Q4 2025 Book Stack
7 books for the quarter. There’s been more modern retellings of the Greeks, some excellent satire and, Atwood and Woolf. A very satisfying quarter.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Millar.
The tragic love story of Achilles and Patroclus. Such beautiful descriptions of a couples love, devotion and grief. Extraordinary but I may have overdone the Greeks for a bit.
The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman.
The gang are back and it’s impossible not to love them. Coe describes this as the unequivocally British concept of “cosy crime”. However I hope the creeping book length doesn’t get to ridiculous Robert Galbraith territory.
The Proof of My Innocence by Jonathan Coe.
Liz Truss has just been made PM, the extreme right are on the rise and Christopher, a liberal journalist blogger, is on the scent of a story that’s been germinating in society and right-wing university salons since the 80s.
Structurally smart. Achingly brilliant. Coe is on sparkling form. Read in less than a week.
What We Can Know by Ian McEwan.
It’s the 22nd century, Tom is a lecturer in literature from 1990-2030 era. He is trying to piece together a dinner held by a famous poet and his masterpiece Corona written for his wife that has vanished.
McEwan is scathing in his attacks on our wilful destruction of the natural world “our talent for self destruction is unrivalled”. I tend to agree.
A Room of One’s Own by Virgina Woolf.
Written in 1928, Woolf questions where the women are in literature and what we need to become an author. I chose to read it now because Atwood quoted it at her book launch. Magnificent.
Book of Lives. A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood.
Wisdom, mischief, and a love of the natural world. I can hear Atwood’s voice in every word. It feels like all the wisdom a matriarch should pass down. It’s a privilege to read.
Crisis Communication Strategies by Amanda Coleman
The fundamentals of crisis comms in one easy to read book. It’s good to be reminded of the basics.