florence and we are introduced to all those who then interact with them. My face ached with smiling at the end of the novel which I couldn’t put down and didn’t want to finish. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/73ca2045-8433-4c29-a554-c376472a1b9c/Brit%28ish%29.jpg Blog - 12 Books for Christmas - Make it stand out Brit(ish) Aufa Hirsch Recommended by Nativ Gill. You're British. Your parents are British. Your partner, your children and most of your friends are British. So why do people keep asking where you're from? We are a nation in denial about our imperial past and the racism that plagues our present. “Brit(ish)” is Afua Hirsch's personal and provocative exploration of how this came to be - and an urgent call for change. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/dba5d040-8ab2-4c1f-b1cf-c8eb97202253/Empire+of+Pain.jpg Blog - 12 Books for Christmas - Make it stand out Empire of Pain Patrick Radden Keefe Recommended by Rupert Ticehurst. I have this year read “Empire of Pain”, the extraordinary story of the rise, fall and absolute disgrace of the Sackler family, and “Say Nothing”, a totally gripping account of the Northern Ireland Troubles. Radden Keefe is a master story teller; his writing is so completely compelling that his books are almost impossible to put down. They will make perfect Christmas gifts for somebody who enjoys non-fiction. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/glenn-baker-recommends monthly 0.5 2025-05-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/bad39a54-a220-4e80-b459-a3b0c5bf3f10/1599+William+Shakespeare.jpg Blog - Glenn Baker recommends - Make it stand out 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare James Shapiro Keyhole biography was a growing trend in the noughties and the concept is powerfully attractive: a subject is depicted and then extrapolated within a given, eventful year. This book is probably the best of the practice that I have read and it asks an exciting question in this pivotal year for Shakespeare: how did he go from being a talented poet and playwright to become one of the greatest writers who ever lived? Shapiro traces Shakespeare throughout 1599 in terms of what he reads and writes, what he saw and who he worked with as he invests in the new Globe theatre and creates four of his most famous plays - Julius Caesar, Henry V, Hamlet, As You Like It. Shapiro is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University who specialises in Shakespeare – a safe pair of hands moving through what can be a minefield of scholarship. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/01bf51b5-f41a-4fdf-b339-85fa109040fd/King%27s+Painter.jpg Blog - Glenn Baker recommends - Make it stand out The King's Painter: The Life and Times of Hans Holbein Franny Moyle Hans Holbein is considered one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century, and I found this 2021 biography fascinating in showcasing Holbein’s opportunism: Holbein travelled to England in 1526 in search of work with a recommendation from Erasmus (whom he had previously painted), and was welcomed into the humanist circle of Thomas More and, eventually, working under the patronage of Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell, Holbein was appointed King’s Painter to Henry VIII of England. Franny Moyle’s book is beautifully illustrated (and consistently so, which is gratifying to find), and I loved how she really gets to grips with just how versatile Holbein is, as he moves across multiple styles and traditions, with Holbein possibly single-handedly influencing how we now ‘see’ Tudor England. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/7a8c9bf4-4052-4495-9a66-5aaa1dc50613/Norse+America.jpg Blog - Glenn Baker recommends - Make it stand out Norse America Gordon Campbell Still think that Christopher Columbus ‘discovered’ North America? Columbus never even went to North America. Think that the Vikings ‘founded’ the USA? They didn’t. Both are developed from false claims and fake archaeological evidence, which serve the uncomfortable purpose of supremacist discourses centred on what it is to be American. These run deeply into the culture, society and economics of the US today. This book considers the arguments and the evidence for a Norse America, and the book featured in the FT’s Top 10 Non-Fiction works for 2021 - and the author, Gordon Campbell, was my doctorial supervisor. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/7a454f8c-a231-4a94-b0f8-81a93f94f686/Glenn+Baker Blog - Glenn Baker recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/593a920c-8124-45ff-a57c-d9a700f45b74/Women+in+Dark+Times.jpg Blog - Glenn Baker recommends - Make it stand out Women in Dark Times Jacqueline Rose The excellent Jacqueline Rose is a philosopher and academic (currently Professor of Humanities at the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities) and in this book she shows how three visionary women offer a new template for thought: revolutionary socialist Rosa Luxemburg; German–Jewish painter Charlotte Salomon, persecuted by family tragedy and Nazism; film icon and consummate performer Marilyn Monroe. Taking their stand and enraged by the injustices of their times, they each move between public and private pain, each has a willingness to bring the unspeakable to light, with Rose making the case that all three are original thinkers in their own ways. These women have a shared story, across some of the most dramatic events of the twentieth century – revolution, totalitarianism, and the American dream – and Rose asks why this should all come at great personal cost: Luxemburg and Salomon were murdered, and it is obviously contentious if this was so for Monroe – but the deeply embedded impulse to think that Monroe may have been murdered is part of Rose’s overall argument, I think. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/7686cbfa-aa91-421d-b420-1013b5016bdd/Hamnet.jpg Blog - Glenn Baker recommends - Make it stand out Hamnet Maggie O’Farrell This is one of the best novels that I have read in the last couple of years – a fictional account of a Latin tutor turned playwright of Stratford (never named) and his wife Agnes (Anne) Hathaway who, in this book, is an illiterate yet gifted and intuitive healer, who strives to save the couple’s son, Hamnet, from the plague. Very well written and brimming with imagery, it was the winner of the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/92e5fc9d-8b2e-425e-b5e4-37433c39d117/The+Blind+Assassin.jpg Blog - Glenn Baker recommends - Make it stand out The Blind Assassin Margaret Atwood Atwood may be best known for The Handmaid’s Tale and possibly for her later dystopian fantasy novels, but I am personally more of a fan of her ‘middle period’, in which books such as The Robber Bride, Alias Grace and The Blind Assassin were written. I find Atwood so much more insightful in this period in terms of character development, and The Blind Assassin is simply brilliant. Difficult to sum-up in a sentence - it is essentially about a wealthy young woman who has a dodgy affair in the turbulent 1930s with a socialist man on the run. I haven’t done it justice: the way it is written, and the architecture of the novel, is simply breath-taking – oh, and it won the Booker Prize in 2000 and the Hammett Prize in 2001. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/charlotte-phipps-hornby-recommends monthly 0.5 2025-05-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/98cb8f53-da92-4336-b0d3-2403bbb3a12d/A+Time+to+Kill.jpg Blog - Charlotte Phipps-Hornby recommends - Make it stand out A Time to Kill John Grisham Set in Mississippi, you are immediately transported into life in 1980s America. A legal vs. moral thrilling crime drama ensues. A challenging and thought provoking read with plenty of detail and suspense. A friend gave me a copy and for two weeks I usually arrived at Marylebone about 8.15am in floods of tears. