In November, readers turned to works of fiction that captured the complexities of modern life, love, family, and identity. Authors Geoff Dyer, Andrew Michael Hurley, Marcia Hutchinson, and more shared their favorite books with us.
For writer Geoff Dyer, Thoreau's Journal was a standout read. The American author's work is characterized by its down-to-earth yet soaring quality, blending elements of lyricism and cantankerousness. In contrast, Xiaolou Guo's My Battle of Hastings offers an impulsive look at Britain and Brexit, infused with humor and wit.
Meanwhile, Meghan Daum's The Catastrophe Hour shone for its wit and scathing essays. To complement this title, UK-based Notting Hill Editions published a latest installment by American essayist Meghan Daum.
Sarah Guardian reader devoured Lily King's Heart the Lover novel, praising its freshness, romance, and literary depth. She also enjoyed My Last Innocent Year by Daisy Alpert Florin, which tells an affair between a final-year student and a married professor at a New England college in the late 90s.
Marcia Hutchinson found Act Normal to be a fascinating read, featuring a writer possessed by the ghosts of his past. This memoir is less chronological than traditional narratives and features a remarkable cast of characters. Marcia also highly recommended The Best of Everything by Kit de Waal and Jamaica Road by Lisa Smith, which offer stories centered on love, family, and identity.
Jim Guardian reader enjoyed The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter, a story told with simplicity yet elegance as it uncovers the struggles and compromises made to survive in a changing world. A book that resonates with Jim's background growing up at the height of the Troubles is how to find your own place simply to be.
Andrew Michael Hurley found ideal winter evenings companions in After Midnight, a Virago anthology of Daphne du Maurier's short fiction and Bora Chung's Midnight Timetable. This novel features South Korean folklore, urban horror stories, and surrealism, making for something truly nightmarish. Another favorite by Andrew Michael Hurley is John McGahern's The Leavetaking, which offers half-remembered yet imaginative reflections on the author's life.
Finally, Sarah Hall's Helm offered a profound exploration of our relationship with the elements. Narrated by Pennine wind, this novel moves through humanity's timeline, documenting wonder, creativity, and folly in equal measure.
This month, Tim Guardian reader read three books that somehow spoke to each other: Lost Horizon by James Hilton, The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon, and Feeding the Machine by James Muldoon, Mark Graham, and Callum Cant. Lost Horizon is still a century old yet manages to feel surprisingly fresh with its perfectly paced novel balancing adventure and philosophy. Hilton's prose is lean but luminous. The Crying of Lot 49 offered an experience that was dizzying and paranoid with symbols and coincidences mirroring our own algorithmic age, while Feeding the Machine grounded both worlds by analyzing digital labour and AI infastructures that shape daily life.
For writer Geoff Dyer, Thoreau's Journal was a standout read. The American author's work is characterized by its down-to-earth yet soaring quality, blending elements of lyricism and cantankerousness. In contrast, Xiaolou Guo's My Battle of Hastings offers an impulsive look at Britain and Brexit, infused with humor and wit.
Meanwhile, Meghan Daum's The Catastrophe Hour shone for its wit and scathing essays. To complement this title, UK-based Notting Hill Editions published a latest installment by American essayist Meghan Daum.
Sarah Guardian reader devoured Lily King's Heart the Lover novel, praising its freshness, romance, and literary depth. She also enjoyed My Last Innocent Year by Daisy Alpert Florin, which tells an affair between a final-year student and a married professor at a New England college in the late 90s.
Marcia Hutchinson found Act Normal to be a fascinating read, featuring a writer possessed by the ghosts of his past. This memoir is less chronological than traditional narratives and features a remarkable cast of characters. Marcia also highly recommended The Best of Everything by Kit de Waal and Jamaica Road by Lisa Smith, which offer stories centered on love, family, and identity.
Jim Guardian reader enjoyed The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter, a story told with simplicity yet elegance as it uncovers the struggles and compromises made to survive in a changing world. A book that resonates with Jim's background growing up at the height of the Troubles is how to find your own place simply to be.
Andrew Michael Hurley found ideal winter evenings companions in After Midnight, a Virago anthology of Daphne du Maurier's short fiction and Bora Chung's Midnight Timetable. This novel features South Korean folklore, urban horror stories, and surrealism, making for something truly nightmarish. Another favorite by Andrew Michael Hurley is John McGahern's The Leavetaking, which offers half-remembered yet imaginative reflections on the author's life.
