Pagefield Pageturners

Friday 21st August

It’s been raining all week in London and with September just around the corner, we’re having to face the very real prospect that summer is drawing to an end (sob).

With politicians still on the beach for another few weeks however, we at Pagefield wanted to take the opportunity to share with you what we’ve been reading this summer as well as preview what we’re most excited about reading this autumn.

 

Craig Westwood

Summer Read – Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

  • This summer’s guilty pleasure for me has been some great sci fi, in the form of Annihilation, the first volume of the Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer. An investigate team ventures into an environmental disaster zone, Area X, and discovers some strange and sinister goings on … this is being filmed by Alex Garland, director of the recent Ex Machina, so great to get in early and read it before it hits the screens.

Autumn Read – The Evolution of Everything by Matt Ridley

  • I am looking forward to reading Matt Ridley’s The Evolution of Everything – Ridley’s Genome is up there in my favourite non-fiction list, so it will be fascinating to see him apply his specialism of evolutionary science to wider social structures and processes, identifying the power of emergent phenomena and how it stacks up against individual action.

 

Will Spratt

Summer Read – The Quincunx by Charles Palliser

  • Colleague and culture vulture @craigwestwood9 provides a constant stream of book recommendations. Quincunx is 1,200 pages of epic historical fiction. I can confirm – as one of the reviews on the back says – that it ‘grips like steel and is a book to make you miss your stop on the bus or train’.

Autumn Read – One Plus One Equals Three by Dave Trott

  • Having read his previous two books, I am looking forward to reading advertising grandee Dave Trott’s latest book: One Plus One Equals Three. Not only is he one of our country’s most successful admen, but he is a copywriter by trade. This means he has the rare gift of being to impart wisdom and insight in pithily written parables. To get a taste of his writing, you can follow him on Twitter at @davetrott or read his blog here.

 

Poppy Rosenberg

Summer Read – Plainsong by Kent Haruf

  • Described on its cover as a good old fashioned tale, Plainsong certainly did not disappoint and was a classic page-turner. Driven by the interweaving lives of a small cast of vivid characters, the way the narrative flits between episodes in each person’s lives lends itself to a good beach read, allowing for plenty of time to dip in and out of both the sea and the novel. The story follows the fate of Colorado school girl Victoria Roubideux after she falls pregnant and is taken in by elderly brothers who live on a secluded farm. In the same small town is Tom Guthrie who lives alone with his two young sons after their mother falls ill with catatonic depression. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and the story is surprisingly well written.

Autumn Read – Garden of the Evening Mists by Tan Twang Eng

  • Over the next few months I am looking forward to finishing Tan Twang Eng’s Garden of the Evening Mists. Having (shamefully) never heard the title, the author and knowing very little about the history of the Far East, I was slightly sceptical as to how I would enjoy this book. I really had nothing to worry about, as it is both historically fascinating and a written with great poetry. An added bonus with this novel is that it refocused my attentions to a political arena of which I had very little knowledge. It reignited my love of learning about new cultures and histories through literature, and turned out to be particularly pertinent given the recent anniversary of Japan’s surrender to the allied forces.

 

Sara Price

Summer Read – Us by David Nicholls

  • I ‘laughed and cried’ my way through ‘One Day’ and was looking forward to David Nicholls’ new novel, ‘Us’ – the story of a marriage on the verge of a breakdown. Doug and Connie have been married for 25 years and, as their son Albie approaches ‘nest-leaving’ stage, Connie announces that she ‘thinks’ their marriage is over. Doug, portrayed as a bumbling, socially autistic intellectual, decides to use their family holiday to persuade her to stay and to mend fences with Albie. Slower and less emotionally manipulative than ‘One Day’, what it shares with that novel is wonderful characterisation. Doug, Connie and Albie are each entirely human: at times likeable, even lovable, and at others absolutely infuriating. This book didn’t make me laugh out loud, nor did it leave me a snivelling wreck in the way that ‘One Day’ did, but it had a quiet charm that gradually won me over.

Autumn Read – Ayurveda: Nature’s Medicine by David Frawley and Subhash Ranade

  • Ayurveda – which can be loosely translated to mean ‘the science of life’ – is the traditional natural medicine of India dating back over five thousand years and combining diet, herbal medicine, yoga, meditation and massage. It represents a fascinating alternative approach to preventing and healing disease and bringing the body into balance. Having spent 10 days at an Ayurvedic retreat this Summer, I wanted to learn more and this book was a great introduction. Whilst I have no intention of denying myself the best that Western medicine has to offer, this book contains many useful ideas that can easily be adopted to improve health and reduce the need for medical intervention. A lot of it is common sense – but sometimes, we need to see things written down in a compelling way before we do what we know is good for us!

 

Sam Oakley

Summer Read – The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell.

  • I finally got around to reading my first David Mitchell book this summer and it didn’t disappoint. Books are so often described as a ‘rollercoaster ride’, but the sheer scale and, at times, barminess of this novel make it entirely worthy of the moniker. Mitchell is a complete master of his trade and the floodgates have been opened for me to explore what I am assured is his equally impressive back catalogue.

Autumn Read – How Music Got Free: The End of an Industry, the Turn of the Century, and the Patient Zero of Piracy by Stephen Witt

  • With Apple Music the newest kid on the block in the world of music streaming, and Taylor Swift on a one-woman crusade to change the way we listen to our music – and notably new artists –  I’m excited to read how we ended up in this situation to begin with, and where the industry goes from here.

 

Lucy Holbrook

Summer Read – Please Mister Postman by Alan Johnson

  • Labour MP Alan Johnson’s second volume of memoirs covers Johnson’s life from 18 to his thirties and charts his rise within the trade union movement and first foray into politics. Set in the 1970s and 1980s it makes an unshowy case for the trade union movement and its merits in resolving disputes and supporting workers in what was an extremely turbulent time both politically and economically. With Labour looking like facing a return the hard left it paints some interesting lessons for today for a party facing the Wilderness Years mark 2.

Autumn Read – How to be a Parliamentary Researcher by Rob Dale

  • I am looking forward to reading Rob Dale’s forthcoming book on how to be a parliamentary researcher. Until the election Dale was parliamentary researcher to Labour MP Andy Sawford who subsequently lost his seat but Dale has taken the summer months to tell the fascinating story of how the MP’s office has developed over recent decades. Due to published in September this account of the unsung heros of Parliament will definitely be a good read.

 

Geoff Duggan

Summer Read – The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

  • My favourite book of the year so far. Gripping story, wonderful characters and interesting social history of the Deep South in the sixties/seventies.

Autumn Read – The Unfinished Revolution: How New Labour Changed British Politics Forever by Philip Gould

  • Ahead of the election of the new Labour leader it seems a prescient time to re-read this modern political classic, which charts the rise of the Labour Party from political obscurity to landslide election victories. Sadly it seems that many of its important lessons – relevant wherever you stand politically – are being forgotten or ignored by those on the left.

 

Nathan Jones

Summer Read – Why We Lost by Daniel Bolger

  • My beach read was perhaps not that ‘beachy’ but I caught up on last year’s ‘Why We Lost’, Daniel Bolger’s contentious analysis of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bolger’s choice of title did not make him any friends in Washington, but it sets the tone for a thoroughly honest and incredibly readable appraisal.

Autumn Read – The Power Broker by Robert Caro

  • My autumn read started in the summer and is in danger of becoming a tri-season item as it’s a bit of a long one. In the best traditions of political fanboyism I am mid-way through Robert Caro’s ‘The Power Broker’. Despite the unbelievable reviews you really should buy the hype – it’s a masterclass in political power, persuasion and personality.

 

 

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