Last month we brought you ten of our publishing team’s reading recommendations for lockdown. We are so glad the post went down well, and we loved having book chatter with you all over on our socials. This time around some of our Time and Tide authors are sharing another five brilliant books that they have been reading lately. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for the anthology and check out the rest of the blogs to find out a bit more about the authors and their pieces! As always, please say hello over on Twitter or Facebook and let us know what you have been reading during lockdown.
Diary of a Somebody by Brian Bilston
Recommended by Teresa ‘Beag’ Horn
Brian makes a resolution to write a poem every day for a year. The book’s diary entries are interspersed with these poems and we get to know the hapless Brian as he notes down the details of his humdrum and quirky life. This is a comic novel but is not to be underestimated. Brian writes with wit, nuance, laugh-out-loud humour and touches of sensitivity. Each poem is linked to his story and often they contain hidden clues and references to what’s going on. I was reminded of the Jeeves and Wooster books by P.G. Wodehouse as this novel reads with a similar pace and wit.
This is a good read for lockdown as it is essentially light-hearted and gives you an opportunity to laugh and forget the real world outside. Brian Bilston is the fabled ‘Poet Laureate of Twitter’ and he has been writing a poem most days on social media during the Lockdown.
Starter for 10 by David Nicholls
Recommended by Lauren Ross
I’m currently reading Starter for 10 for the first time, but also dipping in-and-out of One Day: my ultimate comfort read. I‘m always pleasantly surprised by how laugh-out-loud David Nicholls’ writing is. He’s the king of dialogue! As a trained actor and television writer (‘The 7.39’ with Sheridan Smith is brilliant), reading his novels is like watching your favourite show. The characters and relationships he conjures are so convincing; the stories heartbreaking at times, yet ultimately heartwarming. The audiobooks are also great for making you smile before going to sleep.
The Herries Chronicle by Hugh Walpole
Recommended by Christine Appleyard
The Herries Chronicle by Hugh Walpole has divided opinion since it was published in the 1930s. Described by some as a superb work of fiction, it was vilified by others as lacking any literary merit. The truth lies between the two; it is a work of no real literary merit which is a superb work of storytelling.
The Herries Chronicle, set mainly in the Lake District, follows the varied and colourful lives of the Herries family from the eighteenth century to the early years of the twentieth century. Rather old fashioned in narrative style, the most challenging task for the reader is remembering who all the characters are, and their relationship to one another. If the thought of reading such a vast novel is too much for you at the moment, an audio version is available here.
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Recommended by Abigail Humphreys
Yes, yes, I know. Vampires are overdone. But the spicy, sharply intelligent Matthew Clairmont will make you forget that they are. The chemistry between Diana Bishop and Matthew, with their fated but illicit love, will suck you down into a world of magic, where academia becomes life-or-death. A tantalising and gratifying read; it leaves you wishing that the real walls of Oxford’s Bodleian Library held witches, vampires, daemons, and a deep, mystifying secret buried within an ancient Alchemical text.
The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes
Recommended by Dianne-Dominique Theakstone
I’m so glad I eventually got around to reading this book after hearing so much about it on BBC Radio Four. Now I can’t resist recommending The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes.
Fellow Creative Writing students beware: this read may send chills down the spine! Fasten your seatbelts for a turbulent introduction to the tigers of publishing, told through the eyes of Stella Sweeney.
Stella returns to Dublin after a dismal author’s tour in the US. We re-live the stress and pressure that the experience put on her personal relationships and her sense of identity. It’s a tale of caution – trust neither your enemies nor your friends. But after tasting the high life, will she be able to adjust to the more sedate pace of Ireland? Read it and find out!
The Time and Tide anthology will be released later this summer.
Stryvling Press 