Our time lapse footage captures two days in May into two minutes, showing how St. James's Square was transformed to become the venue for Words In The Square

Building Words in the Square from The London Library on Vimeo.

DESERT ISLAND BOOKS

As part of Words In The Square 175th anniversary celebrations we were joined by Ned Beauman, Philippa Gregory, Deborah Levy, John O' Farrell, Nikesh Shukla and Sara Wheeler in a hugely entertaining "Desert Island Books" session chaired by Tom Sutcliffe.

During a fascinating hour the panel was asked to nominate books in different categories that they would take with them as castaways on a desert island. An audience vote then picked the final winners. 

The winners 

Favourite Childhood Read: “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson-Burnett

The Book That Most Influenced Me: “A Room of One’s Own” – Virginia Woolf

Guilty Pleasure (the books they secretly rather enjoy): “These Old Shades” by Georgette Heyer

Former Favourites (which they now disown): “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell; “1984” by George Orwell

Recommended Recent Reads

Each member of the panel also selected their recent book recommendations:

“Family Life” by Akhil Sharma (chosen by Nikesh Shukla)

“Preparation for the Next Life” by Atticus Lish (chosen by Ned Beauman)

“Simple Gifts” by Joanne Greenberg (chosen by Philippa Gregory)

“Beautiful Ruins” by Jess Walter (chosen by John O’Farrell)

“The Lure of The North” by The London Library/Pushkin Press (chosen by Sara Wheeler)

“Outline by Rachel Cusk (chosen by Deborah Levy)

 What each member of the panel chose:

Ned Beauman

Favourite Childhood Read: “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson

The Books That Most Influenced Me: “Permutation City” by Greg Egan

Guilty Pleasure – the books they secretly rather enjoy: “Blood House” by David Gatward (or p310-316 of any serial killer novel)

Former favourites which they now disown: “The Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway

Recommended recent books:  “Preparation for the Next Life” by Atticus Lish

Philippa Gregory

Favourite Childhood Reads: “Stalky & Co” by Rudyard Kipling

The Books That Most Influenced Me: “A Room of One’s Own” – Virginia Woolf

Guilty Pleasure – the books they secretly rather enjoy: “These Old Shades” by Georgette Heyer

Former favourites which they now disown: “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell

Recommended recent books: “Simple Gifts” by Joanne Greenberg

Deborah Levy

Favourite Childhood Reads: “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson-Burnett

The Books That Most Influenced Me:  “The Lover” by Marguerite Duras

Guilty Pleasure – the books they secretly rather enjoy: “Chéri” or any novel by Colette

Former favourites which they now disown: “Women In Love” by DH Lawrence

Recommended recent books: “Outline” by Rachel Cusk

John O'Farrell

Favourite Childhood Reads: “Down with Skool” by Geoffrey Willans

The Books That Most Influenced Me: “Three Men in a Boat” by Jerome K Jerome

Guilty Pleasure – the books they secretly rather enjoy: “Frank Skinner” by Frank Skinner

Former favourites which they now disown: “1984” by George Orwell

Recommended recent books: “Beautiful Ruins” by Jess Walter

Nikesh Shukla

Favourite Childhood Reads: Spiderman Comics

The Books That Most Influenced Me: “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” By Junot Diaz

Guilty Pleasure – the books they secretly rather enjoy: “Modern Romance” by Aziz Ansari, Eric Klinenberg

Former favourites which they now disown:  “The scam poetry anthology where as a 13 year old Nikesh Shukla had his first poem published alongside 1000 others who had also paid £45 per entry”

Recommended recent books: “Family Life” by Akhil Sharma

Sara Wheeler

Favourite Childhood Reads: “Spring & Fall” from Poems, by Gerard Manley Hopkins

The Books That Most Influenced Me: “The Worst Journey in the World” by Apsley Cherry-Garrard

Guilty Pleasure – the books they secretly rather enjoy: Any novel by Françoise Sagan

Former favourites which they now disown: “Seven Pillars of Wisdom” by TE Lawrence

Recommended recent books: “The Lure of The North” edited by The London Library/Pushkin Press

Found On The Shelves at The London Library

As part of the 175th anniversary celebrations, Pushkin Press is joining forces with The London Library to produce a series of beautifully-designed books containing material from the Library’s collection not seen for decades or longer.

The first six ‘Found on the Shelves’ titles appear in May as The London Library holds its ‘Words In The Square’ literary celebration. A second set of six titles will be published in November.

Each book in the series is 96-128 pages long and priced at just £4.99. They contain writing found in The London Library’s million-plus volumes and authors represented in the first six books include Lewis Carroll, Jerome K Jerome, George Eliot, EM Forster and Virginia Woolf.

From essays on dieting in the 1860s to instructions for gentlewomen on trout-fishing, from advice on the ill-health caused by the "modern" craze of bicycling to travelogues from Norway, they are as readable and relevant today as they were more than a century ago.

The books are edited by The London Library’s Librarian Inez Lynn and Head of Bibliographic Services Dunia Garcìa-Ontiveros as well as by Pushkin Press’s Julia Nicholson. Jacket designs have been produced by acclaimed designer David Pearson.

 The, six titles published in the ‘Found on the Shelves’ titles are:

• Cycling: The Craze of the Hour
• The Lure of the North
• On Corpulence: Feeding the Body and Feeding the Mind
• Life in a Bustle: Advice to Youth
• The Gentlewoman’s Book of Sports
• On Reading, Writing and Living with Books