Features

10 of the best VINTAGE books of 2018, as chosen by the team

As the days grow shorter and the air colder, we asked the team to reflect on their favourite books from the year. From literary giants to perspective changing non-fiction, here are the books that will feature in our Christmases this year.

30 November 2018

21 Lessons for the 21st CenturyYuval Noah Harari

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21 Lessons for The 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

‘To paraphrase Danny Dyer’s eloquent take on Brexit, no one’s got a clue what’s going on around the world at the moment. Professor Yuval Harari doesn’t claim to have all the answers, but in 21 Lessons for the 21^st Century he addresses some of the key issues – technology, politics, education, war, religion – and provides us with some of the questions we should be asking, of ourselves and others. Because, like all great educators, he realises that it’s only in the asking and searching that we begin to discover answers. Give it to an adolescent: their generation is going to spend their entire life in the 21^st century; they might want to be prepared.’

Chosen by Joe Pickering, Publicity Director

The Mars RoomRachel Kushner

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The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner

'”It's only poor people end up going to prison.” One of my favourite interviews this year on the VINTAGE podcast was my chat with Rachel Kushner, author of The Mars Room. I was immediately struck by her careful wit and measured authorial eye, that seems to see everything but negates judgement. The book is a look at the life of Romy, a former stripper who is serving two consecutive life sentences for killing her stalker. It’s also a look at the invisible lives of the citizens society has turned their backs on, the structural momentum that complicates the word ‘guilty’ and a sharp criticism of the US prison-industrial complex. Rachel won a spot on the Man Booker Prize shortlist this year, an accolade thoroughly deserved. The book is as tough, empathetic and insightful as its author, once you finish it you’ll want to immediately press it into a friends hands and whisper ‘this’.’

Chosen by Leena Normington, Content Producer

Everything UnderDaisy Johnson

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Everything Under by Daisy Johnson

‘There’s a reason why myths and legends are still talked about, thousands of years after they were first shared. They give us iconic heroes and villains, and they ask questions that never stop being relevant. Everything Under by Daisy Johnson is a brilliantly observed portrait of family tension, deteriorating mental health and modern rural life, tinged with unsettling English magic. It revisits a Classical myth in a way that feels arrestingly fresh, and invites us to think again about the shifting nature of identity. This is a gift to plunge the reader into a strange new place, perfect for someone who wants to see our everyday world in a very different way.’

Chosen by Kate Neilan, Marketing Co-ordinator

WarlightMichael Ondaatje

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Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

‘Since reading Warlight I’ve not been able to get it out of my head, nor wanted to. Ondaatje, best known perhaps for The English Patient, writes so beautifully, with such depth and dreamlike melancholy – I was completely lost in the life and memories of Nathanial, the central character. The story starts in London in 1945. Nathaniel and his sister are mysteriously abandoned by their parents and left in the care of a dubious friend, through which they fall into an eccentric crew of criminal misfits. All is not as it seems, and Nathanial, as an adult, starts to uncover just exactly what happened to his mother. Intelligence agencies, code breaking, puzzles and mysteries – this book has everything. Give it for anyone that loves a good story. I’ll be giving a copy to my dad.’

Chosen by Hattie Adam-Smith, Brand Director

10 of the best VINTAGE books of 2018, as chosen by the team

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