Life & Style
Autumn Leaves
“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree,” wrote Emily Brontë in Wuthering Heights. She could easily have been describing the pages that flutter in as this bookish season arrives. Certainly, our new reading list is literary bliss…
One for homebodies…
Home: How to Love It, Live in It and Find Joy in It by India Knight
Home is where the heart is, a place of charm, comfort, warmth and love, an expression of you. Having a loo you where can go to escape from small children, where not to hang pictures (near the cooker), using candles to create intimacy (even at breakfast), and where to buy the best rug grip (John Lewis), are just a few nuggets among many. From the artfully abstract to the purely practical, Knight is inspiring and generous, and often funny. Every home should have a copy. (Available from October 16)
One to give friends…
On Friendship by Andrew O’Hagan
‘Romantic love gets all the headlines… but just as often it’s strong friendship that properly describes the shape of your life,’ says O’Hagan in this short treatise about the fundamentally invigorating nature of friends old, new, lost, imaginary or gone. From memories of his childhood chum Mark who lived up at Number 26 to bonding over potatoes and Sancerre at the Wolseley with Edna O’Brien, his writing is never less than touching.
One to never forget…
Hostage by Eli Sharabi
The image of the emaciated Israeli hostage, released by Hamas after nearly 500 days in captivity only to discover his wife and daughters were dead, will be seared forever in the mind of anyone who saw it. Sharabi describes the long days and nights of physical pain, hunger, filth and fear; the camaraderie and conflict with his fellow hostages and extraordinary conversations with his captors. Above all this memoir, the fastest-selling book in Hebrew ever, is one of resilience and the will to survive.
One for stylists
Retrouvius: Contemporary Salvage: Designing Homes from a Philosophy of Re-Use by Maria Speake
Alongside its salvaged furniture business, London-based Retrouvius runs a design studio with reclamation at its heart. Here you’ll find 14 design projects in lavish coffee-table form, introduced by Helena Bonham Carter, with essays by Bella Freud and others. But the dazzling pictures of private homes are the thing: a row of ceramic vases tames a room with a too-high ceiling; a staircase is shimmied up with teak and aluminium window frames; a sun-ray door lets light flood into a bedroom.
One for romantics…
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
A sprawling love story by the 2006 Booker Prize winner about an Indian couple who meet and fall in love on an overnight train. Set between the 1990s and early 2000s, we follow the trajectories of the two lovers, their other lovers and their friends and families, as they move between India and the US. Filled with digressions about politics and culture, along with walk-on parts by many minor characters, it builds slowly and is definitely one for the long haul.
One for feminists…
The Book of Revelations: Women and their Secrets from the 1950s to the Present Day by Juliet Nicolson
Most women keep as many as thirteen secrets at any one time, according to an American psychotherapist. Gleaned from research and interviews with women of different generations, Nicolson weaves together an illuminating social history with a feminist tilt about the taboos and conventions that reflect the changing times. From the shame of incest to what drove #MeToo, she explores the consequences of revealing secrets, including being groped in a lift herself and her years as a secret drinker.
One for literary lovers…
Heart the Lover by Lily King
When Jordan starts dating Sam during their senior year at college, little does she realise how her relationship with him and his best friends Ivan and Yash will change her life. Decades later, she’s a best-selling writer, happily married with two sons living in Maine, when a surprise visitor appears and revives long-buried memories from the past. King melds a tale of first love on campus and human tragedy with a deft touch and a heartbreaking finale. (Available from October 23)
One for the loo…
My Book of Treasures by Joanna Lumley
A self-confessed hoarder, Lumley has been cutting out articles, poems and quotes for years. Now she’s turned these pearls of wit and wisdom into a book that’s all the better for the unlikely juxtapositions. Billy Butlin’s vision for his first holiday camp sits next to the eight most precious emblems of Buddhism. An extract from a Stefan Zweig novella precedes a poem by Rumi, a rant by David Hockney against the anti-smoking brigade comes just before a favourite Yeats poem.
One for horror fans…
After Midnight: Thirteen Chilling Tales for the Dark Hours by Daphne du Maurier, introduced by Stephen King
Du Maurier’s original short story, Don’t Look Now, about a couple in Venice grieving their lost child, is even more terrifying than Nicholas Roeg’s movie. As is The Birds, which du Maurier set in cold, windy Cornwall rather than Hitchcock’s sunny Bodega Bay. These are just two gems in this chunky new edition of creepy, dark tales which are all the better for being warmly introduced by the master of horror himself.
One for domestic goddesses…
Clever Cleaning by Purdy Rubin and Charlotte Figg
The food stain on your favourite shirt, the yellowing pillowcases, the grease-encrusted oven pans, the mould around the shower… This guide to home cleaning and stain removal by the founders of cult cleaning brand Purdy & Figg solves them all. It also explains why ‘Big Clean’ hoodwinks us into buying far too many nasty chemical cleaners, and provides simple recipes for making natural alternatives using sustainable ingredients, as well as explaining how to blend our own essential oils. Beautifully illustrated in a user-friendly format.
One for modern art lovers…
Life in Progress by Hans Ulrich Obrist, translated by David Watson
Being knocked over by a car almost fatally when he was six instilled Obrist with a fear of death and a need to get things done. Books were his saviour and this clever boy grew into a young man with a passion for languages and art. He visited every museum he could, he started collecting postcards and he went out of his way to meet artists, while studying economics and ecology. A fascinating glimpse into what made the curator.
One for natural history buffs…
Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen, translated by David Hackston
I loved this fact-based debut novel about a now extinct sea creature that once swam in the Bering Sea between Russia and Alaska. Iida begins her sea-faring saga in 1741, when the naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller joined Captain Bering’s Great Northern Expedition, and ends it over two centuries later with a skeleton needing restoration. If this sounds dry, it’s anything but: the salty tang of freezing sea air permeates its pages, and it is already a bestseller in Finland. (Available from October 23)
One for space hoppers…
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Anniversary Edition by Carlo Rovelli
When it came out a decade ago, this slim little volume outsold Fifty Shades of Grey in Rovelli’s native Italy. The astrophysicist managed to condense Einstein’s general theory of relativity, quantum mechanics, the architecture of the universe, elementary particles, quantum gravity, probability, black holes, time and mankind into seventy-eight succinct pages that the rest of us could actually understand. Rovelli’s written more books since, but none as genius as this one, republished in a sparkling new edition.
One for fashionistas…
I Shop, Therefore I Am: The 90s, Harvey Nicks and Me by Mary Portas
If you worshipped Patsy and Eddy, goggled at the window displays and shopped there till you dropped, you’ll devour this inside story of how the Queen of Shops transformed Harvey Nicks from low frump to high fashion. With trademark gusto Portas whisks us behind the scenes to show us how she did it, with vignettes aplenty about the designers, dressmakers, directors and more. Lots of blood, sweat, tears and laughter. If you were there you’ll remember; if you weren’t, you’ll feel like you were.
