Shelf Esteem's Must-Read Books

 

Extremely suitably, I have ended up in the most lady writerly scene possible for writing my last Shelf Esteem column. I'm at home at Twee Flat, sitting in the armchair my mum reupholstered for me in red cord when I moved in.

Candles are lit (including, obviously, my eternally beloved Melt STILL) and Cat Brown is purring away on my lap. Outside, the sun is setting in vivid pink candystripes, and my elderly neighbour is having a minor argument with her other half about where she last saw the green spade.

It is WITCHING O'CLOCK.

*A pause to push Cat Brown off the keyboard*

Shelf Esteem's Greatest Hits

My favourite books from the top-rated reviews: these are the ones I would press on you at a party, while looking slightly wild-eyed and upsetting. The Goldfinch not included because you've most likely already read it, despite its inordinate size.

Click on each link for the full review, and to buy it.

Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler (4/5)
A beautiful story of friendship and life in the American country - which means Big Country, not just "Ooh I got the train to Guildford and wandered around for a bit." It starts off small, but before you know it it's unravelled some stunning writing and slapped you round the face.

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (5/5)
Oh God was I sniffy before starting this. Eat Pray Love woman? Weird aged aunt-looking cover? Thank heavens I even opened the damn thing because this is just a treasure of terrific story, beautiful language and frantic, cupboard love of the most literal kind.

Mrs Hemingway by Naomi Wood (4/5)
Ernest Hemingway was a ghastly, ghastly man, but his wives and mistresses were incredible. Wood does a brilliant job of linking them all together without making the reader want to jump out of the window at the sheer heartbreak of it all, and in return you get a fantastic and evocative read that sizzles with poetry and summer tension.

Campari For Breakfast by Sara Crowe (4/5)
A ridiculously charming tale that ticked all my favourite coming of age boxes: eccentric relatives, a yearning for romance, the threat of eviction, and all nicely roasted in wit, lovely plotting and a healthy measure of gin.

Tinder by Sally Gardner (5/5)
I adore fairy tales and anything magical, not because I am five but because the imagery you get is so stunning. Sally Gardner's poetic, almost violent narrative takes a Hans Christian Andersen classic and together with David Roberts' staggering artwork makes for a book that whisks you firmly into another, colder world until you've finished.

Shelf Esteem's Summer Picks

I spent last week on holiday greedily ingesting all the books I'd been saving up for such an occasion - the good thing about being a borderline albino redhead: nobody looks at you askance when you hide indoors. These are my favourite new titles - 5/5 each one - while the Sluttery team picks their favourites to read on holiday.

 The Vacationers by Emma Straub
If you read enough really good books you get fooled into thinking it's easy to come up with believable characters, plot and location. It only took two nearly-there books for me to fall upon Straub's with grateful relish: in this story of a restless American family holidaying in Mallorca (very funny on that choice she is too) with friends, she nails all three. I really hoped this would be amazing, and it really is.

The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R.Carey
Melanie is a young girl like any other, she thinks. It is a bit odd that she has to be strapped into a wheelchair under military supervision in order to attend her school lessons, but the beneficent light of her favourite teacher Miss Justineau is distraction enough for the moment. That's all you get from me, but this was my favourite book of the holiday. Carey is a comics writer, and puts that medium's tight, active writing into an always engaging story that keeps your attention laser-focused, even during action bits when if you're anything like me, you start checking your watch and going "Oh is this still going is it?"

The Wrong Knickers: A Decade of Chaos by Bryony Gordon
Dreadful cover, and an "Oh, Bridget!" title do this thoughtful, emotional and hilarious memoir a disservice. Less wacky than Gordon's columns can tend to be, this is an unflinchingly unselfpitying look at your 20s, when you don't know enough not to believe everything you're told, and are too poor or pissed to do anything about it. I cried at the end, laughed all the way through, and thanked God my 20s are done with.

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
I put off reading this for ages because I got so fed up at the publicity department shrieking details about the plot on Twitter. Do not do this! Pick it up now, because this is one of the most enjoyable, captivating books I've read in ages, and the lead character, Rose, one of the most intriguing. The sort of book that reminds you why you love to read.

