The Decades Library is growing beyond anything I could have imagined. I started this project back in January when it was dark outside and the rain was lashing against my windows. Now here we are in August, it is still dark outside and the rain is still lashing against my windows (I live in Scotland) but every week since February a new guest curator has joined me to add new books to my Library.

The five books which follow will bring the number of Decades book recommendations made by authors, bloggers, publishers and journalists to 130 – there have been fewer than five titles nominated by more than one person. As readers we are blessed for choice.

What is the Decades Library? My guests are all given the same challenge.  Nominate five books to my Decades Library which they consider to be essential reading. But they can only pick one book per decade over five consecutive decades. Easy?  Have a go and see if you can pick five of your favourite books from a fifty year publication span.

A further reminder that the Library is now also a Decades Bookshop over at Bookshop.org.  You can buy any of the nominated titles through this link (which is an affiliate site): https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/grab-this-book-the-decades-library

This week’s guest needs no introduction (which is lucky as I forgot to ask her to write one).  If I say Orenda Books you will surely know the force of nature that is Karen Sullivan.

Karen founded Orenda Books in 2014 and the first books were published in 2015.  In 2016, Karen was a Bookseller Rising Star, and Orenda Books was shortlisted for the IPG Nick Robinson Newcomer Award in 2015 and 2016. Orenda won the CWA Crime & Mystery Publisher of the Year Dagger in 2020 and were a regional finalist for the Small Press of the Year Award in the British Book Awards in 2021.

DECADES

Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery (1908)

The ultimate coming-of-age novel, classic children’s literature that appeals to readers of all ages. Anne Shirley is an unforgettable character – tragic, unwittingly feminist, eternally optimistic, accident-prone, proud, intelligent, funny – and the snapshot of (my native) rural Canada at the turn of the century is immensely evocative. My own personal manta is drawn from this book: ‘Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?’

The Rainbow, D H Lawerence (1915)

D H Lawrence won my teenaged heart while I was at university, appearing to encapsulate what I perceived to be the human condition and all its existential angst in every book. This is a book about love in many forms, about relationships, about desire, and the fact that it was banned when it was published indicates its forward thinking. It also gives us an invaluable insight into life in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton (1920)

My high-school English teacher described this book as ‘ravishing’, and the story and its themes have stayed in my mind ever since. It’s about desire and deception, about rebelling against society and the decimation of innocence – a metaphor for the growing disillusionment about the  ‘American Dream’. Its sophistication is breathtaking.

Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932)

Another children’s book, and one that lays bare the struggles of American settlers, with bold, inspirational themes of survival, the importance of family, and the power of hope. It’s a classic for good reason, and although there are often shocking and dated attitudes towards Native Americans, it does serve a purpose in enlightening us to cultural beliefs and mores at that time, fed largely by ignorance and fear, and is upon reflection a lot more positive than it might seem. Few can fail to be inspired by this book.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith (1943)

A beautifully written coming-of-age story about a young immigrant girl in early 20^th-century Brooklyn, it embodies the bright, often blind hope of the American Dream, and highlights a period of vast social change. Its inspirational messages – that anything is possible if you persevere, believe – provided comfort to and renewed determination for the American people during the war.

It’s been an absolute delight to have Karen take part in my Decades challenge. When I was struggling to get Grab This Book established Karen was hugely supportive and entrusted me with early review copies of the first Orenda books which were making their way into the world. Watching Orenda Books grow has been a joy and Karen’s support and encouragement still keeps me going.

DECADES WILL RETURN