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/8903bc7e-182b-434d-b39e-7537ff50a77d/Fear+and+Loathing.jpg Blog - Charlotte Phipps-Hornby recommends - Make it stand out Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Hunter S. Thompson This is a brilliant book, intoxicating and outrageous at the same time. It flies below the surface somewhat but a very well written view on the “America Dream”, politics and the drugs. You have to stick with it and keep an open mind… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/4592ae3e-1cba-4004-ad39-8e2415a74d38/Do+the+Dinosaur.jpg Blog - Charlotte Phipps-Hornby recommends - Make it stand out 1, 2, 3, Do the Dinosaur Michelle Robinson I love reading this with my son –he loves dinosaurs and great to find a protagonist he looks like. A very easy read and a great way to switch off for a few minutes. 1, 2, 3 and everybody ROAR!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/c8357800-3362-4739-9fd3-ade05ce6ff00/SATC.jpg Blog - Charlotte Phipps-Hornby recommends - Make it stand out Sex and the City Candace Bushnell A must read for any girl who has ever worked in the city – very relatable and outrageous read. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/64782b6e-5b45-488a-b3db-ea94522286c8/Charlotte+Phipps-Hornby+cropped.png Blog - Charlotte Phipps-Hornby recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/bbb2ab2e-3166-45ba-b580-4fe088b275c1/Kiss+the+Girls.jpg Blog - Charlotte Phipps-Hornby recommends - Make it stand out Kiss the Girls (Alex Cross) James Patterson I am a huge fan of James Patterson. He has me gripped within the first few pages and I love the Alex Cross series. Very easy reads, perfect for lying on a beach. As the books go on, you grow to know and love Alex and share in the suspense and drama. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/091097f3-de47-4357-9a3e-de131be210ce/American+Psycho.jpg Blog - Charlotte Phipps-Hornby recommends - Make it stand out American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis A real roller coaster of a read. You want to throw it across the other side of the room and hide under the covers, yet somehow Bateman is completely addictive. Hard to recommend it, so perhaps don’t, but it is brilliant. BRILLIANT! Definitely not one for the tube, however. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/clare-stirzaker-recommends monthly 0.5 2025-05-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/c9306673-664f-4eaa-bef1-af9f9c97d643/Clare+Stirzaker.jpg%281%29.png Blog - Clare Stirzaker recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/3691dabe-17f7-4122-8fb2-674719c97c4f/H+is+for+Hawk+-+Helen+Macdonald.jpg Blog - Clare Stirzaker recommends - Make it stand out H is for Hawk Helen Macdonald I've read lots of brilliant nature fiction recently and was torn between this and James Rebanks, The Shepherds Life (which I recommended to Rupert Ticehurst previously) but this one has just stuck with me more. Helen Macdonald gives a brilliant account of dealing with grief after the death of her father, and her subsequent obsession in trying to train her own goshawk, Mabel. It's quite a brutal exploration of both grief and the natural world at times, but totally fascinating and absorbing as you slowly read of the relationship that forms between her and Mabel. I also particularly loved learning more about the wold of falconry and goshawks. I am a bit of a twitcher, and like Helen, would often read old books about birds when I was growing up, so I loved that her fascination with falconry started at a young age and that her determination and reaction to her grief, enabled her to take on one of the toughest falconry challenges. A unique book that I think even a hardened city dweller would enjoy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/960bf406-79b7-4c12-adee-e46d9f97838c/Cry+of+the+Kalahari+-+Delia+and+Mark+Owens.jpg Blog - Clare Stirzaker recommends - Make it stand out Cry of the Kalahari Delia and Mark Owens Having read "Where the Crawdads Sing" and really enjoyed it, I looked into other books that Delia Owens had written, and discovered this book that was written back in the 1970s with her husband. It is a brilliant factual account of their time in one of the remotest parts of Botswana researching brown hyenas. It grabbed me initially as I have been to East and South Africa many times and love the experience of seeing animals in the wild, such as hyenas, and so enjoyed learning more about them. However, what I really loved about the account was just the sheer madness of these two very poor zoologist students, travelling in a ramshackle land rover with next to no money and little provisions and heading to one of the wildest and remotest parts of Africa, in the hope that their research would eventually obtain funding. You feel as though you are on the journey with them, sharing the frustrations, heartbreak and joy of undertaking such important work. And their accounts of their encounters with lions and hyenas, whilst in their tents at night, send shivers through the spines at times, but also shows that with the right level of understanding and respect for these animals it is possible to live harmoniously with them. It has definitely inspired me to try and start booking my next trip to Africa and hopefully make it to Botswana (but on a less basic budget and with a bit more distance between me and lions). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/b08f2839-955a-4565-8cca-a00a2e7139ea/A+Prayer+for+Owen+Meany+-+John+Irving.jpg Blog - Clare Stirzaker recommends - Make it stand out A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving I stumbled across this book at a work book sale and whilst I had heard of John Irving, I had never read any of his books. With a picture of an armadillo on the front cover, it called out to me, and I found myself devouring it over my morning commute for the next couple of weeks and laughing out loud on the train and also crying at points. Its set in the summer of 1953 in New Hampshire in America. Two eleven year old boys who are best friends are playing in a baseball game; one of the boys hits a foul ball that kills his best friend's mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn't believe in accidents though; Owen Meany believes he is God's instrument. The book follows Owen Meany's extraordinary life from 1953 onwards after the fateful baseball incident and I just couldn't put it down. I fell in love with the character of Owen - a very small boy with an awful voice (with capitals deployed throughout to emphasise that Owen speaks differently to others) and I fell in love with John Irving. A book I would read countless times and always enjoy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/53babe19-90c9-4f6d-960b-9c5911fc6280/Paddington+Takes+the+Test+-+Michael+Bond.jpg Blog - Clare Stirzaker recommends - Make it stand out Paddington Takes the Test Michael Bond Whilst perusing the shelves of my lovely second-hand bookshop in Blackheath, I came across some early editions of the Paddington books and found that I couldn't resist the urge to buy them. Later sat in the garden, on a deck chair (sadly without a marmalade sandwich), I found myself laughing out loud at Paddington's various calamities as he tries to take a driving test, padlocks his neighbour, Mr Curry, into Mr Brown's new steaming hot sauna bath, and tries to earn money posing as a model in life-class. Beautifully illustrated by Peggy Fortnum and packed full of hilarious mishaps, it provides a lovely form of escapism and is incredibly comforting. Just the tonic during these recent difficult times! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/ba643bb9-2144-42eb-8183-b0d58e4e1a85/Death+on+the+Nile+-+Agatha+Christie.jpg Blog - Clare Stirzaker recommends - Make it stand out Death on the Nile Agatha Christie I love crime fiction but when I'm a bit worn out by brutal Scandi-noir, I find myself reaching out for another Agatha Christie to restore my faith in the genre of crime writing. I haven't yet (shamefully) read all 66 crime books, as I have an obsession about only buying the Pan editions published in either the 1960s or 1970s. That aside, if I had to pick one, it would probably be Death on the Nile. I'm more a fan of Hercule Poirot, rather than Miss Marple, and love that this story is set on a cruise on the Nile, having visited Egypt and the Nile countless times. I have also watched the 1978 film starring Peter Ustinov far too many times on a Sunday afternoon, which definitely contributes towards this being one of my favourite Christie stories. