Staff Picks is a regular feature where our Library & Collections staff recommend must-read books and must-watch films from our collection, chosen to captivate your curiosity and spark your imagination.
Selected by Sheneez Sylvia Wynter, O. J., a celebrated and notable alumni of King's College London, is a Jamaican writer whose many essays invite us to rethink and challenge the ways in which we see the world.
This book, editted by Canadian Professor Katherine McKittrick, is one of only two editted volumes on Wynter's work, and it sees prestigious decolonial scholars from around the world celebrate, comment upon and dialogue with Wynter's ground-breaking ideas. It opens with an epic and extensive chapter co-written by Wynter and McKittrick, that should not be missed by anyone interested in decolonial thought and/or Caribbean philosophy!
Selected by Red
Wouldn't exactly say it was a pleasurable read but it was definitely an enthralling one. This book is a memoir mostly centred around the author's experience of abuse in a queer relationship. Would describe as raw, heavy, and frightening, but really beautiful writing with an interesting structure, in the way of chapters varying from being just one sentence to written in the style of a 'Choose your own adventure', and so many lines I had to write down to hold onto.
Selected by Louise
A modern re-telling of David Copperfield, exploring the devasting effects of poverty and the opiod crisis in 1990s/early 2000s rural America. Not an easy read in terms of its subject, but an important one.
Selected by Jack
Landlords jack up rents, ruin neighbourhoods, destroy cities and are a big part of why I can’t go watch a play in London anymore because they’re all either rubbish or £50. Read if you are interested in New York, the AIDS crisis, theatre, being gay, making art, or you have a sort of general sense of malaise and unease and you don’t know why. SPOILER: It’s probably capitalism.
Selected by Charlie W
Women's wrestling isn't new, but that is rarely acknowledged or understood by wrestling fans today. The fight to be respected, to be included, to break down the systemic barriers that exist - well, it's better, but it's still ongoing. This biography does a great job in surfacing the history of women's wrestling, the changemakers and the trail blazers.
There are career profiles of over 100 women wrestlers from throughout history, ranging from Minerva to Manami Toyota to Mae Young to Sasha Banks (or, should I say, Mercedes Moné? CEO! CEO!) There's also good international coverage (although it is US focused). Whether you like wrestling or this is all Brand New Information I'd highly recommend this informative, and easy going read.
Selected by Arved
The amount of underlining I have done puts this firmly in the favourite books of all time category. Yalom is one of our most gifted living authors, with an unmatched penetrating kindness. One for all those that tend to often be proven right in hindsight and thus find it hard to let go off projects.
We have been working with lecturers over the summer of 2020 to switch to eresources for your modules and make them accessible directly through your MyReadingLists:
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Find out how to look up your module reading lists in the Getting Started With the Library - Undergraduates and Taught Postgraduates section of this guide - look for the navigation button in the top left corner!
These online book collections won't be searched by Library Search but contain thousands of titles on a huge variety of subjects. Check each book collection's description for details of borrowing procedures and limitations.
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If a title in your reading list is supplied as a Kortext e-textbook (please ask your module leader for confirmation), the resources page linked below is designed to help you get the most from this versatile format.
The page features guidance on highlighting text, searching text, making notes, sharing notes, exporting references, together with information on how to use the mobile apps reader: