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The UCL Guide to the Best Summer Reads
12 August 2024
Looking for a good holiday read? We find the best books to pack with you this summer, from classic fiction to the most exciting books coming out of UCL!
With summer well underway, it's time to find a shady spot, sit back and read a fantastic book. We asked people from across the UCL community to tell us about great books they'd recommend you take on holiday this summer, including ones written by UCL faculty themselves.
by Georgi Gospodinov
"Gospodinov is the winner of the International Booker Prize 2023; and this听book (published in 2011) uses the thread of the myth of Minotaur to weave loosely connected, part realistic, part abstract stories through time and space, hinting at the heaviness and the mystery of being human. I really enjoyed how it combines existential profundity with humour, sourness, and stylistic ingeniousness (it definitely isn鈥檛 a conventional novel format-wise), which makes it both dark and fun, and a true intellectual adventure. As an Eastern European myself, I found the specific Bulgarian voice of the narrator particularly compelling and powerful, but I don鈥檛 think it limits how the book can be received or by whom; quite the contrary, I think it only adds new possibilities, and makes it more adventurous. It鈥檚 very difficult to capture the essence and appeal of the book in just a paragraph, it has to be experienced 鈥� and I think that experience is good for the soul" 鈥�听Joanna Socha, Strategic Projects Coordinator at Students鈥� Union UCL (UCL Anthropology BSc 2020 and Bioarcheological & Forensic Anthropology MSc 2022)听
Godspodinov's books are available in English in the SSEES Library.
by听 (UCL Professor of the Public Understanding of Law)听
"Part history, part thriller, part meditation on love, evil, justice, and the human capacity for denial - this is Professor Philippe Sands' (UCL Laws) meticulous investigation into the life,听mysterious death and afterlife of Otto Gustav von W盲chter. W盲chter,听a high-ranking Nazi,听was indicted at the end of WWII听for听mass murder.听He fled in 1945 via 'the Ratline', a secret route set up for Nazi听criminals to evade justice and听escape to South America. He died in Rome in 1949, in strange circumstances - but was survived by a family who insist that he was a good man, caught up in the most terrible of events. A moving, mesmerising summer read." 鈥撎�Katie Grocott Murdoch, Communications Manager, VPEE
by Ann Patchett
"The paperback came out in June this year, and has a beautiful daisy-filled cover. I鈥檓 a latecomer to the party of Patchett fans, but love her Instagram posts via , the bookshop she owns in Nashville, and so many friends have recommended her novels, I had to try this! This is a perfect read for summer: the plot centres on a family uncovering past histories whilst cherry picking on their farm during the pandemic. There are many themes woven in 鈥� but so skilfully done that that book appears deceptively languorous. It is a book about destiny, and also about happiness, contentment, looking back on life鈥檚 choices. Ideal for sunny, slow, restorative days. . ." 鈥撎�Samantha Rayner, Professor of Publishing and Book Cultures and Vice Dean Wellbeing, Arts and Humanities
by Daphne Du Maurier
"It's not an obvious holiday read, but I read it on the beach in Spain so it is to me. It's a classic from 1938 about a young woman who marries a wealthy widower, and moves into his house, haunted by his ex-wife in more ways than one. It's has mystery, it has romance, it has spooky parts 鈥撎齭uper atmospheric and you'll be glued to it once you're past the first couple of chapters. Hitchcock also made a great film adaptation of it, but watch that after you read it." 鈥撎�Saskia Norman, Digital & Content Co-ordinator, Students' Union UCL (UCL Russian MA, 2020-21听and History BA 2017-20)
by Alvaro Enrigue
"In 1519, one of the most consequential meetings in world history took place: Hern谩n Cort茅s, the Spanish conquistador, met the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II in Mexico-Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City). This well-documented encounter represents the clash of two worlds: the Americas and Afro-Eurasia, with consequences that would forever change global history鈥攆rom population dynamics to technological advancements, and from culinary exchanges to linguistic transformations. In this novel, 脕lvaro Enrigue recreates this moment from a contemporary perspective, infusing it with irony and insights drawn from modern politics and culture. I chose it for a personal reason 鈥� as听a Mexican, it astonishes me how few people are informed about the exchanges and mutual influence between Afro-Eurasia and the Americas听in the 16th century." 鈥�听William Jensen-Diaz (MSc International Public Policy 2016)
by听Mark Angelo Harrison
"This is an alternative history of the 90s free party subculture, seen through the lens of Spiral Tribe sound system co-founder Mark Angelo Harrison. The book tells the story of his misadventures through rave culture amidst a backdrop of media hysteria, moral panic, and a heavy-handed state response, culminating in the Criminal Justice Bill.
