By Sophie
ABC’s 100 Top Tips, part 1: Abercrombie – Dunstall
To celebrate our birthday this year (officially on 21 April but we’re celebrating it on the weekend of 12 and 13 April) we decided to ask all of the ABC staff what their most memorable books were of the past 25 years – and they, of course, delivered!
I’m very happy to present ABC’s 100 Top Tips, from A-Z by author’s last name, in 5 posts of 20 books this week. There are of course a few rules, some provisos, a couple of quid pro quos… First of all, a title has to be personally loved by a current ABC staff member. Secondly, no current ABC Favorites were selected. Thirdly, the book had to be published between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2024. And finally, only 1 book per author.
I also want to thank our Matty, who designed the poster on the right, and Van Ditmar, who helped print it. It features all the recommended titles and customers will be able to get one when they buy a book in one of our physical stores starting the weekend of 12 and 13 April.
Happy reading!
The Blade Itself – Joe Abercrombie
“I kept rooting for the main characters, even though I don’t know if they are in the right.” – Else
Call Me By Your Name – Andre Aciman
“A beautiful and subtle love story that plays with your heartstrings.” – Jilles
Purple Hibiscus – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“Even though the topics are heavy, the writing style is easy to follow and it keeps you reading.” – Jonna
The Travelling Cat Chronicles – Hiro Arikawa
“A lovely, sweet and endearing story.” – Simone
A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman
“A real feel-good movie of a book; funny, emotional, hopeful and uplifting.” – Martijn
Legends & Lattes – Travis Baldree
“Will comfort you to the bone.” – Bella
The Noise of Time – Julian Barnes
“The bizare ways of the USSR seen through the live of the composer Shostakovich, reads almost absurdist.” – Jonna
Tender is the Flesh – Agustina Bazterrica
“It’s just so good: cruel, shocking, nasty, but so so smart and with really a lot to teach us all.” – Matty
Hollow – Brian Catling
“This is a really weird one! Catling is a master in strange and confusing fiction.” – Sywert
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet – Becky Chambers
“If you’re in need of a beautiful, character-driven space story, this is the book for you!” – Iris
Ace – Angela Chen
“Absolutely quintessential reading for anyone embarking on a journey to learn more about sexuality – of any kind!” – Iris
Stories of Your Life and Others – Ted Chiang
“Thought-provoking stories by one of the best speculative fiction authors walking around these days.” – Tiemen
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell – Susanna Clarke
“Worth reading for the footnotes alone.” – Tiemen
The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
“Tight, taut dystopian start of a trilogy that reads as freshly now as it did when published in 2008.” – Sophie
House of Leaves – Mark Z. Danielewski
“Strange, disturbing, dizzying book (and book-in-a-book) about a house that is slightly larger on the inside than it is on the outside” – Sophie
Revolusi – David van Reybrouk
“A powerful piece that shows you humanity at its best and worst, all through stories told by regular people.” – Juno
Blacksad – Juan Díaz Canales
“Gorgeous artwork and compelling anthropomorphic characters tied together in a noir comic.” – Sophie
Dungeon Crawler Carl – Matt Dinniman
“It’s about grit and not giving up when the world has literally ended around you. Plus a talking cat with a very high charisma score (and accompanying attitude).” – Tiemen
All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
“Beautiful! This is where fiction easily beats a history book.” – Martijn
Linesman – S. K. Dunstall
“This is no high-brow science fiction, but a pleasurable, well-written story that deserves the time to be read and enjoyed.” – Lília
“Ean is one of the kindest, gentlest heroes I’ve come across, and the whole cast surrounding him is just as wonderful. And the lines! 😍 They were given such vivid characteristics; through Ean they became this chorus of excitement.” – Sophie
Previous posts in this series can be found here.
