World Book Day And Our Favourite Books

A Look At SMF's Top Books

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So it’s World Book Day. How many of you realised that it was before it started trending on Twitter? Bonus points for you if you did.

To mark this book love fest, we thought we’d share some of our favourite books in hope that gets more people reading.

So let’s get into it shall we?

Callum:

Callum, one of our content writers named his favourite book as ‘1984’ by George Orwell. 1984 is probably the first novel that comes to mind whenever someone mentions dystopia. 1984 weaves us a tale of government surveillance and perpetual war. The term ‘Big Brother’ comes from the character of the same name within the book. Definitely worth a read.

Adam:

In keeping with words and phrases entering the English language thanks to books, we have Adam’s favourite: ‘Catch 22’. This is a satirical novel about Captain John Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier and other airman who are based in an island camp in the Mediterranean. The novel focuses on them trying to keep their sanity, fulfil their service requirements and return home.

The phrase Catch 22 means a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules. So basically your average 9-5. Adam also wants an honourable mention for Dr. Suess’ ‘Oh ThePlaces You’ll Go!’ Though he’s refrained from reading it today as he’s worried it’ll spur him to finally up and leave us here at SMF. We’d probably miss him.

Megan:

Megan is another of our content writers. Her book of choice is 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close'. The novel is narrated by the character Oskar Schell, a nine year old boy whose father died during the terror attacks on the world trade centres in 2011. Oskar finds key hidden in a vase which was left by his father and then sets out to find its significance.

Tom:

My favourite book? Now that’s tricky. Truth be told I don’t really read all that much to be honest. My top choice this year has to go to Kirsty Logan’s ‘The Rental Heart and Other Fairy Tales’ I love modern retelling of fairy tales, especially when they’re done with a mature spin. Logan captures this perfectly and I’d say one of the most successful examples of retelling since Angela Carter’s 'The Bloody Chamber'. Give it a go, you won’t regret it. The Baba Yaga tale is exceptional.

Jack Tottie:

Jack is one of our graphic designers and his book of choice is 'The Hobbit'. Do I need to say too much about this book? I’m guessing most of you are pretty clued up about it. Especially with the film trilogy ending late last year. All I can say is that if you've only watched the Hobbit, you should read it too. Tolkien’s universe is unparalleled.  Jack also has an honourable mention for 'GreenEggs and Ham' by Dr. Seuss. Did you know that Green Eggs and Ham is made up of just 50 words? It was written in a very simple way in order to aid children with their vocabulary and reading.

Jack Bonson:

Jack’s our office manager and after a while, finally settled on ‘Scar Tissue’. This is the autobiography of the lead singer for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Anthony Kiedis. The biography chronicles his life and he doesn't hold back when talking about his struggles with drug addiction.

Emma:

Emma’s decided on the Millennium Trilogy which consists of three books: ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’, ‘The Girl Who Played With Fire’ and ‘The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest’. I've checked and choosing three books isn't cheating. Emma’s also assured that she doesn't keep a hornet nest in the office. I’m sure that you've heard of these books just by the films alone. If you don’t fancy giving them a read (which you should if you fancy something a bit tense), Emma recommends the Swedish versions of the films.

Avraam:

The ever mysterious man in the office has named ‘Catcher InThe Rye’ as his favourite. I’m pretty sure that a large majority of you would remember this one if you studied Literature in school, it was always a popular choice. J. D. Salinger’s novel deals with themes of teenage angst and alienation. I guess the best way to portray it is Callum’s apt description: ‘A t***ty person doing t***ty things.’ He still loved the book though. 

Anna:

With another book which gained notoriety through a film, Anna's favourite is 'PS: I Love You'. Regardless of what you made of the film (Anna wasn't a fan, I cried at the start) it's a wonderfully charming little love story. I never could shake the image of Gerard Butler as Leonidas though. Ruined the magic for me just a touch.

Leo: 

Leo's our newest writer here at SMF and he's spent most of the day so far struggling to narrow down his choices. He's struggled so much that we've let him have three favourites. They are: 'The Rum Diary', 'Shadow of the Wind' and 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being'.
As he's got three I can't go into too much detail over each of them, but judging the time it took him to decide it's safe to assume that he's made some good choices.

Bryn: 

Finally on our list of favourite books we have Bryn's 'The Big Sleep' written by Raymond Chandler. This book has been adapted into film twice, not too shabby. It's a crime novel which was praised for it's complexities of betrayal and secrecy. If you love crime or detective stories, this one should resonate with you. 

So there's some of our favourite books here at SMF. We hope that spurs you on a bit to try out one or two of our top choices.

Now these are just our personal favourites, but we'd like to know what yours are! Get in touch and let us know.

Most importantly, go and read something today. It's good for the soul.

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Tom Welby

Tom has a degree in Creative and Professional Writing and he currently manages, edits and writes for this blog. His other interests include Arnold Schwarzenegger films and his dog. Follow him @TomAtSMF

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