This week The Guardian published a list of the 100 Best Novels. They polled the great and the good of the world of literature, publishing, and authorship and asked a whole cavalcade of people to give their top 10’s.

I was not surveyed. More’s the pity. So I thought I would put together my own top 10 list, all the same.

A collection that explores the fundamental nature of philosophical inquiry, tracing how we define the boundaries of thought, language, and the self. This list offers a comprehensive framework for understanding how we construct meaning and reconcile our personal experience with the scientific and cultural images of the world.

A selection that explores the foundational and contemporary intersections of human existence and technical intervention. From ancient warnings regarding the externalisation of memory to modern critiques of surveillance capitalism and biotechnological ethics, these texts examine how tools shape our cognition, social structures, and moral landscapes.

A reading list tracing the path from established Critical Pedagogy to the emerging Post-Critical movement. Post-critical thought offers a subtle pivot, moving away from constant "debunking" toward a "pedagogical love" for the world. Together, these works challenge the "learnification" of schooling, arguing instead for education as a space of intellectual emancipation, ethical flourishing, and a radical defense of the school as a public good.

"Eat at a local restaurant tonight. Get the cream sauce. Have a cold pint at 4 o’clock in a mostly empty bar. Go somewhere you’ve never been. Listen to someone you think may have nothing in common with you. Order the steak rare. Eat an oyster. Have a negroni. Have two. Be open to a world where you may not understand or agree with the person next to you, but have a drink with them anyways. Eat slowly. Tip your server. Check in on your friends. Check in on yourself. Enjoy the ride."

- Anthony Bourdain

Over the last few days, I’ve been making my way, slowly and intermittently, through Rick Rubin’s incredible book “The Creative Act”. A gorgeous, well-crafted, and thoughtful object in and of itself and a collection of short essays, even sometimes just a few paragraphs in length, all exploring the nature of creativity, the life of the creative person, and the act of creation itself. It’s been a deep pleasure to drop in on the book at different times and in different places and meander through these delicate, reflective passages. 

This year, much of my reading has been led by a desire for comfort, reassurance, and escape as, I suspect, is the case for many avid readers. I have been revisiting favourite authors such as Ursula Le Guin, John Scalzi, and Stanislaw Lem, as well as particular books like The Lord of the Rings, The Tao Te Ching, and The Odyssey. Much of this is well-trodden territory for me and the familiarity offers consolation as well as the usual pleasures of reading. Alongside these favourites, there have been many books new to me, or newly released from authors I already know well, that have particularly struck a chord over the last 12 months.

A few years ago I started logging my reading on www.goodreads.com so that I could look back over what I had read, but also so that I could try and keep some sort of handle on my book buying. All too often I was coming back with a new purchase only to find I’d already bought the book weeks, months or years ago – I’m willing to admit that this aspect of things has only been a partial success.