It’s been a tough couple of weeks for everyone, and as Christmas is traditionally a time for fun and games, I thought it would be good to play one. There’s a tag going around on Booktube at the moment based around Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, and in between rushing to finish some review commissions before the end of the year I’ve greatly enjoyed watching readers’ videos detailing their choices. The tag was invented by Booktube regular Lauren Wade – you can see her original video here – and my own choices are below:
1: The Ghost of Christmas Past – A book that was a childhood favourite
There are so many I could choose, of course, but I’m going to plump for Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer. This is a time-slip story that in its melancholy and in its slight edge of danger has the feel of a ghost story, which makes it particularly appropriate for the season. As with so many favourite works from childhood, I never actually owned this book – I had to keep going back to the library whenever I wanted to read it again, which was often. I think I might treat myself to my own copy – finally – in the new year.
2: The Ghost of Christmas Present – A recent book that you think will become one of your all time favourites
I’m planning to write a best-of-year post around this time next week, so more recent favourites to follow, but for the purposes of this tag I’m going to pick Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner. This was published in 2011, so an open question as to whether it actually counts as recent or not, but as I read it for the first time this year I think it qualifies. I cannot imagine ever falling out of love with this book, or with Lerner as a writer. The way he talks about art, poetry, the art of translation, the interaction of past and present, duplicity, uncertainty – this is a portrait of the artist as a young man that will stand the test of time for sure.
3: The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come – A book coming out next year that you’re most excited about
The list of books I want to read next year is already well into double figures (David Mitchell’s Utopia Avenue, Evie Wyld’s The Bass Rock, Emily St John Mandel’s The Glass Hotel, Ottessa Moshfegh’s Death in Her Hands…) but if I had to pick one to top that list it would have to be The Liar’s Dictionary, by Eley Williams. Her debut collection Attrib. made such an impression on me I think it’s fair to say it changed my writing life. The synopsis for this new book sounds so far up my street it’s practically living in my attic. I can’t wait to see what Williams has come up with.
4: Bah, Humbug! – A book that everyone else loves that you just can’t stand
This isn’t going to be a popular opinion (and I guess that’s the point), but I’m going to have to pick Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments. I love Atwood’s work, I love everything Atwood stands for. But come on, this novel is weak and massively overhyped. I’m just going to come out and say it: The Testaments should never have been written, much less won the Booker (Lucy was robbed).
5: Bob Cratchit – An old dependable that you always recommend
I’m sure the list of books I habitually recommend is overlong and predictable, so I’ll pick one of the weirder ones from it and go for Keith Ridgway’s Hawthorn & Child. I am obsessed with this book, by what Ridgway does with the crime genre. In fact, I think I’m due a reread…
6: Tiny Tim – An underhyped book that you think deserves more love
Zero hesitation here in pushing Mark Haddon’s The Porpoise. This book made me cry just because it’s so excellently written. The treatment of myth, the mixing and merging of genres, the sheer joy of this thing. And what a wonderful ending. I adored it literally from the first page. I cannot understand why this book isn’t making more waves.
7: Today? Why it’s Christmas Day! – What’s a book that always gets you in the mood for Christmas (apart from A Christmas Carol)?
Well, that’s going to have to be Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. For Christmas read Christie-mas. Job done.
8: The Muppet Christmas Carol – Your favourite film adaptation of a book
This is really difficult. I’m torn between the obvious Christmassy ones – Sidney Lumet’s Murder on the Orient Express (see above), Sidney Lanfield’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, Jack Clayton’s The Innocents – and adaptations I love that have no Christmas connection – Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, John Schlesinger’s Far From the Madding Crowd, David Lean’s A Passage to India – so I think I’m going to opt for Joseph Losey’s The Go-Between, which although it is set at the height of summer I’m convinced I saw for the first time at Christmas. This film had a profound effect on me and I love it still.
Wishing all readers of this blog a peaceful and magical festive season, stuffed with good books, good food and great ghost stories. See you back here soon for my end of the year book roundup and plans for 2020.