The secrets of a shoebox are among these brilliant BOOKS
66. FOR THE LOVE OF LITERATURE...
Bookworm Lucy Mangan Vintage €14.99
When Lucy Mangan was little, she devoured Enid Blyton, CS Lewis, Francine Pascal and many others, and this memoir about her early excursions into literature is a love letter to those books. An enchanting, nostalgic, comfort read about the stories that stay with you for a lifetime.
67. EXPLORING THE WORLD BENEATH OUR FEET
Underland Robert Macfarlane Hamish Hamilton €28
If the past few weeks have felt a little like a metaphorical journey into the underworld, nature writer Robert Macfarlane can tell you what going underground is really like. In this lyrical exploration of what lies beneath, he ventures into subterranean facilities and cave systems all over the world.
68. HOW AN OLD SHOEBOX TOLD AN EXTRAORDINARY TALE
House Of Glass Hadley Freeman Fourth Estate €18.99
The discovery of a shoebox full of old family photographs and mementoes sent Hadley Freeman on a journey of discovery about the extraordinary experiences of her grandmother Sala and Sala’s three brothers during the most turbulent years of the 20th century. It’s a captivating story of human resilience.
69. RIBALD REVELATIONS
Lady In Waiting Anne Glenconner Hodder & Stoughton €28
Friend of the British royal family and lady in waiting to Princess Margaret, Lady Glenconner displays resilience of a different kind in her memoir about the ups and downs of her aristocratic life. We visit palaces and brothels, cock fights and coronations.
70. A PHILOSOPHICAL TAKE ON STAYING IN
Lessons In Stoicism John Sellars Allen Lane €13.99
Tough times are nothing new. This brief book is a wonderfully clear, crisp introduction to the ancient philosophy of stoicism, espoused by, among others, Epictetus, a former Roman slave, and emperor Marcus Aurelius. Stoicism is currently enjoying a revival and research suggests that following its tenets could have mental health benefits.
71. CAN’T GET OUT TO ENJOY SPRING? TRY THIS...
A Claxton Diary Mark Cocker Jonathan Cape €23.79
If you can’t get out to enjoy the spring weather, immerse yourself in the natural world with Mark
Cocker who, every day, walks from his Norfolk cottage down to the river, and then records what he has seen and heard: owls, grasshoppers, moths, shrews… his writing transports you there.
72. BRYSON’S BODY POLITIC
The Body Bill Bryson Doubleday €35
It might occasionally be vulnerable to nasty new viruses but the human body is a truly incredible thing. Bill Bryson’s ‘owner’s manual’ examines every amazing inch of it from the head – 1.2 billion copies of this book could be stored in a piece of brain the size of a grain of salt – to the feet, which contain 52 of the body’s 206 bones.
73. LEARN SCIENCE IN SOLITUDE
The World According To Physics Jim Al-Khalili Princeton University Press €18.19
OK, you’ve done biology, what about another key science? Particle physics – how hard can it really be? Broadcaster and quantum physicist Jim Al-Khalili is a superb guide to the fundamental principles of quantum theory, relativity and thermodynamics.
74. MAKE A CLEAN SWEEP
Hinch Yourself Happy Mrs Hinch Michael Joseph €18.20
Cleaning can be soothing, claims Mrs Hinch, the Instagram influencer with more than three million followers. This seems like as good a time as any to put that to the test. The book promises ‘step-by-step guides to hinching [cleaning] your home’.
75. THE FINALE OF MANTEL’S TUDOR TRILOGY
The Mirror And The Light Hilary Mantel Fourth Estate €29.99
Time to catch up with the book that everybody’s talking about: the final instalment of Hilary Mantel’s majestic trilogy about Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s fixer. Weighing in at 900 pages, it covers – spoiler alert – the final four years of Cromwell’s life and opens just moments after Anne Boleyn’s has been prematurely ended.