IndyBest’s best book buys for 2020: From ‘How to Fail’ to ‘Light Years’

Douglas Stuart’s Booker Prize-winning debut novel has been garlanded with praise – and rightly so. Shuggie Bain took Stuart 10 years to write and was turned down by more than 30 publishers but it’s an exceptional book that will stand the test of time. Margaret Busby, chair of the Booker judges, said the book is “destined to be a classic – a moving, immersive and nuanced portrait of a tight-knit social world, its people and its values.” Set in Glasgow, it’s the heartbreaking tale of Agnes Bain, a proud, beautiful mother-of-three and her youngest son Shuggie, who desperately tries to save her as she descends into alcoholism.

The title that started it all, How To Fail is the book to match the podcast of the same name. Fusing together testimony from podcast guests and her own life, Day weaves together a narrative of how to learn to fail, to succeed better.

Culturally, we have a mindset of failure not being an option – and an example could be how some of us stay late to work at times, ensuring that the groundwork for the next day is already in place. People such as author and podcast host, “Ctrl Alt Delete” Emma Gannon have indirectly written about this – such as with the development of the multi-hyphenate concept.

What makes this book universal – and something we can all relate to – is how Day discloses here own perceived failures – such as when it comes to asking for a pay rise and even miscarriage.

King’s 1977 novel The Shining is legendary, made even more so by Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation. Chaos and ill-advised axe-wielding ensue when the Torrance family move to the Overlook Hotel, a building that is swimming with evil spirits.

Little Danny Torrance has psychic powers known as the “shining”, has a ghostly friend called Tony and keeps having visions of the word “redrum” (the word “murder” spelt backwards). Recovering alcoholic Jack Torrance, who is the Overlook Hotel’s new caretaker, is slowly driven to insanity by supernatural forces that haunt its walls. Wendy Torrance is just trying to keep everything together.

There is something wonderfully sinister about King’s storytelling and The Shining is a great example. The reader is drawn into the bizarre and unsettling world of the Overlook Hotel almost immediately, with each new evil introduced only adding to the creep factor.

“Sustainability” can sometimes sound drab and boring, but it needn’t be! This surprisingly feel good guide grabs us by the hand and runs, joyfully, straight into the solutions. It examines every aspect of our lives and how we can do better, without losing our personalities and pals in the process. From a meltdown over plastic cutlery in Wholefoods to “being a little bit activist” by playing drums for Extinction Rebellion, Isabel Losada takes us on her own inspiring, and often, hilarious eco journey. Honest and humble, with many laugh out loud moments, it’s a genuinely enjoyable read for anyone who is feeling eco anxious.

This gorgeous poetry anthology is the sequel to the award-winning I Am the Seed that Grew the Tree and will enchant children of all ages. The book’s title is taken from “The Tiger”, William Blake’s classic poem, and features an animal poem for every day of the year. Published in collaboration with the National Trust, it includes 366 poems, all selected by Fiona Waters and beautifully illustrated by Britta Teckentrup. They include old favourites, such as “The Peacock’s Eye” by Gerard Manley Hopkins and “The Arctic Fox” by Ted Hughes and newer poems too, like Carol Ann Duffy’s “The Wasp” and “Crab Dance” by Grace Nichols. As Louise Bologaro, head of picture books at Nosy Crow, writes in the book’s foreword: “Poems and reading matter more than ever but so does the natural world. If this book can nurture a love of the animal kingdom, then maybe it will also help create the conservationists of the future.” One of the most stunning children’s books of the year, it’s a tome that will be treasured by generations to come.

This is Clare Chambers’s first novel in 10 years, and according to our reviewer, it’s “well worth the wait”. Small Pleasures is set in 1957, the main character is Jean Swinney, “features editor of the North Kent Echo, a local paper where she spends her time writing about weddings and household hints. Jean is single, nearly 40, and lives a dutiful, uneventful life with her demanding mother (a great comic creation). When a young Swiss woman called Gretchen Tilbury writes to the paper claiming her daughter is the result of a virgin birth Jean is dispatched to find out if she’s a miracle or a fraud. But much to her surprise Jean’s life becomes increasingly entwined with that of the Tilburys, especially Gretchen’s husband Howard. This compassionate tale is exquisitely written and entranced us from the very first page,” commanded our reviewer. 

This beautifully curated collection of essays is a welcome tonic in a cultural climate that seems hellbent on misunderstanding and misrepresenting those who do not fall into gender binaries. With a focus on intersections, this anthology specifically aims to examine the ways in which a person’s other identities – such as being a parent, having a faith, being black or having a disability – intersect with their non-binary identity.

Some writing on gender can often be inaccessible and academic, so it was a pleasure to read a collection of essays that were highly personal, thoughtful and immensely insightful. From “gender euphoria” to “radical softness”, working through each contribution felt like having an illuminating conversation with the most informed and thoughtful person you know.

This diverse group of individuals have done the work in picking apart the norms that prevail in many societies and discovered how prescriptive and stifling these can be. The overriding message is that non-binary people exist in multiple forms – that there is no “right way” to be non-binary – but there is plenty more to learn besides. Essential reading for anyone wishing to learn more about the wonderful diversity of humans. Furthermore, profits from the sale of this book will go to organisations supporting marginalised trans and non-binary folks.

Funny, irreverent and unflinchingly honest, Remember This When You’re Sad is both a memoir and a vital self-care manual. Writer and social-media editor Van Eijk, in her words, turns her brain inside out on the page. She shares her own story of lifetime suffering with mental-health issues – including depression, anxiety and borderline personality disorder – and pairs it with pragmatic advice for those facing similar issues.

