Happy World Book Day!
Did you know that reading for as little as six minutes per day can reduce stress by as much as 68%?
Reading has some amazing health benefits, including improving your mental acuity, helping with anxiety, relieving stress, and lowering the chances of developing Alzheimer’s later in life. A 2009 study at the University of Sussex found that reading reduced stress better and faster than other stress relievers such as listening to music (a 61% reduction) and going for a walk (a 42% reduction). This is because reading can magically transport you to other worlds, diverting your brain away from immediate worries.
With stress and anxiety levels at an all-time high, there is no better time to snuggle up with a good book. And, even if you don’t feel the benefits right away, at least it gives you the opportunity to put down your phone and indulge in some self-care… something we can all benefit from!
At Tower Mains, we love a good read. So, if you’re wondering what to pick up next, here are our recommendations:
Fiction
Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Follows a third-year PhD candidate, Olive Smith, whose fake relationship with Adam Carlsen, a hotshot professor, throws her carefully calculated theories on love into chaos. When a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive’s career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.
Rita: A fun light reading directed at people in STEM. The main character is a woman in STEM; I loved this representation, and her experience as a PhD student conducting research felt realistic, especially considering she’s studying abroad, she’s not male, and she’s in her late 20s – It’s impressive to see representation like this.
One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner
From bestselling author Lisa Gardner, One Step Too Far is a thrilling novel that sends Frankie Elkin into the woods in search of a man who went missing on his stag do when they went backcountry camping. Law enforcement has abandoned the search, but a crew of people led by the young man’s father are still looking. Frankie agrees to help but soon sees that a missing person isn’t all that’s wrong here and when more people start to vanish, she realises she’s up against something very dark.
Nicole: I read this for a book club recently and it was easy to read, I read it in a day. The moral of the story was that glamping on my parent’s lawn and drinking sangria for my hen do is definitely a better idea than hiking into remote woods in Wyoming. It was a good escape read.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
A totally heart-breaking tale set in Afghanistan which follows a woman through an arranged marriage, domestic violence, and Taliban rule. The woman’s endurance is tested beyond her worst imaginings but in the end, it is love that triumphs over death and destruction.
A Thousand Splendid Suns became a number one New York Times Best Seller for fifteen weeks following its release and during its first week on sale, it sold over one million copies. Columbia Pictures purchased film rights in 2007, and a theatrical adaptation of the book premiered on February 1, 2017, at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, California.
Judith: It is an eye-opening account of the reality of the lives of women in other parts of the world.
Timeline by Michael Crichton
Timeline is a science fiction novel telling the story of a group of history students who travel to 14th-century France to rescue their professor. The book follows Crichton’s long history of combining science, technical details, and action in his books, this time addressing quantum and multiverse theory.
Shona: People know Jurassic Park, but this mix of science fiction and historical drama is my most favourite and maybe for those who considered Outlander now it too is a TV series, you could try this next (or State of Fear).
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Published in 1928 when the anti-war sentiment was still strong., All Quiet on the Western Front was one of the key books of its generation. Erich Maria Remarque’s novel tells the moving story of Paul Bremer, a young soldier in the German infantry on the Western Front, experiencing the horror and disillusionment of life in the trenches. No longer the idealistic high schooler, who enlisted with his classmates in a burst of patriotism at his teacher’s insistence, he is much tougher, but his toughness is aimed at staying alive and keeping his sanity, all the while feeling disdain for the slogans of war.
The 2022 film adaption directed by Edward Berger and starring Felix Kammerer and Albrecht Schuch was nominated for nine Oscars, including Best Picture, at the 95th Academy Awards, and won seven British Academy Film Awards.
Fiona: Together with ‘Children on the Oregon Trail, I read both when I was about 12 and they totally changed my life.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
The story of a girl called Nora whose life hasn’t been going to plan but at midnight on her last day on earth she finds herself transported to a library. There she is given the chance to undo her regrets and try out each of the other lives she might have had. Which raises the ultimate question: with infinite choices, what is the best way to live?
Lianne: I couldn’t put this book down and had to find out what path/life Nora would choose.
The Midnight Library won the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Fiction in 2020 and became a best seller upon publication.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
A story about a young girl named Kya (the “Marsh Girl”) who is living wild outside of the boundaries of a small town’s ‘polite society’. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her. But Kya is not what they say and after being drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens. In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens intertwines an ode to the natural world against a profound coming-of-age story and haunting mystery.
The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a mystery novel narrated by a 15-year-old boy with Asperger’s syndrome, who has never gone further than the end of his street on his own, but the mystery of finding his neighbour’s dog murdered sends him on a new journey. The title refers to an observation by the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes (created by Arthur Conan Doyle) in the 1892 short story “The Adventure of Silver Blaze”.
The Curious Incident won the Whitbread Book Awards for Best Novel and Book of the Year, the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book, and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. Unusually, it was published simultaneously in separate editions for adults and children.[5]
Erin: I really enjoyed this book as it offers a big insight into the mind of someone with Aspergers syndrome.
Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
A fantasy novel following the life of a young orphan who is part of an elite group of con artists calling themselves the “Gentleman Bastards” who rob the rich of the city of Camorr, based on late medieval Venice. Two stories interweave: in the present, the Gentleman Bastards fight a mysterious Grey King taking over the criminal underworld; alternate chapters describe the history of Camorr and the Gentleman Bastards, in particular Locke Lamora.
Anna: This book has got a really good plot with many unexpected twists!
Non-Fiction
Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature’s Most Dangerous Creatures by Carl Zimmer
An insight into the fascinating world of parasites, from protozoans that turn rats into suicidal kamikazes to wasps that turn their DNA into viruses to help them parasitize caterpillars. It follows scientists who are beginning to appreciate how parasites can control the fate of entire ecosystems and even steer the course of evolution and gives case studies of different researchers and allows you into the parallel universe where parasites manipulate and evade their hosts.
Erin: Sometimes yucky but very well-written and interesting read but good for people like me who are fascinated by infectious diseases and the well-adapted creatures that cause them.
17 Equations that changed the World by Ian Stewart
From Pythagoras’s Theorem to the Black-Scholes equation, Ian Stewart, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick, explains the power and beauty behind the 17 most important equations. From basic geometry to our understanding of how the physical world works to the theories underlying the internet and our financial systems, this is an entertaining, surprising, and vastly informative exploration of equations that have shaped our world.