Head in all the books

I read a lot. A LOT. About sixty so far this year though it feels more like eleventy billion. Some for work, some for pleasure, some for both. Some I’ve put down after two pages because CLUNKY. Some because the voice doesn’t ring true. Some just, well, meh. But, in case you need some summer recs, these are the ones that have, for various reasons, stuck; whose worlds have lived on long after the last page was turned. In no order, and with a pathetic effort at reviewing:

The Lesser Bohemians – Eimear McBride

Astonishing language and rhythm and passion, and a spot-on recreation of early 90s Camden.

Gorsky – Vesna Goldsworthy

Gatsby as a Russian oligarch. That is all you need to know.

Toffee – Sarah Crossan

The latest from the high priestess of YA verse.

Things in Jars – Jess Kidd

Sarah Waters meets the Grant Museum on crack.

The Gifted, The Talented, and Me – William Sutcliffe

Note perfect (and painful) portrait of a teen boy forced into ‘creative’ education who talks to his penis. Hilarious.

Little – Edward Carey

Madame Tussaud’s childhood fictionalised. A cabinet of wonder.

The Age of Light – Whitney Scharer

Paris, Lee Miller, dresses. Glorious.

Daisy Jones and the Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid

Imagine Fleetwood Mac dishing everything.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Jenkins Reid

This woman can do no writing wrong. Hollywood from the 50s to present day.

Normal People – Sally Rooney

Believe the hype.

Peach – Emma Glass

Difficult and mesmerising.

Another Planet – Tracey Thorn

Herts suburbs in the 70s and 80s. Shimmering orange Kodak snapshots and wise insight.

Lethal White – Robert Galbraith

Because Cormoran.

To Throw Away Unopened – Viv Albertine

Gobsmacking memoir.

About Joanna Nadin

A former broadcast journalist and special adviser to the prime minister, since leaving politics I’ve written more than 80 books for children and adults, as well as speeches for politicians, and articles for newspapers and magazines like The Guardian, Red and The Amorist. I also lecture in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, and hold a doctorate in young adult literature. I’m a winner of the Fantastic Book Award and the Surrey Book Award, and have been shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, the Booktrust Best Book award and Queen of Teen among others, and twice nominated for the Carnegie Medal, for Everybody Hurts, and for Joe All Alone, which is now a BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated BBC TV series. I've also worked with Sir Chris Hoy on the Flying Fergus series and ghost-written Angry Birds under another name. I like London, New York, Essex, tea, cake, Marmite, mint imperials, prom dresses, pubs, that bit in the West Wing where Donna tells Josh she wouldn’t stop for a red light if he was in an accident, junk shops, crisps, Cornwall, St Custard’s, Portuguese custard tarts, political geeks, pin-up swimsuits, the Regency, high heels, horses, old songs, my Grandma’s fur coat, vinyl, liner notes, the smell of old books, the feel of a velveteen monkey, Guinness, quiffs, putting my hand in a bin of chicken feed, the 1950s, burlesque, automata, fiddles, flaneuring, gigs in fields on warm summer nights, Bath, the bath.

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