Laura H: I'm currently reading The Whispering Muse by Icelandic poet and novelist Sjón, and am tremendously excited about it! Set in 1949 aboard a ship bound for the Black Sea, it is filled with witty humour and sudden bursts of raw myth; the second mate is in fact a hero from Greek epic poetry who once sailed with Jason and the Argonauts. If that doesn't get you excited then I don't know what will.

Other than that, I've just finished Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine. Overtly it's a nostalgic contemplation of life as a 12 year-old boy in late 1920s small-town America; but it's much more than that. Beneath the surface is a contemplation of the nature of time, youth, memory, written in truly wonderful prose. Aptly, the whole book feels somehow seeped in golden light and summer darkness. Great for a late night read on a balcony somewhere.

Next up will be David Mitchell's new novel The Bone Clocks - I'm a huge Mitchell fan so I can't wait!

Laura B: I've reread Françoise Sagan's Bonjour Tristesse more often than I can remember. It's scandalous and amoral - both excellent ingredients for a summer read - and set on the scorching-hot French Riviera. While reading, it's worth remembering three things: firstly, that Sagan was 18 when she wrote this. Secondly, that it earned her a papal denunciation. And thirdly, that it was far too daring for the UK in 1954, and the juicy bits were squeezed out of early editions. Don't worry - this recent translation cuts NOTHING.

Katie: Earlier this year I went to see the theatrical interpretation of Philip Pullman's Grimm Tales at Shoreditch Town Hall. It was really wonderful, and made me go home and pick up Pullman's book, which is a great read, and particularly good at reminding you quite how grim the original stories were!

Another vote for Tinder by Sally Gardner: although based on a fairytale, this one is definitely not for kids. Gardner was apparently heartbroken that being a grown-up meant reading books without pictures, so this one is accompanied by appropriately haunting illustrations.

I also recently finished Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane which was utterly transporting. My only complaint was that it was too short. Reading on a Kindle I often forget to check how far through I am, and with this one I was expecting to only be about half way through when it came to an end! Gutted.

Frances: I have a habit of taking the gloomiest books on holiday with me and creating my own little salty tears pool next to the sun lounger. If you like that sort of thing too, I really recommend some Suri Hustvedt - the worlds she creates are incredible, although perhaps not that compatible with Pina coladas and the Macarena.

For complete escapism, I'm totally with Kat and Miss Pettigrew. Other books along that delightful line are Mrs Harris goes to Paris, a London char lady saves up her pennies to buy the Dior dress of her dreams in Paris and all sorts of wonders unfold, and the gorgeous The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim, a book for "those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine". If this book doesn't make you want to skip off to Italy and get lost amidst fig and olive trees, well frankly you probably deserve a wet weekend in Skeggy for your holidays. And always, always, I Capture The Castle.

Sian: Alongside The Signature of all Things (which Kat will no doubt mention as she reviewed it and loved it) I can't think of a better summer read than American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield. It's a book to get totally lost in while sipping a ridiculous drink on a beach. If you're after a shorter read, try The Other Typist, which certainly isn't your average romp through 20s New York. It's perfect reading material for a long train journey. And obviously I can't ignore my all time favourite book The Poisonwood Bible. I'm so excited to read that again this summer.

Kat's last word, because she is getting totes emosh

And there we have it. I can't believe it's the last Shelf Esteem! On the one hand, I am full of regret over the books we won't get to discuss. On the other, thrilled because there are so many wonderful books still to come, and ones to re-read. Speaking of which...

Kat's favourite books

I can read these endlessly and always be comforted, inspired and find something new.

Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson
Rivals by Jilly Cooper
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Selected Stories by Katherine Mansfield
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Love and Rockets by Jaime Hernandez
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
A Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot
The Kingdom Under The Sea by Joan Aiken and Jan Pienkowski
She by H Rider Haggard


I would love it if you would share your own favourites in the comments, or by tweeting me @katbrown82. Thank you for reading, and I wish you many more happy book times yet to come.