Favourite Reads for World Book Day UK from the Winston Solicitors Book Club

World Book Day UK – Where Did it All Begin?

Back in 1995, UNESCO made the decision to create a day dedicated to celebrating books, which they called World Book and Copyright Day. Often shortened to World Book Day. The first official World Book Day UK and Ireland took place in 1997. It was a bid to encourage children and adults across the world to engage with books and reading. World Book Day is now celebrated in over 100 countries across the globe.

But it didn’t officially start there. It really began in 1922, when Vincente Clavel, director of Cevantes publishing house in Barcelona. He wanted to honour the author, Miguel de Cervantes, and boost the sale of books. Originally, this was celebrated in 1926 on Cervantes’ birthday, the 7th October. However, it was moved to the date of his death, 23rd April, in 1930. Coincidentally, this is also the anniversary of the death (and birth) of William Shakespeare, so it’s an important date in literary circles. In the UK, the date for World Book Day was brought forward, so that schools could celebrate World Book Day uninterrupted by St David’s Day and Easter.

7 Staff Members Recommend Their Favourite Reads 

We have a diverse team, here at Winston Solicitors, and we all have different interests away from law and legal matters. So we thought World Book Day UK was the perfect opportunity for us to get some recommendations on a selection of our staff’s favourite reads.

1984 by George Orwell

GENRE: Dystopia / Social / Political

Where would we be on World Book Day 2024 without a classic like 1984?

There are many phrases that we still use today to describe technology and politics that come from this fantastic book. For example:  

Big Brother - the personification of an unseen but worshipped monolithic leader who sees and controls everything we do.

Room 101 – the place that “badly behaved” individuals go to be brainwashed into submission. In a similar vein, there was a TV show from the 90s called Room 101, where guests would condemn the things that they dislike about the world to “Room 101”

Thought Police - a group of people with totalitarian views on a given subject, who constantly monitor others for any deviation from their prescribed way of thinking.

Newspeak – a form of propagandistic language characterised by euphemism, circumlocution, and the inversion of customary meanings.

Doublethink - the act of simultaneously accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct.

1984 SYNOPSIS 

George Orwell’s 1984 is set in a future (at time of writing) Great Britain, now part of a totalitarian superstate. Much of the world is at perpetual war. It focuses on a central character, Winston, who is a cog in the bureaucratic government machine. But he wakes up to what is happening and begins to push back, which leads to him having to face the consequences.

WHY WE LOVED 1984 

It was a story ahead of its time. Published in 1949, it predicted mass surveillance and general unrest among the population. Though it is a classic, it stands the test of time, anticipating things that are relevant in the modern world: Standing up against totalitarian regimes, the cult of personality and violation of freedom of expression.  

One of the single most important books ever written.

Under the Whispering Door by T J Klune 

GENRE: Fantasy / LGBTQIA+ Interest / Romance

UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR SYNOPSIS 

Welcome to Charon's Crossing. The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through. When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead. And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead. But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived. So when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.

WHY WE LOVED UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR

Definitely not my usual choice of read, but I do enjoy gallows humour and the blurb on the back cover struck me as being slightly black comedy-ish. It was not remotely scary, but it was thought-provoking, interesting, funny, emotional, happy, clever and a great set of characters. Would recommend!

Verity by Colleen Hoover

GENRE: Thriller / Romance

VERITY SYNOPSIS

Verity is an incredibly suspenseful novel. Lowen is a struggling writer with severe writer’s block. One day, when she is on her way to visit her publisher, a man is hit by a truck dies in front of her. A mysterious stranger called Jeremy Crawford comes to her rescue and they hit it off instantly. It turns out that Jeremy’s wife is none other than Verity Crawford, esteemed crime novelist. But Verity has been in a serious car accident and is struggling to finish her series of thrillers. Lowen takes a job to finish the bestselling series of acclaimed author Verity Crawford. Desperate for more income, the job seems to have come along at the perfect moment. But as she delves into Verity’s notes, she uncovers dark secrets that threaten her sanity and safety.  

WHY WE LOVED VERITY

Absolutely loved this book. I couldn’t put it down and read it in one day! It has plenty of suspense and a good plot twist. Just... read it!

Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

GENRE: Fantasy / YA

NORTHERN LIGHTS SYNOPSIS

Just finished reading this with my son. It’s classed as young-adult fantasy, but plenty of interest for adults too.  

