‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ – Margaret Atwood

I’m sure you will have heard of this book, and for some of you it will be one of your A level texts (I wish)! I’ve included ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ as I remember after the first few pages being absolutely in love with it, and this feeling only grew as I read on.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone, not because it has a brilliant and page-turning plot, or because the writing is absolutely exquisite (both are true), but because, although it was written over 30 years ago the themes it discusses are still so relevant today, and it’s important that they are thought about by as many people as possible.

It’s not for younger readers but as I said, I would ask anyone to read it, especially if you enjoy dystopian fiction.

“A chair, a table, a lamp. Above, on the  white ceiling, a relief ornament in the shape of a wreath, and in the centre of it a blank space, plastered over, like the place in a face where the eye has been taken out. There must have been a chandelier, once. They’ve removed anything you could tie a rope to.

Offred lives in The Republic of Gilead. To some, it is a utopian vision of the future, a place of safety, a place where everyone has a purpose, a function. But The Republic of Gilead offers Offred only one function: to breed.

If she deviates, she will, like dissenters, be hanged at the wall or sent out to die slowly of radiation sickness. But even a repressive state cannot obliterate desire – neither Offred’s nor that of the two men on which her future hangs.”

I’ll be honest, I started reading this book very on and off over about 3 months and only got to page 60. However, once I decided to sit down and read it properly I couldn’t put it down! I read the remaining 150 pages in one sitting and it was incredible. At first (and throughout) it is quite strange and slightly confusing (in a great way), but by the end you can’t help but be enthralled by the story and get emotional over how it celebrates the beauty of nature.

Again, it’s not for younger readers but if you like interestingly formatted and incredibly clever books I’d highly recommend.

“A child, a family, a village; a community built on ancient soil, shelter to generations of lives and the tales they tell. For all time, Dead Papa Toothwort has forever walked amongst them all. Now, he is drawn again from his slumber, drawn to something new and precious. The boy. Lanny.”

This book is so powerful. I read it on holiday a few years ago and couldn’t put it down. It’s a beautiful lesson on the power of kindness and empathy, and also has some incredibly funny moments. I feel so strongly that everyone should read it!

“When people ask me what I do – taxi drivers, dental hygienists – I tell them I work in an office. In almost nine years, no one’s ever asked what kind of office, or what sort of job I do there. I can’t decide whether that’s because I fit perfectly with their idea of what an office worker looks like, or whether people hear the phrase work in an office and automatically fill in the blanks themselves – lady doing photocopying, man tapping at keyboard.

Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive – but not how to live

She leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend. Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything.

One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself.

Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – whilst searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life.

Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than… fine?”

‘How to Stop Time’ was the first fiction book I read by him and I was absolutely hooked. The way he introduces plot points is incredibly clever, and there are so many moments that make you laugh out loud because they are just. So. Good!

“I am old. That is the first thing to tell you. The thing you are least likely to believe. If you saw me you would probably think I was about forty, but you would be very wrong.

Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret.

He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he’s been alive for centuries. From Elizabethan England to Jazz-Age Paris, from New York to the South Seas, Tom has seen a lot, and now craves an ordinary life. It’s a life he once had, long-since buried but buried secrets have a habit of catching up with you and nobody can outrun their own past.

Always changing his identity to stay alive, Tom has the perfect cover – working as a history teacher at a London comprehensive. Here he can teach the kids about wars and witch hunts as if he’d never witnessed them first-hand. He can try to tame the past that is fast catching up with him. The only thing Tom must not do is fall in love.”

‘The Midnight Library’ is the latest novel from Matt Haig! I’m sure you’ve seen it around in multiple places and have heard that everyone who has read it has fallen in love with it – and I am no exception. I sobbed for the last 50 pages and it’s one of those books where I just ended up sitting there for half an hour after I had finished. It’s so incredibly powerful and has changed so many lives – all I can say is please read it!

“Between life and death there is a library.When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change.

The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren’t always what she imagined they’d be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger. Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?”