We’ve already talked up UK adaptations, now let’s chat about our top British books. Or at least the ones we’re reading right now. My goal: Get PopWatch readers’ awesome suggestions on what to read during my upcoming vacation while recommending a few gems myself.
Me first. I know I once vowed to read only Agatha Christie for a year, but I’ve cheated. My No. 1 mistress: M.C. Beaton and her Agatha Raisin whodunits. Agatha is like Miss Marple with a drinking problem, pack-a-day habit, and major man lust. In fact, I think she may be living my dream life — aka residing in an English country cottage and solving murder mysteries. Beaton’s latest installment, A Spoonful of Poison, in which Aggie gets mixed up in a deadly jam-tasting contest, is pretty terrific — a must read. After finishing it, I went old school with the P.G. Wodehouse short story collection Plum Pie, starring the wonderful butler-master duo Jeeves and Wooster (who will always be Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie in my mind), among others.
Next up from P.G. for me: Something Fishy, another savvy lampoon of the idle rich, thanks to Overlook Press’s fancy new Collector’s hardbacks. They’re totally snazzy, totally classy, and totally Wodehouse. But I’m now deep into Mil Millington’s Instructions for Living Someone Else’s Life, a novel about a cocky 25-year-old ad man who goes to bed drunk one night and wakes up 18 years in the future as his flabby, none-too-happy middle-aged self. It’s a wonderful, funny, and sad trip about how the years just fly by. Unfortunately, I had to buy it from amazon.co.uk as it’s not available in the States, but Mil’s previous three books (Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About, A Certain Chemistry, and Love and Other Near Death Experiences) are. I can’t say enough about this author (I’m famous for giving his books as presents). He’s a master of hilarity, angst, and male-female relationships.
But enough about what I’m into. What’s English, Irish, Welsh, or Scottish on your bookshelf? A bit of Rumpole anyone? Isabel Dalhousie mysteries? Vanity Fair? Martin Amis, Ian Rankin or Sophie Kinsella?
After the jump, your Bits and Bobs calendar for the week.
Monday (Oct. 20): Check out the plethora of Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and Russell Brand clips at BBC Worldwide’s YouTube Channel.
Tuesday: Jason O’Mara visits Regis and Kelly. (Here’s a warmup.) The 2003 BBC Version of The Other Boleyn Girl, featuring Life On Mars‘ Philip Glenister and Californication’s Natasha McElhone, hits US DVD.
Wednesday: Ever wished you could also watch UK commercials? Check out the crazy collection at TellyAds.com.
Thursday: Colin Farrell stops by ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12:05 a.m.
Friday: See McKenzie Crook and Mark Heap in the BBC comedy short House Hunting Goths
Saturday: Listen to Russell Brand’s radio show and watch his latest viddycast. Watch the Doctor Who episode that got Michael Slezak crazy about Carey Mulligan on BBC America at 7 p.m. AbFab co-creator Jennifer Saunders stops by The Graham Norton Show on BBC America at 10 p.m. Coldplay joins Jon Hamm on NBC’s Saturday Night Live at 11:30 p.m.
Sunday: Listen to Jarvis Cocker sub for Stephen Merchant on BBC Radio 6 Music’s The Steve Show.
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I just read “Ghostwalk” by Rebecca Stott and found it to be a great read. It’s equal parts mystery and thriller with some supernatural and espionage bits thrown in for good measure. I was astounded by how seamlessly Stott wove together the past and the present, and how she kept adding layer upon layer to the story without burying the main plotline.
Love Sophie Kinsella books…
Other English recommendation would be I CAPTURE THE CASTLE by Dodie Smith. All about the events that take place when two rich American brothers visit a small English village. Very funny and light.
I absolutely love Kate Atkinson’s books. Though she is best known for Case Histories, I prefer her older works. Emotionally Weird is my fav of the bunch.
I feen Sophie Kinsella release dates like a crackhead feening for the pipe. Loves her. I watched that Jennifer Saunders ep of Graham Norton. LOL funny! This evening I will be watching season two of the secret diary of a call girl courtesy of a wonderful friend over in London. Cannot wait!
I’m a big fan of Val McDermid. If you are familiar with the BBC series “Wire In The Blood” she is the original author. Her mysteries, especially the Tony Hill ones, are tight and tense. Her stand alone novels are also very good.
My bookshelf has a lot of UK authors on it. Alexander McCall Smith’s excellent No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series and 44 Scotland Street are wonderful, light reads with funny, delightful characters.
Also: Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens. If you haven’t read it, do. Think Monty Python meets Hitchhiker’s Guide and together tackle the Apocalypse.
Moon by Tony Fletcher, a biography of the Who’s drummer Keith Moon. Brilliantly written, one of my favorite bios.
I highly recommend the historical mysteries A Beautiful Blue Death and The September Society by Charles Finch. While not by a British author but an American who graduated from Oxford – these Victorian era London/Oxford set cozy mysteries are chock full of great characters and details. Wonderful fun!
The three of my most recent reads that are definitely worth recommending are “Time’s Arrow” by Martin Amis, “The Coma” by Alex Garland, and “Falling Down” by Nick Hornby (although I love all of his books).