Finally, Sarah Hall's Helm offered a profound exploration of our relationship with the elements. Narrated by Pennine wind, this novel moves through humanity's timeline, documenting wonder, creativity, and folly in equal measure.
This month, Tim Guardian reader read three books that somehow spoke to each other: Lost Horizon by James Hilton, The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon, and Feeding the Machine by James Muldoon, Mark Graham, and Callum Cant. Lost Horizon is still a century old yet manages to feel surprisingly fresh with its perfectly paced novel balancing adventure and philosophy. Hilton's prose is lean but luminous. The Crying of Lot 49 offered an experience that was dizzying and paranoid with symbols and coincidences mirroring our own algorithmic age, while Feeding the Machine grounded both worlds by analyzing digital labour and AI infastructures that shape daily life.
I'm loving how everyone's been diving into some amazing reads lately! 
I mean, Thoreau's Journal is a total hidden gem - Geoff Dyer's fave and all that. And Xiaolou Guo's My Battle of Hastings is so relatable, especially with the Brexit vibes. 
I've been meaning to check out Notting Hill Editions' latest Meghan Daum installment, can't wait to dive in! 
Lily King's Heart the Lover is giving me all the feels, and My Last Innocent Year by Daisy Alpert Florin has me intrigued. It's always refreshing to see books that explore identity, family, and love in unique ways.
I also appreciate how Andrew Michael Hurley finds solace in Daphne du Maurier's short stories. There's something about old-school writing that just gets lost on me nowadays... 
It's so cool to see readers finding common ground in these books. What have you guys been reading lately? 
. I think what I admire most about this list is how each author brings their own unique voice and perspective to the table 
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. And I'm intrigued by Xiaolou Guo's My Battle of Hastings - who knew Brexit could be so funny 
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, and I'm so over all these books that explore identity and love and stuff... it's like everyone's just rehashing the same old themes 
. Don't get me wrong, some of them sound actually pretty cool, like Daphne du Maurier's short fiction anthology or that one about South Korean folklore, but can't we talk about something else for once? 
I mean, I'm still trying to wrap my head around all these books being published by UK-based publishers and American publishers too... it just feels like everyone's jumping on the "contemporary literary fiction" bandwagon without actually saying anything new or interesting about our lives today 
. And what's with all these old authors getting rediscovered? Like, can't we move on from Thoreau already? 
. It's awesome how everyone found something that resonated with them - from Geoff Dyer's Thoreau's Journal to Sarah Guardian's Lily King's Heart the Lover. But, I gotta say, I'm a bit skeptical about The Catastrophe Hour... Meghan Daum's writing can be a bit hit or miss for me, you know? 
Still, it's great that Notting Hill Editions is publishing more of her work 
. However, I'm not sure if Feeding the Machine is a perfect fit for everyone... it does sound like it's trying to tackle some heavy themes 
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. It's great to see so many amazing authors and books making waves in the literary world! 
. Meanwhile, Feeding the Machine gives you actual solutions to ground it all down 
. Geoff Dyer's Thoreau's Journal is a great example of how writing can be both down-to-earth and thought-provoking at the same time. And I'm intrigued by Xiaolou Guo's My Battle of Hastings, which seems to offer a fresh perspective on Brexit with a dash of humor 
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I love how people are finding comfort in books that tackle modern life's complexities! Thoreau's Journal and Xiaolou Guo's My Battle of Hastings are like a breath of fresh air, reminding us to look at the world with a sense of humor and wit 
. And finally, the way Tim Guardian read three books that somehow spoke to each other is like a beautiful book club experience 
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and it's crazy how old it is yet still feels so relevant 
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️. And Sarah Hall's Helm is on my TBR list now, I need to check out Pennine wind narrating this one 
. Lost Horizon by James Hilton sounds amazing too, I've always wanted to read that classic... how do you guys think the themes of technology and AI in Feeding the Machine are relevant today? 
Interesting how Lost Horizon from 1926 is still relevant today, it's crazy how literature can transcend time 
. And have you guys checked out Act Normal by Marcia Hutchinson? That book is giving me all the feels about identity and creativity 
- it's like, totally inspiring! The way Geoff Dyer blends words is just magic 
! I also need to add Act Normal by Marcia Hutchinson to my reading list ASAP - the way she weaves together past and present is just genius 
. The more I read about books that explore identity, love, and family, the more I feel like I'm learning about myself too 
i loved how the author's story isn't linear, you know? it jumps around in time and has so many characters but they all feel super relatable