A thread about some of the books I've read this year. Most of them have been crackers.

The Case Against Reality, Donald Hoffman – physics for non-physicists. (Or at least, physics that’s breathlessly exciting to non-physicists – they might enjoy it too). All about how our visual system filters reality into something we can understand.

Melmoth – Sarah Perry – at times *merely* a fascinating journey into how others have lived and thought. At others, a terrifyingly, implausibly plausible descent into madness and paranoia.

Oligarchy, Scarlett Thomas – a strange, unsettling short novel by one of my favourite modern novelists. The spoilt/victimised progeny of a Russian oligarch goes to weird girls’ boarding school. Power and privilege are the background; anorexia the foreground.

The Ape That Understood the Universe, Steve Stuart-Williams. A defence of evolutionary psychology which, while at times felt a bit too defensive, is a compelling account of the discipline which acknowledges its weaknesses but champions it strengths

Stendhal, The Red and the Black. On the surface, this is rags to riches set in early 19th C France, but the protagonist, Julian Sorrell – a sort of hesitant Casanova on the make – is so modern it’s hard not to believe it was written much later than 1830

The Ode Less Travelled, Stephen Fry. I read this when it came out about 10 years or so ago and enjoyed it then but going back to was revelatory. It’s meant to be about how to write poetry but is an excellent primer on how poems work. Lots of peak Fry one-liners and witticisms.

Black Sun, Owen Matthews – a wonderfully pacy and intense thriller set in 1961 in a secret Russian city where bombs are made. Even though this is ‘based on a true story,’ Vasin – our detective protagonist – is a literary creation I hope Matthews returns to

Shakespeare for Grownups, Foley & Coles. The least good of several books I read on Shakespeare this year. Entry level.

The Last Day, Andrew Hunter Murray – if you like apocylatic fiction, this is a gem. A very original idea of how the world ends which is (refreshingly) no one’s fault. The plot is tight and tense but it’s the hopelessly bleak background that SHINES (pun intended)

Making Sense, David Crystal. As reliable, clear and fresh as you could hope for. Get rid of all the garbage all those privileged buffoons who grind their teeth about how ordinary folk speak. Descriptive grammar at its best

Range, David Epstein – this had it’s up and down but is basically a fascinating treatise on the benefits of knowing more about as much as possible.

James Shapiro, Shakespeare in A Divided America – this is the best book I read on Shakespeare this year. S zeroes in on key moments in US history to show how Shakespeare has moulded the American mind. Sections on Weinstein & the Trump lookalike playing Julius Caesar were superb.

The Secret History of Vladimir Nabokov, Andrea Pitzer - Young N starts life as if in a Tolstoy novel but is quickly brought to earth with a thump when his family flees Bolshevik Russia. The backstory to the man and his works was riveting.

How to Win An argument , James May (and Cicero) – a very accessible collection of Cicero’s major speeches, intercut with May’s lucid commentaries.

This is Shakespeare, Emma Smith. Very readable essays on most of S’s best known plays (and a few of his less read as well). The collection is unified by a refusal to allow easy interpretations & is at pains to tell us we need to work a bit harder to see the texts themselves.

The Poem, Don Patterson – where Fry’s book is a primer for dilettantes, this is a serious tome for those seriously interested in all things poetic. Patterson is at danger of taking himself too seriously at times but almost always manages to catch himself in time.

Humankind, Rutger Bregman. Subtitled ‘a hopeful history’ this is all about why the doommongers are wrong: we are, in essence, generous, compassionate & self-sacrificing. Starts OK, but B’s determination to ignore & misinterpret evidence sends this from frustrating to daft.

Radical Wordsworth, Jonathan Bates – All the best Romantics died young but WW turned into a dry old conformist. Bate’s examines the early years and makes you wish for a time machine to bump him off before he starts editing the Prelude.

Short Life in a Strange World, Toby Ferris. One man’s obsession with Breughel but so much more. Art history meets autobiography. The accounts of F's father’s life, his disastrous journey with his brother across the US & the account of his illness in eastern Europe are brilliant

Charter Schools & Their Enemies, Thomas Sowell. TS examines the evidence on the effectiveness of charters with a critical scalpel & concludes that efforts to curtail their operations blight the life chances of the most marginalised. Blistering (if a little repetitive)

So Long, See You Tomorrow, William Maxwell – a beautiful short novel about childhood, memory, loss and friendship. Maxwell’s melancholy prose doesn’t tug at your heartstrings it leaves in any obvious way but it left me quiet, sobered and full of admiration.

A Dance To The Music of Time, Anthony Powell – this is the best thing I read all year – perhaps any year. Don’t be put off by its length (12 novels written between 1951-1975 following the life & observations of Nick Jenkins) because it’s beautifully readable. (1 of 2)

2 of 2 At times it’s sad and sober but at others it’s incredibly funny (Wodehouse was a fan!) When I finished the last book I was bereft. My favourite instalment was (I think) Books Do Furnish A Room! I commend it to you.

The Boundless Sea, David Abulafia – basically this is the Silk Roads of the Oceans. The breadth of erudition is extraordinary. I found myself getting a bit lost at times because there was so much I was unfamiliar with but this feels like something I will want to reread.

Anthony Powell: Dancing to the Music of Time by Hilary Spurling. If Powell’s life has a theme it is friendship: he seems to have known & befriend everyone from Orwell to Naipaul. It turns out that there’s an incredible range of early 20th C fiction I’ve never heard of including…

…EE Cummings, The Enormous Room. I had no idea that Cumming’s had written a novel. It’s about his time as a prisoner of war in France during WW1. It’s good fun but his trademark grammatical eccentricity gets a bit wearying.

The Tyranny of Merit, Michael Sandel. Fascinating account of how meritocracy led to Trump & Brexit. MS argues meritocracy results in hubris & resentment which leaves the haves looking down on the rest & those at the bottom of the pile with no stake or excuse for their position.

Jez Butterworh, Jerusalem – Well. I can’t believe I hadn’t read (or seen) this before. I could absolutely hear Mark Rylance as Rooster Byron. It’s riproaring stuff with enough of an uncomfortable edge to leave you feeling unsure about whether it’s OK to have enjoyed it so much.

Middlemarch, George Eliot. I haven’t read this for over twenty years. First time round, I remember struggling at first but then loving it; this time it was a joy from the start. I’d forgotten (or never noticed) just how funny Eliot is!

But it’s Eliot's ability to express things I’ve never known I’ve felt that really astonishes. The breadth & depth of this really do mean that Middlemarch is every bit as good as they say.

Clive James, Poetry Notebook - wonderful collection of essays on CJ's favourites. Always erudite, often withering, occasionally hilarious.

How to Read Literature, Terry Eagleton - this is a tour-de-force in how to what to notice & how to draw analogies with reference to some fabulous prose. Very accessible

David Edgar, How Plays Work - the area of literature I feel least well versed in. This was a really helpful overview that does exactly what it says it will do.

Max Porter, Grief is the Thing with Feathers. Oh my. This is manages to be both unbearably raw and distanced enough to be funny and wise.