While these are available in American prints I still go out of my way to order the original British versions (hooray for amazon.co.uk!) so as not to deal with any localization, no matter how minor (prime examples being Harry Potter and His Dark Materials). I have an undying love and obsession with Jasper Fforde (Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, Well of Lost Plots, Something Rotten, First Amongst Sequels, The Big Over Easy and the Fourth Bear). I have most of those autographed actually. I own and love all of the Sophie Kinsella books though I’m not as fond of the books under her other name, Madeline Wickham. I also love the historical fiction of Bernard Cornwell and Morgan Llywelyn (as well as her fantasy novels).
Tana French – Scottish – a great debut novel – In the Woods – to call it a police procedural would do it an injustice and her new book The Likeness – begins where the first book left off….and it is TERRIFIC too.
I have Vanity Fair in the “to read” stack. Too bad the stack multiplies like rabbits-it looks like a great read. And the Mil Millington book sounds great. I will try to get my London living best friend to bring it when she returns for Thanksgiving.
When it comes to Irish writers, I love Maeve Binchy. Her books give a real good glimpson on what life is like in a small Irish village. Firefly Summer and The Glass Lake are two of my favs (her older books are better than her most recent ones).
Anybody have any other good Irish authors to recommend please??!!!
I totally! agree with Auriana and Jasper Fforde! They are a hoot to read!
Marian Keyes, Marian Keyes, Marian Keyes. MOST AWESOME WRITER EVAH!
Love Tana French’s In the Woods and especially the follow-up, The Likeness. Wonderful Irish crime mystery novels!
I also second Kate Atkinson–love her.
For chick lit I love Lisa Jewell and Marian Keyes.
I’ve got all of the Jane Austen, Marian Keyes, Sohpie Kinsella, and Jane Green books (as well as various others by UK authors).
More votes for the wonderful Jasper Fforde (the wait for his next book is just torture), and for Kate Atkinson.
For lite English chick lit, I’ll go with another Fforde: Katie.
And I’ll add in Ian Rankin, as my favorite crime writer.
Aubry, this is costing me money, but thanks! Started reading Millington last week & just purchased an Agatha Rasin mystery. Thanks to all the people commenting, too. I spent my youth reading the Jeeves books and need to keep my Brit infusion going. A little off path, but if you like Wodehouse and scifi (odd combo) Connie Willis’ ‘To Say Nothing of the Dog’ is great.
Love, love, love Jasper Fforde – especially the Thursday Next books, though the Fairy Tale books are great as well.
I enjoy reading Sophie Kinsella when I am feeling blah and need a quick easy read.
Another fave is Marian Keyes – her books are light and great for airplane rides.
Finally – Nick Hornby! I devour every one of his books!
Thanks for the previous suggestions. I’ll have to check them out soon.
Just finished Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. I enjoyed it a lot, and am interested in reading some of his other books.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned it yet, so I’ll throw in a good word for The Gun Seller, by Hugh Laurie. Yes, Hugh Laurie wrote a novel. It’s actually a great read (he initially submitted it to the publisher under a different name, because he wanted to be sure it was published on its own merits, not just because he’s a celebrity). The man is unfairly talented – acting, music, writing, he does it all.
Um, what ISN’T English, Irish, Welsh, or Scottish on my bookshelf?
Happy Days (Samuel Beckett)
Endgame (Samuel Beckett)
A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
The Collector (John Fowles)
Under the Net (Iris Murdoch)
Lucky Jim (Kingsley Amis)
Modern Irish Drama- excerpts from Yeats, Beckett, Gregory, etc.
God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy)
Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
1984 (George Orwell)
Okay, okay, I’m an English major.
I really love Jasper Fforde, Sophie Kinsella, and Eoin Colfer (the last one writes children’s books, but I love them all! I freely admit to reading quality kids’ lit!).
Oh, and how could I forget Terry Pratchett?! He’s my favorite–I am SO SAD he has early onset Alzheimer’s.
Oh, and how could I forget Terry Pratchett?! He’s my favorite–I am SO SAD he has early onset Alzheimer’s.
Great suggestions. Thank you! I have to second Hugh Laurie’s The Gun Seller. Fantastic book. Your mention of it made me think of another great Brit read, actor David Thewlis’ The Late Hector Kipling.
Jane Gardam is a wonderful British author–she does remarkable character studies. Bilgewater and Old Filth are my favorites.
I would definitely recommend A. S. Byatt. I don’t understand how anyone who is into literature, and I guess more specifically British literature, can miss her. Her writing is so great as it gracefully moves between European writing traditions and critical responses to literature, reading, and writing. I guess I would also have to plug Zadie Smith as well. Her writing is so beatiful sometimes that I get lost in the pages. Oh, and the greats–George Eliot and Virginia Woolf. None of these are really vacation books, or authors rather, but they are all good reads.
House of Sleep – Jonathan Coe
I cannot recommend this book highly enough!!
Of course, ditto Case Histories & One Good Turn- Kate Atkinson
And also ditto In the Wood – Tara French – read in one sitting!! A looong sitting.
Any Denise Mina book, especially Field of Blood and Deception.
The Long Firm Trilogy by Jake Arnott
Three loosely connected crime thrillers that starts in the 60’s and ends in the late 90’s. All three books focuses on different people who in some ways are connected to the gay gangster Harry Stark. The books are interesting portraits of different periods of modern Britain, full of funny and interesting pop culture references and not to mention interesting crime fiction. These books are not “Whodunnits” but more tales of organized crime, homosexuality through the ages and those affected by crime.
When you read the books you can almost smell the vinegar from the fish and ships…