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Sir David Bell, vice-chancellor, University of Reading, is reading Paul Theroux¡¯s Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads (Penguin, 2016). ¡°Theroux turns his masterly travel writer¡¯s eye to his own country. Eschewing major cities and conurbations, his journeys across the rural and small towns of states such as Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama introduce us to a colourful range of characters and traditions. But there is no sentimentality here. This is America in the raw. Poor, racially segregated, isolated ¨C ¡®the past persisting¡¯, in Theroux¡¯s captivating phrase.¡±

Lynsey Hopkins, head of admissions, University of Sheffield, is reading Tracy Farr¡¯s The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt (Aardvark Bureau, 2016). ¡°When I picked up a novel about an octogenarian, heroin-addicted theremin virtuoso, I feared that it might try too hard to be unusual and surprising. Although it¡¯s both of those things, at heart it¡¯s a moving exploration of the universal themes of love, loss, grief, belonging and loneliness, told in an economical prose all the more effective for being understated.¡±

Aminul Hoque, lecturer in education, Goldsmiths, University of London, is reading Robert Leiken¡¯s Europe¡¯s Angry Muslims: The Revolt of the Second Generation (Oxford University Press, 2012, 2016). ¡°Just reread this very important book. With all the chaos going on around us, Leiken¡¯s in-depth analysis describes why some European Muslims are ¡®angry¡¯ and disaffected. Leiken speaks of the ¡®post migrant marginal man¡¯ who ¡®finds himself suspended between two cultures, neither of which offers him secure footing¡¯. A very insightful book that needs to be read by all.¡±

Janet Sayers, emeritus professor of psychoanalytic psychology, University of Kent, is reading Gill Gregory¡¯s The Studio: A Psychoanalytic Legacy (Free Association Books, 2015). ¡°Accompanied by illuminating quotes from volumes of Freud bequeathed by her father, and beautiful reproductions of works of art bequeathed to the Tate by her uncle, Gregory¡¯s account details the impact on her and her family of her older brother¡¯s childhood epilepsy and early death. The result is one of the most moving books I have come across in a long time.¡±

Sharon Wheeler, visiting lecturer in journalism, Birmingham City University, is reading Ragnar Jonasson¡¯s Nightblind (Orenda, 2016). ¡°I¡¯ve always fancied living in Iceland ¨C particularly once I discovered that the Christmas Eve tradition is to disappear to bed early with a new book and chocolate! Jonasson, who has translated Agatha Christie into Icelandic, unwraps intense and classy Nordic noir set in the back of beyond with an unforgettable cast. It¡¯s traditional, yet also thoroughly modern, crime fiction at its best.¡±