Harrison's writing steers away from the headlines, taking the reader on a nomadic journey through abandoned urban buildings and rural landscapes. It鈥檚 a story about reclaiming social space and exploring the possibilities of collective creativity. Though this is Harrison鈥檚 artistic story, the spirit of sharing prevails, with a generous charting of the people, speaker stacks and tunes that kept them motivated to craft an alternative future. The photography book is a good visual听accompaniment."听鈥撎�Anna Howard (Slade MFA Fine Art)
by Deborah Levy
"Book one of a trilogy of Levy鈥檚 鈥榤ini-memoirs鈥�, 鈥楾hings I Don鈥檛 Want to Know鈥� is everything I look for in a book. Structured as a response to George Orwell鈥檚 鈥榃hy I Write,鈥� this title provides introspective explanation of what drives a writer to create. Levy鈥檚 storytelling is brilliant and provides a historical, political, and emotional lens into late-20th century South Africa." 鈥撎�Kasey Price (Publishing MA, 2023-24)听
by Louis de Berni猫res
"Not only is it a fantastic novel, but also an excellent summer read. Taking place on an idyllic Greek island in the midst of the WW2, this bold narrative humorously entwines eccentric characters, political satire, philosophical and a dramatic love story. There鈥檚 also a film adaption, but read the book first." 鈥� Katya Duncan (MSc Economics & Policy for Energy and the Environment)
Want to read a book written by UCL Faculty? How about one of these...
by听Brian Klaas
Dr Klaas says: "Fluke is a book about making sense of why things happen in an increasingly volatile world. Drawing on chaos theory, philosophy, social science, and evolutionary biology, the book tries to explain why so much of our world pivots on small, accidental 鈥� and often arbitrary 鈥� flukes. Writing it has been the highlight of my intellectual life and it upended my entire worldview in the process."
by
UCL Ecologist Tim Blackburn is inspired by the diversity of moths that visit his London roof terrace. These insect jewels conjured out of the darkness are intimately connected to the wider web of life and contain hidden truths about it. In The Jewel Box, Tim demonstrates how the contents of one small moth trap can illuminate the workings of all nature.
by Phillip Ayoub
Professor Ayoub says: "Our听work provides an in-depth look at the global movement to curtail LGBTI rights鈥攁nd how the LGBTI movement responds to it. 听Drawing from over a decade of fieldwork, interviews, and network analysis, we听explore the mechanisms and strategies employed by the moral conservative transnational movement, explaining its composition and the construction of its agenda."
You can also buy it 听(using the code听NYUAU30听to save 30%)
Mental Health and Governance in the Twenty-First Century
by Joanna Cook
, says:
"Lately, everyone from Taylor Swift to the Football Association is talking about mental health. It鈥檚 now so normal to think of mental health as something that we can all cultivate that Apple have introduced features to help you to 鈥榮tay on top of your mental health鈥� on a daily basis. But this idea has a really short history.听I conducted long-term anthropological research on mindfulness and mental health with patients, therapists, politicians, and advocates in Britain. What I found is that, in addition to the terrifying prevalence of depression and anxiety, the development of preventative healthcare has radically transformed the category of 鈥榤ental health鈥� itself. In Britain, mental health is increasingly thought of as a transversal issue, as important for psychologists as for patients, probation workers as for prisoners, politicians as for constituents.听In my book I unpack the ways in which the听logics of preventative mental healthcare are incorporated into people鈥檚 relationships with themselves, therapeutic interventions, structures of governance, and political campaigns.听What I show is that听preventative healthcare has had a profound influence on people鈥檚 efforts to live well, underscoring the significance of our understanding of the mind."
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