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/4aa9efea-45d1-4f54-a021-1a2ea6d7e56c/A+Confederacy+of+Dunces+-+John+Kennedy+O%27Toole.jpg Blog - Clare Stirzaker recommends - Make it stand out A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy O'Toole I was introduced to this book by my husband when we first started going out, who basically said that if I didn't like the book, it would cause him to question the long-term future of our relationship. I felt minded not to like it to see if that was a true challenge, but annoyingly I loved it! It was a book written in the early sixties and the author sadly committed suicide before it was eventually published, but his mother persevered and ensured it was published and it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981. The hero of the novel is Ignatius Reilly - slob extraordinaire, who is in violent revolt against the entire modern age, Set in New Orleans, Ignatius tries to find work under pressure from his mother but jumps from one disastrous experience to the next. There is also the story of his relationship with his girlfriend, which is hilarious, but it's his rants on life and his observations on life in New Orleans, which I remember the most. It can be hard to read at time, given Ignatius' slobbish ways, but I found myself becoming very fond of him by the end. It's not a book for everyone, but when you find someone else who likes it, you will invariably like them too. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/david-goldberg-qc monthly 0.5 2025-05-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/f86f7218-652d-4af6-8c83-d42ddb0bbd3c/The+fire+of+Joy.jpg Blog - David Goldberg QC recommends - Make it stand out The Fire of Joy Clive James This is a collection of (as the long title says) roughly 80 poems to get by heart and say aloud. It’s a good anthology; and poetic descriptions of things inspire arresting ways of expressing thoughts, which is why it is always a good idea for an advocate to have a decent anthology to hand. But what makes this book really special are the essays on each poem written by Clive James as he neared death. They show the extraordinary depth of knowledge that he had: he is able to create unexpected links; he was and, in these essays, is, funny and wise. All the neurons in his brain were firing even though he was near death and that’s inspiring. Never mind the poems: the essays here are a fire of joy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/29c5273c-fe20-41c1-9ca9-d1f314ec3c82/The+House+at+Pooh+Corner.jpg Blog - David Goldberg QC recommends - Make it stand out Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner AA Milne I am treating these two books as one. Now that I come to think about it, there are three reasons for choosing them. The first is that I once met Christopher Robin and so they bring with them memories of several aspects of my life. The second is that they are a wonderful evocation of a contented childhood and so bring even more memories with them and the third is that they illuminate and describe human nature in a way that not many books do. They are books originally written for children but you will find most of the secrets of life in them (honestly). They do hold a mirror up to life: “So they went off together. But wherever they go and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/8a3e30b5-826d-440f-9662-cef65f86df5d/In+Churchill%E2%80%99s+Shadow.jpg Blog - David Goldberg QC recommends - Make it stand out In Churchill’s Shadow David Cannadine Every British male of a certain age is trying to be Mr Churchill: some (our Prime Minister for example) who are not of the certain age, are trying to do that. Why? What was it about this man which means that he cast a shadow 80 and more years forward? This book will help answer those questions. He wasn’t always right, but he had an instinct for geo politics and an ability to see in to the future which is astonishing; he was very often right. There are, of course, many books about Mr Churchill and I could have chosen any one of a dozen or more. In a short biography the military historian John Keegan wrote of how, when, after the War, he originally heard Mr Churchill’s “I speak to you, for the first time as Prime Minister”, speech on a gramophone record in a New York apartment, he found himself standing unavoidably more upright, spine straighter and stiffer. If you haven’t done it, listen to those speeches: I bet they will do that to you too and, while you are listening, spare a moment to admire their structure. This book helps to explain how and why Mr Churchill casts his shadow so far forward, a good read. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/7ee443ff-53f7-400a-b09b-c896773d7a21/The+Language+of+Judges+1.jpg Blog - David Goldberg QC recommends - Make it stand out The Language of Judges Lawrence M. Solan I first heard of this book while reading Steven Pinker’s The Language Instinct: it was mentioned in a footnote and* I thought it might be interesting. Somewhere I learnt (it might have been in The Language Instinct itself) that, when an English sentence reaches its 20th word (which the first sentence did at the asterisk), there are more possibilities for developing it than there are particles in the universe. How do we link the beginning of a sentence to the middle and the end so that we can understand it? The answer is that we construct a mental word tree which links the various parts of a sentence in a way which enables us to comprehend what is being said. What Mr Solan does in this book is take some phrases from a statute or a contract and show us, by drawing word trees, what the phrase means. He then tells us what a judge has said the phrase means and demonstrates that that is very often different from what it actually means. Finally, he considers why the judge has departed from the true meaning. Mr Solan is a practising lawyer in New York and I envy him his ability to write this book. I found it illuminating. For a time, when I had a case about the meaning of a phrase, I would get in touch with an academic who taught linguistics and ask him to draw me a word tree. But, with one exception, I found that judges didn’t like word trees: they didn’t like being told that words had only one meaning; in the end, to adapt Alice in Wonderland, words mean what the judge says they mean. So I gave it up. But I still value Mr Solan’s book. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/ac9b76ae-eaa9-42a3-ac3e-f03a078ffb3a/The+Road+to+Reality+A+Complete+Guide+to+the+Laws+of+the+Universe.jpg Blog - David Goldberg QC recommends - Make it stand out The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe Roger Penrose This is the sort of book which, if I had been keeping two piles, would have gone on the aspirational reading pile and would not have been read. One advantage of abandoning the what I am going to read pile is that it forces me to read this sort of thing (so long as I don’t cheat and electronically download a bit of trash). The universe functions differently at the macro and micro levels: at the macro level, everything works predictably and busses don’t suddenly drop in front of your from nowhere; at the micro level, it seems that things are less predictable, things can be in two places at once and even in two contradictory states at the same time! Unusual hey? Einstein didn’t believe in things like spooky interaction at a distance. Bohr (who for good luck had a horseshoe over his front door which had the open end at the top) did. When he was asked why the open end of the horseshoe was at the top he replied that, obviously, if it was at the bottom, the good luck would fall out. Roger Penrose is a reliable guide to the complexities of the universe, to the contradictions between the macro and the micro states, and a safe pair of hands helping his readers to keep away from the barmier ideas of modern physics. Why am I interested in this sort of thing? Well two reasons. First, it is all rather interesting and, secondly, because one of the aspects of quantum theory is that things behave differently according to whether there is an observer. If you draw up a tax plan which depends, for example, on a transaction being a share for share exchange, you very often find that it is a share for share exchange until a judge looks at it when (blow me down) it becomes a disregardable step in a preconceived plan. In other words, the existence of an observer changes the nature of what you thought you were doing. I try, when structuring the transaction, to avoid the need to look at any particular bit. Or, more shortly I am interested in the quantum universe because I find that, like particles, Judges behave unpredictably. