J. Bloodworth, The myth of meritocracy (2016)
D. Brown, The American West (1994)
J. Crace, The Pesthouse (2007)
A. Huxley, Antic Hay (1923)
D. Levy, Hot Milk (2016)
I was surprised by most of this list. Levy, rounding off the Booker shortlist, was surprisingly good - especially as the synopsis sounded dire. Huxley, Bloodworth and Brown all disappointed. Jim Crace didn't, but he never does.
There were no surprises around Book of the Month. I came across Henry Jeffreys in Slightly Foxed (which is also brilliant) some years ago, and he's been a great discovery, not least because he comes from my home town. More importantly, he has an excellent, accessible and interesting drinks blog. Now, he's written an amazing book, which I helped fund - in somewhat bizarre company. Now, given this, and the fact it's about two of my favourite things, Empire and Booze, I was bound to like it. But it is also excellently written, fascinating, practical, and makes good use of amusing footnotes. What more could anyone ask for?
In other news, my definitive Booker ranking this year
- Beatty
- Thien
- Levy
- Moshfegh
- Macrae Burnet
- Szalay
