POLITICS

AUTHOR: James Dowen

JUST WILLIAM: Five Reads for 2022

Hello one and all! I’d like to start this week by thanking everyone for the success that the 2022 Challenge was, especially those who gave their time and expertise to come up with a really varied set of selections that you can see by clicking here

A big hand to Joe Citrone and David Stewart for their help as well, and for everyone who’s read it. We are well into January – today’s the 13th, and we’ve already had enough news for several lifetimes – but allow me to indulge you in some long-term thinking for the year ahead.

One of my new year’s resolutions is to read more – considering the wonders that literature has to offer us, I have fallen well behind when it comes to getting stuck into a good book. My strategy for this is to mix up the old and the new, so without further ado, here are five of the reads I’m going to get stuck into over the next year.


I Heart Politics: Why Fandom Explains What’s Really Going On (Atlantic)
Phoenix Andrews, expected September

Any regular reader of this column will know that internet culture and political posting play a huge role here, and nobody is better placed to explain this than Phoenix Andrews, who has followed the increasing development of political fandom at home and abroad over the past few years in print, online and over the airwaves.

Their book, coming out in September – and who knows what will have happened by then – promises to be one of the wildest reads of the year and is an absolute must for people who want a better understanding of just how politics and culture works.

https://atlantic-books.co.uk/2021/01/27/atlantic-books-acquires-dazzlingly-original-guide-to-fandom-in-politics/


Losing It: Sex Education for the 21st Century (HarperCollins)
Sophia Smith Galer, expected April

Sophia Smith Galer has provided valuable insight and education on many issues – and if you aren’t familiar with her work, she’s worth following – and this promises to be an eye opening read into many issues that sex education classes don’t tackle properly. If her previous work is anything to go by.

https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/losing-it-sex-education-for-the-21st-century-sophia-smith-galer?variant=39528304574542


Why is This Lying Bastard Lying to Me? (HarperCollins)
Rob Burley, expected February

It’s fair to say that the last few years have been hugely significant for political television, and Rob Burley – formerly the BBC’s Westminster Editor, and editor of the Andrew Marr show – will have plenty to share from his 30-year career at the BBC. For political obsessives like me this is a must read to devour in a day or so, but those who aren’t as involved in the political bubble could find this just as enthralling.

*NOTE: Rob has got in touch to say that this is expected in February 2023, not this year, but the book promises to be so good that it stays!


The BBC: A People’s History (Profile)
David Hendy, Out 27th January

The future of the BBC is something that is constantly debated – indeed just this week Peter Bone had a hilarious and pathetic attempt to cover for the Prime Minister with his bill to turn Auntie into a subscription service – but it has an incredible past, which has been explored in depth by Media historian David Hendy in a title which is set to come out just before the end of the month. You might say that the timing is almost too perfect….

https://profilebooks.com/work/the-bbc/


That Green Eyed Girl (Penguin Books)
Julie Owen Moylan, Out 12th May

I am a non-fiction lover, but it would be joyless to have an entire list without one top non-fiction title and I have been eagerly awaiting the release of That Green Eyed Girl, a novel which promises to be absolutely gripping of the early reviews are anything to go by.

Set in the Lower East Side of New York over two different decades, this title looks to have all the ingredients needed for a thrilling and emotional summer read.

https://www.julieowenmoylan.com/new-page


Those five books should all be brilliant, but I’m sure there are plenty of suggestions out there for books that are already published – so I asked you for your suggestions, and you did not disappoint!

https://twitter.com/ChinaStream/status/1482023500948905985?s=20

https://twitter.com/jasmine_bh1/status/1482016859113369602?s=21

https://twitter.com/hydercalum/status/1482027632707477506?s=21

Best,

William


Views of authors do not necessarily represent views of Star Sports Bookmakers.


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