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/1653927295659-EC7KHJM3QT4N6GVKITR2/David-Goldberg-QC.jpg Blog - David Goldberg QC recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/2205d226-fade-4134-b88f-b4d568090412/Proust+was+a+Neuroscientist.jpg Blog - David Goldberg QC recommends - Make it stand out Proust was a Neuroscientist Jonah Lehrer Are there two cultures? Perhaps, but this author lives in both of them and what a wealth of learning there is here. What imaginative links the writer finds between art and science. As the introduction describes it, “this book is about artists who anticipated the discoveries of neuroscience”. It is about writers and painters and composers who discovered things about the human mind that science is only now discovering. Cezanne for example worked out how the visual cortex turns the impulses of light into an image. Walt Whitman discovered that the body was the source of feelings: he wrote “the body is electric, our nerves singing with minor voltages” and modern science shows he was right. George Eliot wrote of the plasticity of the mind long before the theory of the fixed brain was falsified: Gertrude Stern was discovering linguistics long before Noam Chomsky thought of word trees and Escoffier was discovering how we taste and so on. This book is an exciting mix of the artistic and the scientific, in a way poetic. It’s an easy read: it could almost be on the what I am going to read pile, but I learnt an awful lot I didn’t know from reading it. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/stella-mitchell-voisin monthly 0.5 2025-05-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/fa8b2462-5c24-4bc1-a797-766a1c055ee8/A+Beautiful+Spy.jpg Blog - Stella Mitchell-Voisin recommends - Make it stand out A Beautiful Spy Rachel Hore This novel begins in 1928 and tells the story of Minnie Gray who shuns the expectation of a life of married boredom, and takes an opportunity that sees her begin a life in London working undercover for the British Government, as a spy. She discreetly infiltrates the Communist movement and elegantly navigates her way around her dangerous double life, falling for her handler along the way. The suspense builds around the possibility of discovery, and the emotional journey through love and loss woven in amongst the adrenaline of living on a knife edge, which makes for a compelling read. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/2a5ac831-2870-4472-89f5-73915bfe756f/The+Girl+On+the+Train.jpg Blog - Stella Mitchell-Voisin recommends - Make it stand out The Girl on the Train Paula Hawkins This is a super psychological thriller told from the point of view of Rachel, a divorced alcoholic narrator who continues the pretence of a daily commute having lost her job due to alcoholic binges and the subsequent blackouts she suffers. The journey takes her past her old house, which her ex-husband now shares with a new wife and daughter, and begins to build a fantasy life for the apparently perfect couple who live close by. On one journey, watching her perfect couple, Rachel witnesses the wife, Megan, kissing someone Rachel knows is not her husband. The next morning Rachel wakes from a drinking binge battered and bruised, Megan is missing, and witnesses put Rachel in the vicinity of the last sighting of Megan. Rachel tries to piece together the puzzle not only of what happened to Megan but also what she herself was doing on the evening in question, finding murder, infidelity and unlikely alliances along the way. I found this quite a compulsive page turner! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/8734cf71-3169-4ea1-946f-003d66f90b50/The+Midnight+Line.jpg Blog - Stella Mitchell-Voisin recommends - Make it stand out The Midnight Line Lee Child This is the 22nd Jack Reacher novel and frankly Lee Child simply doesn’t write them fast enough for me! Whilst the notion of ‘do gooder thug’ of herculean strength who travels the US taking little more than a toothbrush with him seems a little unlikely, the stories are always good, easy to read and pacy. This one is no different. Reacher sees a ring in a pawnshop that he recognises as being a West Point class ring, to fit a female finger, and realises that there is no way that anyone would voluntarily give up such a priceless item. He sets about finding the owner which takes us on a journey of punch ups, crime, broken families and drug addiction. An excellent untaxing read for a long-haul flight! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/d6f7e09c-cebd-4dc5-973c-36190eb6cea1/When+She+Was+Good.jpg Blog - Stella Mitchell-Voisin recommends - Make it stand out When She Was Good Michael Rowbotham Evie Cormac or Angel Face, is found as a young girl after an horrific murder, hiding in a secret room. Nobody knows who she is or where she has come from, and those who try to unlock the secrets of her identity end up dead. One man, Cyrus Haven, will not give up on the quest and the tension and suspense builds as he inadvertently leads powerful and corrupt people, who want Evie dead because of her horrific past, straight to her. The narration flips between Evie and Cyrus which keeps you turning the pages of this clever story which conveys in parts deep terror in the writing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/0cbbdb7e-6508-4a3d-adb6-738953e807ea/The+Good+Liar.jpg Blog - Stella Mitchell-Voisin recommends - The Good Liar Nicholas Searle A la recherche du temps perdu Proust Having jumped the shark by recommending Homer, I feel I have nothing to lose by doubling down with Proust for my final choice. The first 150 pages or so represent something of an entrance barrier (Rupert Ticehurst – I suggest you skip and perhaps go back later), but what nobody tells you about it is that is both very funny and very sexy, with a cast of unforgettable characters and memorable incidents: Madame Verdurin (nastier than Lady Macbeth), Charles Swann (based in part on Charles Ephrussi, if you have read Edmund de Waal’s The Hare with Amber Eyes), Elstir, the Duchesse de Guermantes, Charlus, Françoise, Albertine, Bloch… I could go on. If you aren’t tempted, or don’t have the stamina, there is an excellent abridged version in “bande dessinée” (that’s graphic novel or comic-book to us), but unfortunately it has so far only reached the end of volume 2. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/de82cc0c-3856-4d73-94aa-9282eeb38c25/Stella_Headshot-removebg-preview%281%29.png Blog - Stella Mitchell-Voisin recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/313823b4-8c38-4ffe-8e72-a123a8e851c9/Becoming.jpg Blog - Stella Mitchell-Voisin recommends - Make it stand out Becoming Michelle Obama Rather a departure from my normal book choice, I picked this up recently not expecting to enjoy the read quite as much as I did. The book is an autobiography that takes the reader on Mrs Obama’s life journey, and is a fabulous window on what first class education, hard work and determination can help you achieve even in the face of obstacles which to some would be unsurmountable. It is a human story of family life in front of the world’s cameras and critics and the ‘soft side’ of politics shines through in stories of the vegetable garden at the White House and tender moments with the President. It is easy to see how Mrs Obama has become such an icon and role model, particularly for young women from less privileged backgrounds around the world. