By Sophie
ABC’s 100 Top Tips, part 4: McCarthy – Reid
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 Road: A Graphic Novel Adaptation – Cormac McCarthy
“The adaptation of The Road graphically captures the bleakness and hopelessness Cormac McCarthy portrayed in his story. The artwork by Larcenet grips you and draws you through the story to the inevitable end.” – Jitse
Circe – Madeline Miller
“Madeline Miller’s subtly enchanting writing drew me right in.” – Iris
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
“A literary tour de force that links various ages, from the historical to the futuristic.” – Sophie
How To Be a Woman – Caitlin Moran
“Hilarious and sharply-observed. I laughed out loud repeatedly!” – Sophie
The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern
“It drew me in from the very first sentence (The circus arrives without warning…) and never let go.” – Iris
My Year of Rest and Relaxation – Ottessa Moshfegh
“The whole thing is a wild ride, fluctuating between sad, honest, bitter, funny, rude, numbing, and unexpected.” – Damla
Gideon the Ninth – Tamsyn Muir
“Somewhat reminiscent of Gormenghast but with skeletons, lesbian necromancers and one very cool protagonist.” – Tiemen
Kafka on the Shore – Haruki Murakami
“I have always loved Murakami’s mix of the magical, philosophical and real life.” – Juno
The Time-Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
“Wondrous and heart-breaking love story; the revelation of what is buried in the garden had me in floods of tears.” – Sophie
Born a Crime – Trevor Noah
“Trevor Noah has a fun way of telling the story of the crime of his childhood in South Africa.” – Renata
Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell
“I don’t know any writer who can ensorcel me quite like Maggie O’Farrell can.” – Sophie
The Housekeeper and the Professor – Yoko Ogawa
“A wonderful cocktail of mathematics and delicate personal interactions.” – Simone
Who Fears Death – Nnedi Okorafor
“A YA/Fantasy set in a both dystopianly futuristic and tribally historic West Africa.” – Tiemen
Heartstopper vol. 1 – Alice Oseman
“This whole series has quickly become one of my favourites!” – Iris
Humble Pi – Matt Parker
“This book is comedically written, and highlights the importance of maths in the modern world.” – Else
The Overstory – Richard Powers
“This book made me fall in love with trees all over again and made me want to know more about them.” – Else
Night Watch – Terry Pratchett
“It is exciting, funny of course, but also very heart-felt.” – Jurgen
The Way Forward – Yung Pueblo
“Open and accessible poems about how to handle the unknown, living intuitively and depending on your own strength – a hopeful book in uncertain times.” – Shirley
Doughnut Economics – Kate Raworth
“A timely clarion call to rethink the way we are living on this planet right now.” – Tiemen
Daisy Jones & the Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid
“The characters all leap off the page, and the way they describe how the songs came together makes me wish this wasn’t a fictional account!” – Sophie
Previous posts in this series can be found here.