The story is set in a parallel universe, similar to ours, but with stark differences. Lyra is 12 years old, and living at Jordan College, Oxford. She travels to the Artic to rescue her friend, Roger, who is kidnapped by a mysterious group called the Gobblers. She meets unusual characters along the way, including witches, armoured bears and a Texan aviator.  

In their world all humans have an animal which is a physical form of the person’s soul. The animal souls, called daemons, only exist while the person does, harming one also harms the other. But a dark force is determined to carry out some unscrupulous experiments on children and their daemons. And they need to be stopped.  

WHY WE LOVED NORTHERN LIGHTS

The story is rich and complex with lovely language, which is engaging for adult readers. But it’s written with young adults and children in mind. The characters and the fantasy appeal to younger readers too.  

The first in a trilogy, Northern Lights was made into a film in 2007, starring the likes of Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Eva Green and Ian McKellen.

We are off to find the second part of the trilogy at the library.

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead 

GENRE: Historical Fiction / Contemporary Fiction / Wartime Fiction

GREAT CIRCLE SYNOPSIS 

Great Circle was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2021 and the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2022. It tells the tales of two women living in different eras, but who are intrinsically linked. One is the story of disappeared 20th-century aviator Marian Graves. While the other is about a 21st-century Hollywood actress, Hadley Baxter, who is cast in the role of Marian for a film about her final flight.

It’s an expansive tale of passion and ambition in two very different time periods. Both main characters push the boundaries of what is expected of them in their eras. Finding herself becoming increasingly fascinated with Marian’s life, Hadley begins to uncover some well-kept secrets that betray great discrepancies in the biopic in which she is starring. Who was Marian Graves? And did she really die in a plane crash in 1950? It all leads to the question of whether to break decades-old confidences for the sake of popular culture.

WHY WE LOVED GREAT CIRCLE

I absolutely love how the two stories weave together. It’s an unputdownable mix of adventure and character study, with stark similarities and differences between the two protagonists. Because it focusses on two very different women in different eras who are navigating the world of their chosen vocations, there’s an inevitable undertone of gender equality commentary without it being the sole focus of the book. It’s beautifully written and completely engrossing.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

GENRE: Coming of Age / Thriller / Souther Gothic

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD SYNOPSIS 

Set against the backdrop of the deep south of America in the 1930’s, six-year-old tomboy, Scout, and ten-year-old Jem start to question the world that they live in.  

The story centres on the children’s father, Atticus Finch, as he attempts to prove the innocence of Tom Robinson, a black man who has been wrongly accused of raping a white woman. The general consensus is that Atticus cannot win this case, whatever happens. Despite the fact that he is adamant Tom is innocent of this crime, and there is no evidence to suggest he is guilty, Atticus struggles to persuade the jury of his client’s innocence. The trial is told through the child-like eyes of Scout, and we are taken on a journey of valuable life lessons: tolerance and empathy.

The language around race is key to this story, as discrimination, people’s preconceived ideas and prejudices are questioned.

WHY WE LOVED TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

A book that questions life through the eyes of a child and the reality of an adult. I probably still read this book once a year and still find it poignant and giving.  

Although written in 1960 and set almost 95 years ago, sadly the questions asked in the book and the subjects raised are just as relevant today as they were then. An important book for all ages.

Holy Island by L J Ross

GENRE: Crime / Thriller

HOLY ISLAND SYNOPSIS

DCI Ryan seeks sanctuary on the Island of Lindisfarne when he is forced to take a sabbatical from his duties as a homicide detective. However, he is called back to work when the body of a young local woman is discovered on Lindisfarne. where he and his team hunt a killer who hides in plain sight.  Pagan ritual, small town politics and two further murders make this an unputdownable read!

This is the first in the DCI Ryan series, which is set in and around the northeast of England.

WHY WE LOVED HOLY ISLAND

I loved how the various characters were brought to life with believable back stories and interwoven history. Focusing on the effects of the 3 murders on a close-knit community sometimes it is difficult to know who to trust!  

Happy World Book Day UK 

We hope you enjoyed our recommendations as much as we did collating them. The theme of World Book Day UK this year is to make reading fun, rather than pressuring people, particularly children, into reading books a certain way. This list is such a varied selection of reads, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy.  

Happy World Book Day UK to everyone, adults and children. Go and enjoy a good book!