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/gilead-cooper-qc monthly 0.5 2025-05-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/bdc910ff-615e-481f-939c-750e6bd78747/1066+and+all+that_1.jpg Blog - Gilead Cooper QC recommends - Make it stand out 1066 and All That Sellar and Yeatman Another laugh-out-loud book. As the authors explain in the “Compulsory Preface”, “History is not what you thought. It is what you can remember.” If your recollection of school history is slightly hazy, this is guaranteed to scramble it completely. It includes a number of Test Papers, to make sure you have been paying attention (eg., “What is a Plantagenet? Do you agree?”; “Estimate the size of (1) Little Arthur (2) Friar Puck (3) Magna Carta”; “Which do you consider was the stronger swimmer, (a) The Spanish Armadillo, (b) The Great Seal?”) It should be compulsory reading for everybody. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/f89ce337-dfe3-4342-b2ac-611934b95b24/Decline+and+Fall.jpg Blog - Gilead Cooper QC recommends - Make it stand out Decline and Fall Evelyn Waugh Waugh’s spectacularly brilliant debut novel is one of the funniest books ever written. It opens with the unfortunate Paul Pennyfeather (a rather earnest theology student) being sent down from his Oxford college for indecency after being de-bagged by the drunken and riotous Bollinger Club (“Oh please God,” prays the Junior Dean in the hope of the Club being fined copious bottles of college port, “Make them attack the Chapel!”). Paul gets a job as a teacher at a Welsh prep school, and things go downhill from there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/9f9d684f-cd9d-448f-b364-a321e00b141b/Proust.jpg Blog - Gilead Cooper QC recommends - A la recherche du temps perdu Proust A la recherche du temps perdu Proust Having jumped the shark by recommending Homer, I feel I have nothing to lose by doubling down with Proust for my final choice. The first 150 pages or so represent something of an entrance barrier (Rupert Ticehurst – I suggest you skip and perhaps go back later), but what nobody tells you about it is that is both very funny and very sexy, with a cast of unforgettable characters and memorable incidents: Madame Verdurin (nastier than Lady Macbeth), Charles Swann (based in part on Charles Ephrussi, if you have read Edmund de Waal’s The Hare with Amber Eyes), Elstir, the Duchesse de Guermantes, Charlus, Françoise, Albertine, Bloch… I could go on. If you aren’t tempted, or don’t have the stamina, there is an excellent abridged version in “bande dessinée” (that’s graphic novel or comic-book to us), but unfortunately it has so far only reached the end of volume 2. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/4746e583-ace7-482b-bb26-979928b34f6a/One+on+One.jpg Blog - Gilead Cooper QC recommends - Make it stand out One On One Craig Brown An ingenious schema, brilliantly executed: each of a series of short chapters (each 1001 words long) describes a true encounter between two historic figures from the twentieth century, connecting writers, politicians, movie-stars, and royalty, in an improbable daisy-chain of surprising anecdotes. So, for example, Marilyn Monroe meets Nikita Khrushchev meets George Brown meets Eli Wallach meets Frank Sinatra, and so on. Starting with Adolf Hitler nearly being run over by a car in Munich in 1931, within four jumps we find Mark Twain meeting Helen Keller, eventually ending up, after 101 meetings, back with Hitler. How many steps do you think it takes to get from Elvis Presley to Groucho Marx (via Rasputin)? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/661eaf43-95b8-4b50-b19e-ead06a57d9c3/image-asset.jpeg Blog - Gilead Cooper QC recommends - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/3565c3be-fea3-4055-99da-c9fad54c2db2/The+Iliad.jpg Blog - Gilead Cooper QC recommends - Make it stand out The Iliad Homer I realise I risk ending up in the Pseuds’ Corner of MTG’s website by including this on my list – but it’s not as if I’m insisting that you read it in Greek. The Iliad is not just the beginning of Western literature, it is also the best. “Every notion of progress is refuted by the existence of the Iliad,” wrote Roberto Calasso. If you need more persuading, you might try Adam Nicolson’s wonderful study, “The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters”, by way of a taster. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/7b30c3b2-4b20-42d2-a1af-f7e4c7d34a16/the+matter+with+things.jpg Blog - Gilead Cooper QC recommends - Make it stand out The Matter with Things Iain McGilchrist This is the book I am reading at the moment. McGilchrist is a polymath, and this book is impossible to categorise. It is really about everything. McGilchrist’s starting-point is based on his studies as a psychiatrist and neuroscience researcher (he is modestly described on the dustjacket as a philosopher and literary scholar as well), and follows on from his 2009 book, The Master and his Emissary. It analyses the different ways in which the left and right hemispheres of the brain perceive and interpret the world. McGilchrist’s underlying thesis is that the unreliable and literal-minded left hemisphere has been allowed into the driving-seat, when it should only be a navigational aid: it is the right hemisphere that sees the whole picture and should be left to make the important decisions. Civilisation, McGilchrist believes, is endangered as a result. Highly readable, erudite, and utterly fascinating. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/ed-powles monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/86d32f66-5c04-4f07-9626-5abba8a28fda/For+Whom+the+Bell+Tolls.jpg Blog - Ed Powles recommends - Make it stand out For Whom the Bell Tolls Ernest Hemingway I hadn’t come across any writing like it. It is amazing. And then – there’s how it ends. It’s set in the Spanish civil war, and it is lovely and tragic. It’s genuinely a coincidence that the title of this, like the title of my first recommendation, comes straight from John Donne. Everything he wrote is as good as it gets. But that is another story. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/77918fc2-c336-479c-8402-869209beb4e0/Jean+de+Florette.jpg Blog - Ed Powles recommends - Make it stand out Jean de Florette Marcel Pagnol So: you read the book. Then (it’s more or less impossible not to) you read its sequel, Manon des Sources. And then you have to read the two short and beautiful autobiographies which underpin everything you read before. Humble, enduring stories of injustice, love and revenge in Marcel Pagnol’s beloved Provencal hills. The films were so good, too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/6db28a42-3d6b-4b0d-b308-f2224ab9b0fa/Carter+Beats+the+Devil.jpg Blog - Ed Powles recommends - Make it stand out Carter Beats the Devil Glen David Gould Magic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/28dcd842-9084-4864-8bae-5303e2376726/An+Equal+Music.jpg Blog - Ed Powles recommends - Make it stand out An Equal Music Vikram Seth Haunting. He has the amazing gift of making you think that everything is going to be okay. Even when it probably isn’t. So much happens, here. Understated and wonderful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/4aac5fac-01f6-49e4-b0fb-9bcc8ce0f7fc/The+Complete+Sherlock+Holmes.jpg Blog - Ed Powles recommends - Make it stand out The Complete Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle Back to London. A shameless cheat on my part, as there are over sixty stories. But then again, Rupert and Paul beat me to it with On the Black Hill and Any Human Heart, respectively, which otherwise would definitely have been on my list… I really wish I had read more new books during the course of 2020/2021. But the truth was, despite myself, I found myself coming back to these stories time and time and time again. It's not an original thing to say, but I envy you if you haven’t read these books – you’re going to be able to read them for the very first time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/0935bddf-c1da-4be8-8b35-5884463ce87e/a-time-of-gifts.jpg Blog - Ed Powles recommends - Make it stand out A Time of Gifts Patrick Leigh Fermor One of the great books about travel. And, like the best of them, it’s about so much more. Although, now I think of it, “so much more” is what travel is really about. It’s the first part of a journey from the Hook of Holland to Constantinople in the early 1930s. Witty, unique, brilliant. