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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.
You can buy all the recommendations here on the UCL Portico Books bookshop.
The Physics of Sorrow
by Georgi Gospodinov
"Gospodinov is the winner of the International Booker Prize 2023; and this 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’t 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’t 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’s very difficult to capture the essence and appeal of the book in just a paragraph, it has to be experienced – and I think that experience is good for the soul" – Joanna Socha, Strategic Projects Coordinator at Students’ Union UCL (UCL Anthropology BSc 2020 and Bioarcheological & Forensic Anthropology MSc 2022)
Godspodinov's books are available in English in the SSEES Library.
The Ratline
by Phillippe Sands (UCL Professor of the Public Understanding of Law)
"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, mysterious death and afterlife of Otto Gustav von Wächter. Wächter, a high-ranking Nazi, was indicted at the end of WWII for mass murder. He fled in 1945 via 'the Ratline', a secret route set up for Nazi criminals to evade justice and 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." – Katie Grocott Murdoch, Communications Manager, VPEE
Tom Lake
by Ann Patchett
"The paperback came out in June this year, and has a beautiful daisy-filled cover. I’m a latecomer to the party of Patchett fans, but love her Instagram posts via Parnassus Books, 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 – 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’s choices. Ideal for sunny, slow, restorative days. . ." – Samantha Rayner, Professor of Publishing and Book Cultures and Vice Dean Wellbeing, Arts and Humanities
Rebecca
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 – super 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." – Saskia Norman, Digital & Content Co-ordinator, Students' Union UCL (UCL Russian MA, 2020-21 and History BA 2017-20)
You Dreamed of Empires
by Alvaro Enrigue
"In 1519, one of the most consequential meetings in world history took place: Hernán Cortés, 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—from population dynamics to technological advancements, and from culinary exchanges to linguistic transformations. In this novel, Álvaro 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 – as a Mexican, it astonishes me how few people are informed about the exchanges and mutual influence between Afro-Eurasia and the Americas in the 16th century." – William Jensen-Diaz (MSc International Public Policy 2016)
A Darker Electricity: The Origins of the Spiral Tribe Sound System
by 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’s a story about reclaiming social space and exploring the possibilities of collective creativity. Though this is Harrison’s 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 Spiralled by Seana Gavin is a good visual accompaniment." – Anna Howard (Slade MFA Fine Art)
Things I Don't Want to Know
by Deborah Levy
"Book one of a trilogy of Levy’s ‘mini-memoirs’, ‘Things I Don’t Want to Know’ is everything I look for in a book. Structured as a response to George Orwell’s ‘Why I Write,’ this title provides introspective explanation of what drives a writer to create. Levy’s storytelling is brilliant and provides a historical, political, and emotional lens into late-20th century South Africa." – Kasey Price (Publishing MA, 2023-24)
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
by Louis de Bernières
"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’s also a film adaption, but read the book first." – Katya Duncan (MSc Economics & Policy for Energy and the Environment)
Want to read a book written by UCL Faculty? How about one of these...
Fluke
by 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 – and often arbitrary – flukes. Writing it has been the highlight of my intellectual life and it upended my entire worldview in the process."
The Jewel Box:
How Moths Illuminate Nature's Hidden Rules
by Tim Blackburn
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.
The Global Fight Against LGBTI Rights:
How Transnational Conservative Networks Target Sexual and Gender Minorities
by Phillip Ayoub
Professor Ayoub says: "Our work provides an in-depth look at the global movement to curtail LGBTI rights—and how the LGBTI movement responds to it. Drawing from over a decade of fieldwork, interviews, and network analysis, we 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 at NYU Press (using the code NYUAU30 to save 30%)
Making a Mindful Nation:
Mental Health and Governance in the Twenty-First Century
by Joanna Cook
Dr Joanna Cook, UCL Anthropology, says:
"Lately, everyone from Taylor Swift to the Football Association is talking about mental health. It’s now so normal to think of mental health as something that we can all cultivate that Apple have introduced features to help you to ‘stay on top of your mental health’ on a daily basis. But this idea has a really short history. 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 ‘mental health’ 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. In my book I unpack the ways in which the logics of preventative mental healthcare are incorporated into people’s relationships with themselves, therapeutic interventions, structures of governance, and political campaigns. What I show is that preventative healthcare has had a profound influence on people’s efforts to live well, underscoring the significance of our understanding of the mind."