Warmer winds have blown into Oxford and closed the door on Hilary Term 2025. The past few months have absolutely flown by and, during that time, the EFL has added plenty of wonderful new books to its shelves. This term we’ve received mostly non-fiction texts and literary criticism, but we’ve also acquired lots of wonderful novels, poetry, DVDs, and even a screenplay! This blog will highlight a few of our most exciting new books and tell you a little about each one.

As always, if you would like to keep an eye on what’s making its way into the library, then check out LibraryThing to stay in the loop. We do also have our New Books Display which is where the majority of our recent additions get displayed. Anyway, let’s get into it…

Non-fiction / Literary Criticism

• Books, Readers, and Libraries in Fiction / edited by Karen Attar & Andrew Nash – A chronological timeline of the depiction of books, readers, and libraries in fiction from the medieval period to present day. This title includes contributions from our very own English Faculty!
• Shakespeare’s Borrowed Feathers: How Early Modern Playwrights Shaped the World’s Greatest Writer / Darren Freebury-Jones – This text is a deep dive into the community of early modern playwrights who inspired, and worked alongside, William Shakespeare. Some of those discussed include Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Kyd, and John Fletcher.
• The Four Shakespeare Folios, 1623-2023: Copy, Print, Paper, Type / edited by Samuel V. Lemley – An inspection into Shakespeare’s other folios of 1632, 1663/64, and 1685; it details how these contribute towards to the bibliography of Shakespeare’s plays in a much more meaningful and nuanced way than previously thought.
• Women and Madness in the Early Romantic Novel: Injured Minds, Ruined Lives / Deborah Weiss – An important examination of women’s mental health in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries through the novels of Mary Wollstonecraft, Eliza Fenwick, Mary Hays, Maria Edgeworth, and Amelia Opie.
• Who’s Afraid of Gender? / Judith Butler – A philosopher at the forefront of gender studies, Butler’s new book questions how and why gender has become the subject of global political disputes. They also consider hopeful visions for the future and in which direction the discussion must turn.
• Realist Ecstasy: Religion, Race, and Performance in American Literature / Lindsay V. Reckson – With a focus on late nineteenth and early twentieth century American realism, Reckson explores its intersections with spirituality and racial embodiment.

Poetry

• A “Working Life” / Eileen Myles – A beautiful collection of poems on finding beauty in the everyday, the wonders of the natural world, musings on love and relationships, and so much more from the well-loved poet and writer Eileen Myles.
• The Oasis / Charles Lang – From Glaswegian poet Charles Lang comes a wonderful debut collection on urbanity, class, identity, and masculinity.
• Modern Poetry / Diane Seuss – In this collection, Seuss looks back into her youth and toys with literary movements of the past to question what poetry truly is.
• That Broke into Shining Crystals / Richard Scott – Through three sets of poems, Scott breaks down past traumas and the legacies they have left behind.
• Father’s Father’s Father, Dane Holt – Another debut collection recommended by the Poetry Book Society, Holt’s text considers histories of masculinity from various perspectives.
• The Shield of Achilles / W. H. Auden – Originally published in 1952 and winning the National Book Award in 1956, this edition is the first reprint in decades; it is one of Auden’s most important and celebrated collections.

Fiction

• Small Worlds / Caleb Azumah Nelson – Following on from his hugely successful debut novel Open Water, Nelson’s most recent offering follows the life of Stephen as he rests on the cusp of adulthood. Set over the course of three summers, Nelson’s novel addresses Black mascunilities, the importance of music and dance, and the uncertainty of the future.
• Beautiful World, Where are You / Sally Rooney – Whilst not newly published, nor her most recent novel, Beautiful World, Where are You is new to the EFL. It follows best friends Alice and Eileen who share details of their lives with one another through emails; themes include: love, friendship, social class, and existentialism.
• Hungry Ghosts / Kevin Jared Hosein – Winner of the 2024 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, this novel is set in 1940s colonial central Trinidad with themes of religion, class, violence, and family.

DVD Box Sets

We have additionally received multiple box sets of some of the most popular television series. Some of these include:

• Succession
• Game of Thrones
• Girls
• True Blood
• Euphoria
• Breaking Bad

That’s about all from us here at the EFL, we hope you enjoy some of these exciting new acquisitions! We also wish everyone a restful and peaceful vacation – it’s well-deserved!