The book is divided into 15 digestible chapters with to-the-point heads, such as “remember this when you’re scared of your own brain” and “remember this when you can’t stand your own body”. What follows is razor-sharp prose that reads like advice and anecdotes from a trusted friend.

Van Eijk tackles traumatic incidents from her own past, such as the time she badly burnt her forearm with cigarettes, with lightness and even humour. A self-professed lover of lists, she punctures the prose with bulleted sections designed to help the reader take better care of themselves. Themes include “things you could do instead of self harm” and “not-so-cringeworthy mantras that help me”. A raw and comforting read.

A divisive and contentious issue, both in and out of feminist circles, Revolting Prostitutes is an overdue and essential addition to critical analyses on sex work. Written by actual sex workers – a group too often excluded from discussions on the issue – this exquisitely researched text offers a comprehensive and nuanced account of the impact of prostitution laws, borders, police and the prison system on sex workers around the world. In clear, accessible language, the authors put forward the argument for why sex work needs to be decriminalised from a harm reduction perspective. Smith and Mac refuse to be drawn into binary positions on the “morality” of sex work, arguing instead for greater compassion and understanding of the fact that a “familiar and mundane” need to make money tends to drive most people to sell sex. An essential addition to the feminist canon and required reading for anyone who cares about equality and human rights.

James Rebanks admits that farming is a “crushingly hard way of life”. His first book about farming in the Lake District’s picturesque Matterdale valley, The Shepherd’s Life: A Tale of the Lake District, was an instant bestseller. In the follow-up he writes about the changing landscape and his decision to return “to an older type of farming life – one of sweat, blood and hard work” by rewilding huge areas and dispensing with pesticides and artificial fertilisers. Lyrical and illuminating, Rebanks’s observations will fascinate city-dwellers and country-lovers alike.

Set in 1975, when prime minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency due to civil unrest, this fine novel is the story of four strangers – a widow, a young student who has been uprooted from his idyllic hill station home and two tailors who have fled the caste violence of their native village. The quartet are thrust together, sharing a cramped apartment and facing an uncertain future in the middle of India’s political turmoil. Shortlisted for the 1996 Booker Prize, Mistry’s beautifully written novel is a literary tour de force.

Ann Patchett’s novel about two siblings, their unusual childhood home and a past that they can’t let go was longlisted for the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction and we’re surprised it didn’t make the shortlist. Danny Conroy and his older sister Maeve grow up in The Dutch House, a grand mansion on the outskirts of Philadelphia. Their father, a self-made property magnate, is a distant figure and their mother has mysteriously walked out but the siblings are devoted to each other. But one day their father brings the ghastly Andrea home, along with Andrea’s two young daughters, and Danny and Maeve are forced to endure even greater sadness than before. Patchett writes beautifully about family, love and loss and the powerful bonds that bind us all. This is a novel that stayed in our minds long after we finished reading.

When Meg Rosoff won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s biggest prize for children’s and young adult literature, back in 2016 the jury members were glowing in their praise. “Meg Rosoff’s young adult novels speak to the emotions as well as the intellect,” they said. “She leaves no reader unmoved.”

They were absolutely right. Now the author of the classic How I Live Now is back with a new YA novel – a coming-of-age story of two families whose lives collide in a holiday house by the sea. When the two Godden brothers, charismatic, golden boy Kit and surly, watchful Hugo, arrive in their midst there are bound to be devastating consequences – and sure enough, by the end of the summer everyone’s lives have been turned upside down. Rosoff’s dazzling, timeless novel is a delight.

The Light Years is the first book in Elizabeth Jane Howard’s classic series, The Cazalet Chronicles. The story starts in the summer of 1937 when three generations of the Cazalet family gather at Home Place, the family home in the heart of the Sussex countryside.

Despite the idyllic setting, siblings Hugh, Edward, Rupert and Rachel have each experienced heartache. Hugh is haunted by the ravages of the First World War, Edward is trying to hide his latest infidelity, Rupert seems unable to please his demanding wife and Rachel risks losing her only chance at happiness because of her unflinching loyalty to the rest of the family.

Howard is a superb writer and storyteller and if you enjoy this, you’ve got four more Cazalet books to look forward to – Marking Time, Confusion, Casting Off and All Change.

Abi Dare grew up in Nigeria and was inspired to write The Girl with the Louding Voice by her memories of the young, impoverished housemaids hired to work for middle-class families in Lagos. Her 14-year-old heroine, the feisty Adunni, wants to resume her schooling and has ambitions to become a teacher. But after Adunni’s beloved mother dies, her father forces her into an abusive marriage with a taxi driver who already has two wives and four children. When tragedy strikes she flees her husband and is sold as a domestic slave to a wealthy household in Lagos, only to suffer horrendous cruelty all over again. Adunni’s humour and fierce determination to change her destiny shine through this remarkable book.

William Sieghart came up with the idea of The Poetry Pharmacy in 2014 when he began prescribing poems to help people cope with problems in their lives. It was so successful that he has produced a second volume – and it’s just as uplifting as the first. Sieghart describes poetry as “a healing force” and says poems have helped him throughout his life. This time round the poems address a plethora of new themes, from choosing a life partner to political apathy. Our favourites included “Walking Away” by Cecil Day-Lewis, prescribed for empty nest syndrome, and “Oh” by Robert Creeley, prescribed for people caring for ageing parents. Each poem is accompanied by a short essay by Sieghart.