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/anna-tragotsi monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/f06cddaf-d520-4e7c-9a16-44bc2b3dcbe0/Birds+Without+Wings.jpg Blog - Anna Tragotsi recommends - Make it stand out Birds Without Wings Louis de Bernières A true epic that takes you through the life of a Turkish/Greek village in the early 1900s as the Ottoman Empire is in the final stages of its demise. While there is plenty of humour, the novel sheds light on the dangers of extreme nationalism, religious dogma and of war and its atrocities. Quite a long read but definitely worth it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/7358d411-c773-4850-bafa-947f10b72d90/The+Little+Prince.jpg Blog - Anna Tragotsi recommends - Make it stand out The Little Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupéry I first read The Little Prince as a child and since then have revisited it many times. I love the simplicity of the writing, the beautiful watercolour illustrations and the reminder to appreciate the little things in life. The timeless story touches upon childhood, imagination and the inevitability of growing up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/9ba796d8-7721-462d-b703-b29aa76093eb/The+Mask+of+Dimitrios.jpg Blog - Anna Tragotsi recommends - Make it stand out The Mask of Dimitrios Eric Ambler A mystery thriller that captures the mood and atmosphere of the late 1930s. The novel is in many ways old fashioned but despite that, continues to be totally engaging. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/313823b4-8c38-4ffe-8e72-a123a8e851c9/Becoming.jpg Blog - Anna Tragotsi recommends - Make it stand out Becoming Michelle Obama Funny, witty and honest. A memoir focused on who Michelle Obama is as a woman and not just as a former First Lady. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/be9228c0-ff2f-4f9e-b5ac-e65d1cf503b3/Half-of-a-Yellow-Sun-1.jpg Blog - Anna Tragotsi recommends - Make it stand out Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie A powerful account of the Nigerian Civil War told in an eloquent and powerful way through different perspectives. An excellent read for those interested in being educated about the Nigerian Civil War without being lectured. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/85cbfbd0-a388-43eb-9589-4ac48529dd80/Burmese+Days.jpg Blog - Anna Tragotsi recommends - Make it stand out Burmese Days George Orwell A novel eclipsed by Orwell’s more familiar classics. A raw account of British rule in Burma and what is most striking is perhaps how the uncomfortable echoes of that time are still lingering today. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/paul-whitehead monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/4f5a3e40-e0fa-4335-b49b-82ff5f92a7b5/Shantaram.jpg Blog - Paul Whitehead recommends - Make it stand out Shantaram Gregory David Roberts I believe I was “late to the party” with this one, but it is the most amazing and gripping story (based, loosely, on the author’s own experience) of a bank robber who escapes from jail to live in the slums of Mumbai and then joins the local mafia. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/6f01be80-ccac-46e4-8c5f-58eb1e22df8e/Any+Human+Heart.jpg Blog - Paul Whitehead recommends - Make it stand out Any Human Heart William Boyd My favourite author has written so many fantastic books – other favourites of mine are The Blue Afternoon and An Ice Cream War – but this one, diarising the life of a fictitious individual through the 20th Century, is moving and emotional, funny and sad, entertaining and educating. A wonderful book! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/243cd3b3-f94e-4caf-9634-acaceb697d75/The+Night+Circus.jpg Blog - Paul Whitehead recommends - Make it stand out The Night Circus Erin Morgenstern A quite magical book. Original and tremendously imaginative, I was totally captivated from cover to cover. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/7c738c06-ba7e-42ad-b7fe-c26cbcbbb228/Bleak+House.jpg Blog - Paul Whitehead recommends - Make it stand out Bleak House Charles Dickens I could have chosen several Dickens, but this is just about my favourite. Although a rather daunting thousand pages (give or take a few), it is full of wonderful characters, twists, and one of the most famous (or infamous) legal cases in fiction. The BBC television adaption is also worth watching – it was quite brilliant. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/68b50d2f-1446-4747-8b53-09f31467570a/One+Hundred+Years+of+Solitutde.jpg Blog - Paul Whitehead recommends - Make it stand out One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez Of the several South American writers I love (with Isabel Allende and Mario Vargas Llosa), this book stands out as an epic family saga, with a bit of magical realism thrown in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/84345074-5fc9-40e8-85d0-0597b2a7dd72/Gulliver%27s+Travels.jpg Blog - Paul Whitehead recommends - Make it stand out Gulliver’s Travels Jonathan Swift To be honest, I was torn between including this and Alice Through The Looking Glass (my favourite “children’s” book), but I went for Gulliver’s Travels, because over the years I keep coming back to it – the sheer inventiveness still feels fresh and relevant - and it was written in 1726! https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/emma-jane-weider monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/56aca462-832c-4b0d-9553-303908465c9c/The+Garden+of+the+Finzi+Continis+2.jpg Blog - Emma-Jane Weider recommends - Make it stand out The Garden of the Finzi-Continis Giorgio Bassani Bitter sweet novel about a group of young friends in Ferrara, Italy in the 1930s and the ominous rise of fascism. It was recommended to me by my college room mate many years ago and I named my daughter after its captivating central character. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/41caebb2-ac45-4752-ae90-84c665516f05/The+Return+of+the+Native+2.jpg Blog - Emma-Jane Weider recommends - Make it stand out The Return of the Native Thomas Hardy My favourite of all of Hardy’s books. I have a strong and almost tangible image of Egdon Heath, the untameable space in which the tragic story of Eustacia Vye and Clym Yeobright plays out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/5756a2ee-f709-44ba-972e-d1b73626e58f/Half-of-a-Yellow-Sun-1.jpg Blog - Emma-Jane Weider recommends - Make it stand out Half of A Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi I came to this with very little understanding of Nigerian history. Adichi is a fantastic storyteller, the three main characters are beautifully drawn and her depiction of the violence and suffering in the Biafran civil war is sobering. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/280a7a33-d0c8-4dc0-bfdc-2538158aa919/All+the+light+we+cannot+see.jpg Blog - Emma-Jane Weider recommends - Make it stand out All the Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr Intense yet beautifully written Pulitzer Prize winning historical novel about war and free will through the story of two teenagers (a French girl who is blind and a German boy) on either side of World War Two and how their worlds collide. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/1b5717f1-7506-44e9-a566-f9c736925450/Nora+Jane+2.jpg Blog - Emma-Jane Weider recommends - Make it stand out Nora Jane, a Life in Stories Ellen Gillchrist Ellen Gillchrist has taken my favourite character Nora Jane Whittington from her various compilations of short stories of the American South and gathered them together in one collection with some wonderful new material. I love that Gillchrist has continued to develop this strong female character over the length of her writing career. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/90f87a70-e96f-42e7-b18f-f94cceb430dd/The+History+of+Love+2.jpg Blog - Emma-Jane Weider recommends - Make it stand out The History of Love Nicole Krauss I have read this book so many times. It is both funny and sad. It is a thriller and a Holocaust memoir and a romantic novel all rolled into one. I love that Krauss dedicates it to her grandparents 'who taught me the opposite of disappearing'. