Buzzing for Booklovers’ day!
Calling all bibliophiles, Booklovers’ day annually takes place on the 9th August. For those of you who are already aware of it, we hope that this blog provides you with some new reading inspo! If not, then maybe it will contain a suggestion for the book which changes your mind on reading, maybe you’ll even read for pleasure rather than obligation…
To begin, here’s a rundown of our office favourites:
Our Sales Progressor, Izzy, appears to be a hopeless romantic with her choice of Sally Rooney’s Normal People. This short book provides an easy yet gut-wrenching read. The storyline centres on two teens and their tumultuous romance throughout A-Levels and University. The reader becomes frustrated at their inability to communicate, with the heart-breaking star crossed lovers motif continuing in Sally Rooney’s other works (we recommend Beautiful World, Where Are You and Conversations Between Friends.) However, Normal people and Conversations Between Friends are also available to watch as TV Series, whilst notably not living up to the same level as their written counter-parts.
Emma, our Director and Branch Manager, has selected Richard Osman’s (clever glasses guy from Pointless) Thursday Murder Club series. The club is composed of four retired friends/investigators, whilst the fourth addition to the series is set to be released on the 14th September this year. Their detective skills are put to the test in varying scenarios, such as: murders in the village, death threats from mobsters over stolen diamonds, a sensational double-killing, and a Boxing day brutality!
Administrative Assistant, Meadow, likes to show off her English degree with choices like Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North and any work by Virginia Woolf (namely To The Lighthouse). Salih’s tale grapples with themes of Colonialism and repatriation after Mustafa returns from studying abroad. With intriguing complexities of national identity and gender, this novel is an immersive yet uncomfortable read. Woolf’s novels typically explore varying gender dynamics, whilst being known for experimenting with changing narrative voices and perspectives in each chapter. As an additional preference, Meadow has highlighted her love for all things Gothic (Dracula, Frankenstein, and anything by Angela Carter but more specifically The Bloody Chamber).
Director and Valuer, Simon, has a soft spot for the classic Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens. The novel presents themes of financial greed and familial ties, as two brothers aid the Nickleby family whilst they deal with the loss of their father.
We then asked our clients for some of their top picks:
- The Wasp Factory by Ian Banks. A macabre and intriguing tale about a troubled character named Frank. The novella’s 184 pages delve into psychological thriller and horror, and sparked significant controversy upon its release in 1984.
- How to Stop Time by Matt Haig. A historical fantasy novel intertwining romance and time travel, alongside the protagonist’s search for happiness during his 400 year life span.
- The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. This novel explores a woman existing in a liminal state in between life and death, essentially in limbo. The same philosophical nature from How to Stop Time is applied, making dark topics of mental health appear more lightly yet in a respectful and validating manner .
- Dellia by David Scidmore. A fantasy romance about a physicist who experiences an accident and consequently finds himself in an alternate world of new creatures and outlandish prophecies.
- Atlas of The Heart by Brené Brown. A book exploring eighty-seven emotions experienced by humans, whilst also discussing the ways in which humans form connections to one another. If this doesn’t appeal to you, then consider this extract “if we want to find the way back to ourselves and one another, we need language and the grounded confidence to both tell our stories and be stewards of the stories that we hear”. Perhaps now you get why it was the #1 bestseller of the New York Times!
Staying on brand, we have to recommend some books about housing (of course):
- Cities and Affordable Housing- Sasha Tsenkova
- Housing for Humans: A book to Imagine, Create, and Design a New Housing Model in America- Ileana Schinder
- The Affordable City: Strategies for Putting Housing Within Reach (and Keeping it There)- Shane Phillips
- Estates- an Intimate History- Lynsey Hanley
As you can see, the books above deal with ideas of accessibility, innovation, and housing snobbishness.
If you struggle to encourage your children to drop their games consoles and pick up a book, here’s our list of childhood classics!
For younger children:
- The Hungry Caterpillar
- Elma The Elephant
- Gerry The Giraffe
- Mog The Cat
- The Tiger That Came for Tea
For older kids with an imagination:
- Harry Potter
- The Hunger Games
- The Divergent trilogy
- Percy Jackson
For Tweens:
- John Green (The Fault in our Stars, Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska)
- Jacqueline Wilson (Double Act, Lily Alone, Dustbin Baby)
- The Three Investigators series by Robert Arthur Jr
If you pick up any of our suggestions, feel free to message us or tag us in your reviews so that we can maintain a wider interest in reading! Our social media is:
On Instagram, Facebook, and Tiktok we are @IndigoGreensYork, whilst on Twitter we are @Indigo_Greens (we asked in our Yorkshire blog for someone to return our username, we are still waiting!)
