Emma Corfield-Walters, owner of Book-ish in Crickhowell provides the perfect isolation reading list. While we cannot escape the confines of our own homes, our imaginations can take us anywhere. You can order these titles online from Book-ish, and have them delivered straight to your door! www.book-ish.co.uk
A Gentleman in Moscow
Amor Towles
Easily the best book I’ve read in a while, a wonderful story of a life well lived under 50 years of house arrest at a grand Russian Hotel with some of the most beautiful characters I’ve come across, Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov will stay with me always.
Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens
I expect this to become one of our best sellers this year. One of the most beautiful stories about resilience and survival, fast paced with elements of romance, mystery and even a courtroom thriller. Nature enthusiasts will also enjoy this book, as Kya’s love of the nature around her is conveyed through detailed descriptions of the flora and fauna, a reflection of the author’s background as a former wildlife scientist.
The Roasting Tin/
Green roasting Tin
As far as self-isolation cookbooks go, this one is a banger. Easy recipes with stuff you’ll likely have in your cupboard, plus there’ll be leftovers for the following day’s lunch.
The Mirror & the Light (Wolf Hall & Bring up the Bodies)
Hilary Mantel
Mantel’s lightness of touch, political insight and wit hold forth in the third installment of this lauded trilogy. If you start with Wolf Hall, all three books may just take you through the entire lockdown period!
Station Eleven
Emily St. John Mandel
A flu pandemic wipes out most of the world population, especially interesting is her story of the decades following. It reminds us how vital the arts; here specifically live music and theatre, are in the aftermath.
Notes on a Nervous Planet
Matt Haig
An honest and human guide to coping with the modern world, generous, sensible and timely. Reading it will probably be good for your mental health. Especially if you leave your smartphone in another room.
Lord of the Flies
William Golding
Anyone who has ever suspected that children are primitive little beasties will nod sagely as they read Golding’s classic. His theory is this: maroon a bunch of schoolboys on an island, and watch how quickly the trappings of decent behaviour fall away. Never has a broken pair of spectacles seemed so sinister, or civilisation so fragile.
The Moomins
Tove Jansson
(Any book in the serioes, but I love Comet in Moominland). A trip to Tove Jansson’s Moominland always makes everything better. The much-beloved Moomins are eccentric hippo-like people, very accommodating of difference and otherness. That said, many of the characters have their little ways, and being accommodating isn’t always comfortable. The realism of the relationships gives even the silliest of Jansson’s stories the texture of real life.
La Belle Sauvage: The Book Of Dust volume one
Philip Pullman
Fans of the hit BBC television show, His Dark Materials, are likely to enjoy this book. La Belle Sauvage: The Book Of Dust volume one is the first in a trilogy which expands on Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. The book takes us on a continued story of Lyra, her battle against the Magisterium and the quest to understand ‘dust’.
Noughts and Crosses
Malorie Blackman
With the recent release of the BBC series Noughts and Crosses, now is a great time to read the original book. It has been featured on many school’s curriculums and is considered a classic book for those coming of age. It is a dystopian take on Romeo and Juliet and features key themes such as race, power and teenage love.
Emma Corfield-Walters