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/fiona-poole monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/32b9bf4f-9fe6-4be6-9e77-f713bd609969/Philosopher%27s+Stone.jpg Blog - Fiona Poole recommends - Make it stand out Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone JK Rowling Yes, you might think this an odd choice, but it is one of my favourite books at the moment as I am reading it pretty much daily with my six-year-old daughter. There’s nothing quite like putting on some funny voices and talking magic with a six-year-old! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/921dd2e0-f7c8-4f60-8824-9e39c2e059e4/The+Midnight+Library.jpg Blog - Fiona Poole recommends - Make it stand out The Midnight Library Matt Haig I do like Matt Haig. Great to listen to on a podcast too. This is a book on introspection, reflection and hope. A beautiful sliding doors story of what life could have/would have been. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/b0af8fcb-1cb3-429f-a2d5-8b6822803c08/The+Paris+Library.jpg Blog - Fiona Poole recommends - Make it stand out The Paris Library Janet Skeslien Charles Captivating – the tale of Odile, her contemporaries and Paris in wartime transports you there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/5c718b9f-c2da-4bc5-957c-b44674772b4c/The+Daily+Stoic.jpg Blog - Fiona Poole recommends - Make it stand out The Daily Stoic Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman This book has a lesson, a nugget of wisdom, a Stoic insight for every day of the year to keep you on the straight and narrow. A book to live by. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/211573a4-8c63-468e-8574-e9f6062f1476/Snow+Country.jpg Blog - Fiona Poole recommends - Make it stand out Snow Country Sebastian Faulks Total escapism – who doesn’t love a bit of unrequited wartime love, delicious guilt and grief and a chance reunion at a snow-bound sanatorium. Snow Country is the second in the loose trilogy which started back in 2005 with Human Traces, which I now need to read. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/711cbdb0-3090-4091-baca-cedd7be26328/Trio.jpg Blog - Fiona Poole recommends - Make it stand out Trio William Boyd Set in 60’s Brighton, this is quick, witty, gripping story-telling which weaves together the lives of an alcoholic novelist, a covertly gay film producer and a pill-popping actress. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/jennifer-emms monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/555845c0-925b-43a7-817c-c7a8718b577d/The+Woman+In+White+2.jpg Blog - Jennifer Emms recommends - Make it stand out The Woman in White Wilkie Collins A mystery/crime/detective novel set in Victorian times. An engaging story of families, fortunes and inheritance (with a bit of deception thrown in) it is perfect for a private client lawyer! The Moonstone by the same author is also an excellent read. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/24c04a1b-49ea-42e0-8db1-bbe70672edaa/When+Breath+Becomes+Air.jpg Blog - Jennifer Emms recommends - Make it stand out When Breath Becomes Air Paul Kalanithi Thank goodness for large sunglasses, this book had me crying on a sun lounger. It is written by a doctor about his own experiences. Incredibly sad but also uplifting, it really reminds you how precious life is*. *Health warning: if likely to be upset by stories about loss or illness, maybe wait until a later date to read it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/f7b069b9-bc2e-4551-be67-f8e219d725e9/The+Boy+in+the+Striped+Pajamas+2.jpg Blog - Jennifer Emms recommends - Make it stand out The Boy in the Striped Pajamas John Boyne I don’t want to spoil this book for those who haven’t read it! I will just say that this topic is well trodden ground but, in this short book, it is seen uniquely through the eyes of a child who makes an unlikely friendship. You may want a box of tissues for this one too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/fae2eb6a-0504-4338-8a16-587a212661ab/Tess+of+the+D%27Urbervilles+2.jpg Blog - Jennifer Emms recommends - Make it stand out Tess of the D’Urbervilles Thomas Hardy Called a classic for a reason in my view! I love Hardy’s portrayal of countryside life and his ill-fated heroine. Set in the Victorian era, his sympathy for Tess and the controversial “A Pure Woman” subtitle was ahead of its time. The most thumbed book on my bookshelf by far. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/6a29ce12-58e4-4524-bdc0-0384940e8220/Shantaram+2.jpg Blog - Jennifer Emms recommends - Make it stand out Shantaram Gregory David Roberts This really blurs the lines between fiction and reality – written by a real life fugitive from the law it is so hard to tell how much of it is true. In any event, I couldn’t put it down (even though it weighs a ton!) and it is a whirlwind portrayal of life on the run in India. Mesmerising. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/2a967e1a-34ae-4897-aef1-a8db9ce965fb/Eleanor+Oliphant+is+Completely+Fine.jpg Blog - Jennifer Emms recommends - Make it stand out Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine Gail Honeyman A fascinating novel with a protagonist who is an “outsider” to normal society. I found it an interesting insight into how things that happen can shape you and at times this had me laughing out loud. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/sophie-mazzier monthly 0.5 2025-09-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/28c4a2fb-8612-4602-9dea-12d8edd8c094/A+Prayer+for+Owen+Meany+2.jpg Blog - Sophie Mazzier recommends - Make it stand out A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving How do you choose just one from Irving’s prolific and diverse excellence? Comic and tragic and beautifully written - I LOVE THE WAY OWEN SPEAKS IN CAPITALS. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/0ad4de5e-e5cf-4561-97eb-c7d3276b303b/The+Life+and+Times+of+the+Thunderbolt+Kid+2.jpg Blog - Sophie Mazzier recommends - Make it stand out The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid Bill Bryson A really joyful account of the innocence Bill Bryson’s boyhood - growing up in a different era in Midwest America. I enjoyed most of his other works as well, but this one is stand out. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/0972fe37-29c3-4d2f-b8d7-a00ce52c706f/To+Kill+a+Mockinbir.jpg Blog - Sophie Mazzier recommends - Make it stand out To Kill a Mockinbird Harper Lee As one of my “O Level” books (yes I am that old), it has remained a favourite and unlike others I enjoyed at that age, it withstood the test of my reading it aloud to my own daughters. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/e4ccef8d-c8f8-48be-9f59-121b94cbbdfa/A+Gentleman+In+Moscow.jpg Blog - Sophie Mazzier recommends - Make it stand out A Gentleman in Moscow Amor Towles A beautiful meandering tale set in Moscow in the 1920s where the main protagonist, Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to house arrest by a Bolshevik tribunal and escorted not to his usual suite at the Hotel Metropol but to an attic room. He adapts, apparently seamlessly to his new way of life and befriends a glamorous actress, a grumpy chef and a very serious child. A thrilling story told at a gentle pace. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/ac47d637-07c4-455a-aba3-32149da69500/The+Boy+The+Mole+The+Fox+and+The+Horse+2.jpg Blog - Sophie Mazzier recommends - Make it stand out The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Charlie Mackesy A beautiful book in every way – the illustrations, the characterisations, the truths, the friendships, the warmth – a truly “feel-good” book which makes me weep every time I read it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/a1ec1e28-972b-4493-be42-d83b36ccd01b/Cannery+Row+2.jpg Blog - Sophie Mazzier recommends - Make it stand out Cannery Row John Steinbeck My introduction to Steinbeck. I was drawn in from the first page and read it without putting it down the first time (luckily it is short) and then devoured everything else he wrote, but this remains a favourite. