Tired of the grind? Need a break from the boardroom? Dive into these 10 captivating reads that promise pure pleasure and no marketing or business tips.
Business, strategy, marketing and self-improvement books are ten-a-penny – and I speak as someone who wrote one. After years of reading a modest library’s worth of business and “how to” books myself, I made the conscious decision to stop. I wanted to rediscover reading for pleasure.
Here are my favourite 10 books that I read this year – with Amazon links should you choose to add these to your own reading list. To manage expectations: these books won’t give you an edge in marketing, but they will almost certainly entertain and enthral.
Our Moon: A Human History – Rebecca Boyle (Sceptre) Until I read this book, I had never stopped to contemplate that one of the fundamental factors that has created and maintained life on our planet is… the moon. How we got our moon, just how unique the moon and its relationship with our planet is, how the moon affects all life and how man has studied the moon from worship and practical observation for measurement of time, through the invention of the telescope and ultimately exploration as astronauts is mined in detail.
Cosmos – Stuart Lowe and Chris North (Aurum Press) A companion piece for the book above. Want to get a sense of scale in space but struggle with figures that are measured in light years? Would you like to visualise your galaxy? Look no further. These fabulous infographics put much of our cosmos into perspective. How much bigger is gas planet Jupiter? What other planets have we found that might sustain life? Gaze with wonder.
The Mad Emperor – Heliogabalus and the Decadence of Rome – Harry Sidebottom (One World) One of the lesser-known Roman Emperors, came to power in AD 218 aged 14. The 4 years of his short rule are considered some of the strangest in Rome’s history. He is said to have married vestal virgins, replaced the classical gods, thrown lavish parties and moonlighted as a prostitute – but is this reputation deserved? Maybe not all is as it seems.
Heresy – Catherine Nixey (Picador) All of the tropes associated with the life of Jesus Christ – being a son of God, being born in a stable, walking on water, turning water to wine, raising the dead, casting evil spirits into a herd of pigs and having them charge of the edge off a cliff and most famously visiting your followers after death: none of these stories are unique to JC. All of them were common to accounts of the lives of a number of spiritual leaders, recorded by various writers between 500BC-300AD. These stories were Greco-roman religious memes. So why is no one talking about this… and if this is true – who was the real Jesus? Fascinating.
A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages – Anthony Bale (Penguin Viking) Quite literally ‘the world as you have never seen it before’. Such a great idea: the author has collected medieval travel accounts Including several previously untranslated into English and collated them for your pleasure. How did our ancestors see the world – from Europe to the Antipodes – in an age before the internet, decent maps, planes, trains or automobiles? Read on.
The Familiar – Leigh Bardugo (Penguin Viking) A richly intricate tale of magic and intrigue. A romp set in Spain’s Golden Age and at the time of the Inquisition. Historically it is wonderfully researched, but of course sprinkled with spell-binding fiction. Captivating, beautifully written and not at all like the far trashier Twilight, Buffy and that ilk – which may well be why Stephen King heaps praise upon it as “impossible to put down.”
A History of Britain in 10 Enemies – Terry Deary (Bantam) He may have created ‘Horrible Histories,’ but you would be wrong if you think that this book is aimed at younger minds. This is very much a book for adults, but one that entertains a playful and pun-filled approach to explaining the facts around 10 enemies Britain has faced throughout history. Who was Britannia? How sadistic was Boudica? Would Elizabeth I be only a footnote in Britain’s history without the Spanish Armada? Would Churchill have been only seen as ‘an opposition windbag’ without Hitler? Deary argues that we are defined by the enemies we make.
A Place of Tides – James Rebanks (Alan Lane/Penguin) I was spellbound by this short effortless read of a book. Have you ever considered where Eiderdown comes from? James went to live with an elderly Norwegian lady who still collects the down from her Eider duck nests after the ducklings leave, on her remote Norwegian island. IN the wait for the ducks arrival, and then ultimately with the Eiderdown harvest, James recounts a simplicity and a pace to off-grid life that is so seductive as an alternative to our ‘always on’, smart-phone hell that we have created for ourselves. This book is like having a brain spring-clean. Enjoy.
Somebody Told Me – Danny Wallace (Ebury) If like me you are baffled that people really believe the outlandish conspiracy theories that abound in 2024, well don’t judge too quickly: there’s a rabbit hole out there with your name on it. One perfectly tailored to your interests, biases and state of mind. Danny Wallace explains all with a gripping account of the origin of these theories, their target audience, Russian social media troll farms and how if you scratch the surface of any of the popular alt-theories there’s anti-semitism lurking just underneath. Eye-opening.
The Seven Wonders of The Ancient World – Bettany Hughes (W&N) Classic pub quiz question: list all seven wonders of the ancient world. Can you? This fascinating book tackles each wonder in depth – some still exist today (the Great Pyramid) others we have no idea where they actually were (the hanging gardens of Babylon). But all have had huge impact on the world as we know it, often with mind-boggling scale and all are associated with centuries of ritual religious or sporting practice. A delight.
The National Gallery – Companion Guide – Erika Langmuir (National Gallery) – as I live in deepest Somerset, the Quo Vadis Members Club in Dean Street has become my second home, and my office when I am in London. Dean Street is just a stones throw from the National Gallery. I became a NG member this year and when I have a spare 40 mins I pop over to the NG armed with this book, look at 4 paintings and learn why they are considered fine art. Joy.
