To celebrate Book Week 2018, here are our favourite books of 2018 … so far. Let us know yours!
Joe Piantoni, Marketing Coordinator, Schools
Room to Dream by David Lynch and Christine McKenna. I’m only about halfway through this book at the moment but it’s extremely interesting thus far. A hybrid biography of filmmaker David Lynch, with chapters that alternate between those framed by McKenna’s interviews with Lynch’s friends/family/collaborators, and those where Lynch responds to this material and adds detail – “basically a person having a conversation with his own biography” as it is put in the opening chapter.
Angela Glindemann, Marketing Coordinator, Higher Education
I’ve read some excellent books this year, but the one that stands out is My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. People have told me to read it on so many occasions, and I finally did. The prose is just wonderful, and the story intrigued me from the opening lines. I particularly liked that the novel focuses on a friendship, as I feel that so many of the books I read are about romance or family relationships, but I think that stories of friendship can have just as much depth and intensity. It’s just an all-round wonderful book; I could keep talking about it all day!
Emma Short, Senior Publisher, Primary
The two books I’ve most enjoyed this year are ones that I picked up in the Port Melbourne office clean-out (when OUP moved its offices to the Docklands)! Shadow Cat and The Great Elephant Chase by UK kids author Gillian Cross are unique, fast-paced adventures with twists and turns and interesting historical/geographical details. I thought they punched way above their weight in terms of audience – YA fiction that can be totally enjoyed by ‘OA’ readers too.
Richard Harms, Director, School Sales
Border Districts by Gerald Murnane. Shortlisted for this year’s Miles Franklin Award, at long last Australia’s finest yet virtually unread writer gets some due recognition at home after a distinguished writing career spanning more than 40 years and some 14 works. Border Districts is crystalline prose by an author in total command of his powers. It’s a book about nothing and everything where everything and nothing happens.
Jordan Irving, Editorial Coordinator, Higher Education
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie. A modern re-telling of Sophocles’ Antigone, Home Fire follows Isma, the eldest sibling, who has finally reached America from Britain to study abroad after caring for her twin siblings Aneeka and Parvaiz since their mother’s death. Her family is reeling after Parvaiz has disappeared to follow in the footsteps of his jihadist father, and Aneeka, unmoored without her brother and sister, begins a relationship with the mysterious Eammon, which sets in motion a chain of events that puts everyone off-course. There’s a reason when you Google Home Fire the second result is ‘Home Fire ending’. Read it!
The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell. For anyone who loves gothic horror as much as me! Newly widowed Elsie is sent to finish the term of her pregnancy at her late husband’s old estate The Bridge, accompanied only by her husband’s cousin, Sarah. Everything is fine … at first, until Elsie starts to explore her new home and finds the original homeowner’s diary, uncovering the dark history that still lingers in the house, putting everyone who stays there in mortal danger. Very creepy, and the spooks were very unique! Great fun.
I’m Supposed to Protect You from All This by Nadja Spiegelman. A fascinating memoir about mother-daughter relationships. Spiegelman, daughter of Maus writer Art Spiegelman and French-born New Yorker art director Françoise Mouly, recounts her fraught relationship with her mother Françoise, while also exploring Françoise’s childhood in France and her difficult relationship with her own mother Josée. This portrays womanhood and motherhood in such a starkly refreshing and empathetic way—I was both appalled and charmed by Françoise at various points. A very loving portrayal of the strong bonds between women and family.
Sophie Rasic, Publishing, Editorial & Research Coordinator, Primary
The best book I have read this year was Sarah Krasnostein’s The Trauma Cleaner. This creative non-fiction work was suggested to me by another OUP employee, Kate Glenister, and was an emotionally captivating look into how different people deal with trauma and change.The Trauma Cleaner is based in the inner west in Melbourne, and shows how many different lives one person can live in a short time. Worth a read!
Toni Cox, Publisher – Science, Secondary
My favourite book I’ve read this year is A Wilder time: Notes from a Geologist at the Edge of the Greenland Ice by William E. Glassley. I loved this book because it was written by a geologist and is both scientifically correct and poetic. The interaction between three old-school academics brought me back to my undergraduate days and desperately made me want to visit Greenland.
Fleur Morrison, Communications and Marketing Advisor
My favourite book so far this year was The Choke by Sofie Laguna, about the hardship facing a young girl growing up in poverty in country Australia. In the book, Laguna reveals the cruelty and isolation of the girl’s life, but also offers a sense of hope amid the hardship. Laguna evokes both the harshness and beauty of the landscape, including ‘the choke’ through which the Murray River flows. Some parts of this book are grueling, but it is ultimately a beautiful and rewarding read.
I also enjoyed another Australian writer’s book – Wimmera by Mark Brandi. It was a haunting read about boyhood in suburban Australia, and a crime that changes the course of the life of two childhood friends.
Circe by Madeline Miller introduced me to an ancient classics, as it is based on Homer’s Odyssey. However, rather than focusing on the experience of Odysseus, it centres on the life of a minor character, Circe. The her descriptions of how Circe came to be a witch, banished by her father to a deserted island, Miller’s language is poetic, and the story is compelling.
Alex Chambers, Editorial Coordinator, Higher Education
Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman. This book makes you feel like you’re on holiday in Italy!
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