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/rupert-ticehurst-recommends monthly 0.5 2022-03-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/97b3b4db-24cf-4fe7-9bbd-d4f1753216e3/black+hill_ccexpress.jpeg Blog - Rupert Ticehurst recommends - Make it stand out On the Black Hill Bruce Chatwin I am indebted to my colleague, Ed Powles, for this recommendation. Like John Williams, Chatwin draws you into a life story that is simple, uneventful but totally compelling. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/3ee626c0-27b3-4ec2-89ed-bd011acffe32/tree_ccexpress.jpeg Blog - Rupert Ticehurst recommends - Make it stand out A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith The novel focuses on my favourite fictional character, Francie Nolan, an eleven year old girl struggling to survive the poverty of early twentieth century New York. I felt as though I was walking the streets of Brooklyn with Francie during her adolescence, enduring great hardships and sadness with her. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/4b83f677-349c-47bc-9266-35607109a2ca/1984_ccexpress.jpeg Blog - Rupert Ticehurst recommends - Make it stand out 1984 George Orwell Terrifyingly prescient and a gripping yarn. One of the few books that translated well into film. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/4991ac8e-7c03-4605-b4b4-19fb165a7512/christmas+carol_ccexpress.jpeg Blog - Rupert Ticehurst recommends - Make it stand out A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens I acted in the play as a child (I was a street urchin with one line, “Scrooge is a miser”) and have had great affection for this novel ever since, reading it every year. FX’s 2019 adaptation adds an extraordinary dimension to the story. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/ee7835aa-539a-4610-a8d5-70b479e963ba/dissolution_ccexpress.jpeg Blog - Rupert Ticehurst recommends - Make it stand out Dissolution C. J. Sansom I could have chosen any of the seven books from the Shardlake series. This series follows the life of a barrister in Tudor London. Part history lesson, part escapism. Totally engaging. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/0aaea836-57d2-446f-a8cc-68c0f7726b8a/stoner_ccexpress.jpeg Blog - Rupert Ticehurst recommends - Make it stand out Stoner John Williams A brilliant but underrated novel. Williams brings his main character, Stoner, to life so effectively that I feel he is a close but rather disappointing lifelong friend. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/clare-maurice-recommends monthly 0.5 2022-03-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/e20adcc0-4243-4fc7-93ef-e440e1582caa/Sweet+Caress+3.jpg Blog - Clare Maurice recommends - Make it stand out Sweet Caress William Boyd I am a huge fan of William Boyd’s writings so it was difficult to choose. I was absorbed by the memoir of Amory Clay, a photojournalist who chronicles the seminal moments of the 20th century. The book is full of her photographs such that it is hard to believe that she is a creation of William Boyd’s imagination and does not really exist! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/89d76abf-d24e-462a-a765-30b4a0fc4d46/The+Cut+Out+Girl.jpg Blog - Clare Maurice recommends - Make it stand out The Cut Out Girl Bart van Es We all know the story of Anne Frank through her diary. This is the story of another Jewish girl known as Lien, from the Hague who was a “hideaway” child. Lien was sent to stay initially with a non-Jewish couple Jans and Henk van Es, the author’s grandparents. Lien survived the war and this is an account of her life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/6ef5b092-518a-4d4a-9e3d-1b3e37629684/The+Mountains+Sing+2.jpg Blog - Clare Maurice recommends - Make it stand out The Mountains Sing Nguyen Phan Que Mai This novel is set in Viet Nam and tells the story of the Tran family from the French colonial period, through the Communist Viet Minh’s rise to power, the Vietnam war to the present day. The voice of the grandmother, Dieu Lan, the family matriarch is the loudest and the tale of her resilience is eye-popping https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/f1c53f02-ff05-47b1-b5b7-9a0889fcb499/The+Time+Travellers+Guide+to+Regency+Britain.jpg Blog - Clare Maurice recommends - Make it stand out The Time Traveller’s Guide to Regency Britain Ian Mortimer I have always loved history and the way Ian Mortimer approaches his subject by theme rather than chronologically is fascinating. The period is 1789-1830 and the themes include Landscape, Where to Stay and Entertainment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/d50e2405-94e4-41d2-84ab-bff69d16f98f/A+Gentleman+In+Moscow.jpg Blog - Clare Maurice recommends - Make it stand out A Gentleman in Moscow Amor Towles A Russian aristocrat returns to Moscow voluntarily after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. He is charged as a “social parasite” but instead of being shot he is placed under house arrest in the Hotel Metropol. This novel chronicles his life in the Hotel where he now has to work, having been an honoured guest, the people he meets and the child to whom he becomes guardian. The finale was unexpected by me. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/404f229e-e329-4fa5-b1dc-a12d84b35670/The+Promise.jpg Blog - Clare Maurice recommends - Make it stand out The Promise Ann Weisgarber My work has taken me to Texas on many occasions, mostly to Houston. I was invited to stay in Galveston, the setting for this novel. The heroine finds herself reluctantly on Galveston Island, marrying a recently widowed farmer in order to avoid destitution. The sweltering weather and remoteness of Galveston are the backdrop to tense relationships culminating in a description of the Storm of 1900 which devastated Galveston. https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/claire-weeks-recommends monthly 0.5 2022-03-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/c7652b03-3fdf-4fb5-94cc-13895e6b6960/Each+Peach+Pear+Plum.jpg Blog - Claire Weeks recommends - Make it stand out Each Peach Pear Plum Janet & Allan Ahlberg Given the amount of time I spend reading to my two-year-old, I thought other parents may like a recommendation. This is the most wonderful book, with beautiful illustrations that can engage a tiny baby, amuse a small child and delight any adult (no matter how many times in a row you have to read it!) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/df78c0ed-0c0e-421c-8db9-f580276c52d2/A+Gentleman+In+Moscow.jpg Blog - Claire Weeks recommends - Make it stand out A Gentleman In Moscow Amor Towles My most recent read. I savoured every word. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/6f01be80-ccac-46e4-8c5f-58eb1e22df8e/Any+Human+Heart.jpg Blog - Claire Weeks recommends - Make it stand out Any Human Heart William Boyd A story of a life lived to the full. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/271f415a-4631-4ea9-923b-4f28f449997e/I+Capture+The+Castle.jpg Blog - Claire Weeks recommends - Make it stand out I Capture the Castle Dodi Smith The coming-of-age story I wish I had read as a teenager. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/4209bd85-2068-4a4b-bae2-02c863eb725e/Goblet+of+Fire.jpg Blog - Claire Weeks recommends - Make it stand out Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire JK Rowling No explanation required. I really struggled not to use all six slots for Harry Potter. These books have been my constant companion for 2/3 of my life and I re-read all seven at least once a year. The Stephen Fry audio books are also amazing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61fbccf3fb6b455236c0db12/1f54c98f-3db2-4673-9dda-4d8373d5db5d/If+Only+The+Could+Talk.jpg Blog - Claire Weeks recommends - Make it stand out If Only They Could Talk James Herriot But I could also have used all six slots for James Herriot. As a farmer’s daughter, I can relate to many of these stories! (Note to anyone who has seen the new TV series – the books are a million times better.) https://www.mtgrecommends.com/blog/category/books monthly 0.5