Michaelmas term has officially come to a close and things have certainly slowed down at the EFL. One thing which does remain busy, however, is our processing table – we’ve had some very exciting new titles make their way into the library recently! So, if you’ve made plans to cosy up with a book over the next few weeks, or, are hoping to hit your 2024 reading goal but are unsure on what to finish the year off with, then maybe this curated list of some of our hottest Michaelmas acquisitions will give you some ideas.

For future reference, if you ever want to keep an eye on what’s making its way into the library but can’t quite make it in, then check out LibraryThing to stay in the loop. We also have our New Books Display (frequently updated by yours truly) which is where most of our recent additions end up. Anyway, let’s get onto the books.

Fiction

Look at all of these beautiful covers! Here’s a little about each one:

• James / Percival Everett – A reimagining of Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, told from the perspective of Huck’s companion, Jim. Shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, Everett’s novel contemplates identity, belonging, and oppression.
• The Hotel / Daisy Johnson – A collection of short horror stories set in a hotel on the Fens. Built upon cursed ground, the hotel becomes that liminal space where things are not quite as they seem…
• The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho / Paterson Joseph – An historical fiction novel based upon the real life of Charles Ignatius Sancho. Understood to be one of Britain’s first Black voters, Sancho was a writer, composer, and abolitionist in the 18th century.
• The Safe Keep / Yael van der Wouden – Another 2024 Booker Prize shortlist title, The Safe Keep follows Isabel’s comfortable and structured life in post-WWII Netherlands. However, Isabel’s routine is suddenly overturned by the arrival of her brother’s girlfriend Eva: the catalyst for the ensuing tale of desire, fury, and discovery.
• The Mighty Red / Louise Erdrich – Set in a small farming community in North Dakota, environmental concerns are the bedrock of Erdrich’s novel. The central plot  revolves around those embroiled in an ill-fated wedding, all dealing with the difficulties of rural life amidst the 2008 financial crisis.
• Long Island / Colm Tóibín – This novel is a follow-up to Tóibín’s bestseller Brooklyn in which Eilis Lacey immigrates from Ireland to New York City in the 1950s. Having now been married for twenty years, Eilis suddenly meets a stranger who throws her whole existence into question.

Poetry

We’ve had some absolutely stunning poetry titles arrive at the EFL this term – here’s just a snapshot:

• Mother of Flip-Flops / Mukahang Limbu – An upcoming Oxford-based poet (and alumnus!) who writes about queerness, boyhood and the immigrant experience amongst other topics. This is his debut publication.
• With My Back to the World / Victoria Chang – This poetry collection is a literary conversation with American artist Agnes Martin. Using her abstract artwork as the stimulus for her own meditations on grief, identity, feminism and depression, Chang’s poetry is deeply affecting.
• Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology / edited by Rigoberto González – a wonderful collection of over 180 poets from the 17th century to present day. Those poems written in Spanish are displayed in their original language alongside an English translation.
• Manorism / Yomi Ṣode – An analysis of the lives of Black British men and boys, this debut collection traverses through topics of identity, family, generational trauma, and masculinity.
• The Keelie Hawk: Poems in Scots / Kathleen Jamie – The previous Scottish Makar (national poet), Jamie’s collection reflects on various aspects of nature and the human experience. Each poem is also accompanied with an English translation.
• Signs, Music / Raymond Antrobus – A tender exploration into preparing for and experiencing fatherhood for the first time. Antrobus writes about love, legacy, the deaf experience and masculinity in this moving collection.

Non-fiction

If non-fiction titles are more your style, then perhaps one of these will take your fancy:

• The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective / Sara Lodge – This text uncovers the forgotten lives of the real female detectives at work in Victorian Britain. It also examines their role and portrayal in Victorian drama and fiction and how this compares to their lived experiences.
• Salvage: Readings from the Wreck / Dionne Brand – This text is the first non-fiction title from Brand since her brilliant A Map to the Door of No Return (also at the EFL!). In Salvage, Brand returns to the classic novel to explore traces of colonialism and the legacies of empire more widely in literature between the 17th and 19th centuries.
• The Position of Spoons: and Other Intimacies / Deborah Levy – This book is an intimate invitation to the thoughts and inspirations behind Levy’s writing process.
• Young Bloomsbury: The Transgressive Generation that Reimagined Love, Freedom and Self-Expression / Nino Strachey – A detailed look into the colourful lives of those in the Bloomsbury Group, written by a descendent of core member Lytton Strachey.
• The Dictionary People: The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary / Sarah Ogilvie – This one’s for the word-lovers! Ogilvie’s book tells the story of the hugely diverse group of people who contributed to the creation of one of the world’s most famous texts.
• Hardy Women: Mother, Sisters, Wives, Muses / Paula Byrne – Byrne’s book is both an examination of the fictional women that Hardy wrote and an exploration into the real women that shaped his life, imagination, and his work.

This concludes our new books post for Michaelmas 2024; I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about some of the wonderful titles we’ve acquired over the last few months! As mentioned, this is just a few of the many we have added to our shelves here at the EFL, so do have a look at LibraryThing for the complete list of our new books if you’d like to.

Wishing you a restful winter vacation – happy reading!