Library users and staff reveal 100 books that meant most during pandemic

Libraries Connected has revealed a list of 100 novels chosen by library users and staff that meant the most to them during the pandemic.

The "100 Novels that Shaped our New World" reading list has been released for Libraries Week and includes recent titles such as Candice Carty-Williams' Queenie (Trapeze) and Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Viking) as well as constant favourites such as J R R Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. 

There are a wealth of genres with Frank Herbert's Dune sitting alongside Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day and T J Klune's The House in the Cerulean Sea (Tor) beside Sarah Winman's Still Life (4th Estate). There are also novels featuring pandemics, such as Emily St John Mandel's Station Eleven (Picador), Emma Donoghue's The Pull of the Stars (Picador) and the Women’s Prize-winning Hamnet (Tinder Press) by Maggie O'Farrell. 

Other award-winning books include this year’s Women’s Prize winner Pirenesi by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury) along with Costa winner Monique Roffey's The Mermaid of Black Conch (Harvill Secker), the previous two Booker Prize winners Douglas Stuart's Shuggie Bain (Picador) and Berardine Evaristo's Girl, Woman, Other (Penguin), and even one from this year’s shortlist, Maggie Shipstead's Great Circle (Transworld). 

Smaller publishers such as Bluemoose Books, publisher of Ronan Hession’s Leonard and Hungry Paul, also feature on the list.

This new list follows the BBC Novels that Shaped Our World campaign, funded by Arts Council England, that saw libraries around the country create a range of activities and events in response to the list of novels from BBC Arts. These events targeted a wide range of communities that included older people experiencing isolation and/or dementia, rural mining communities, refugees, the homeless and those in prison. The events explored identity, culture, history and prejudice, and libraries worked with theatre groups, authors and illustrators, dance companies, and a range of visual and digital artists during the campaign.

Isobel Hunter, chief executive of Libraries Connected, said: "At the heart of libraries is reading. The power of books to sooth and comfort, to provide respite and escape, and to generate inspiration, hope and empathy has never been more evident. I sincerely hope that this new list will inspire people to read something they have never considered before and to support the wonderful new and upcoming authors it features."

Sue Williamson, director for libraries at Arts Council England, added: "Our public libraries provide the opportunity for experimentation and exploration in reading, helping us to discover writers that are new to us, but not yet familiar, that have the power to inspire and delight. The written word can take us into new worlds and deepen our understanding—we can listen to different voices, go on journeys and, above all, relax and refresh our minds, even in difficult times. This wide-ranging and diverse list contains brilliant writers from the past and the present and introduces us to the great names of the future. There is something for everyone, free of charge, from your local public library."