Left to Right: Lucy Cotter, Lauren Hallam, Ellen Baker, Richard Pedley, Paul Bisson, Marnie Baudains, Alanna Rice, Chris Bright, Pippa Le Quesne. Absent is Lucy Layton.
Photography: Danny Evans
This September marks the tenth anniversary of the Jersey Festival of Words – a week-long celebration that brings together readers, writers, poets, and screenwriters in a shared love of language. Whether you’re a dedicated bookworm or simply curious about the creative energy coming from our own island, this milestone festival offers a chance to explore the stories that shape us.
To mark the occasion, we asked the Festival team to share ten personal book recommendations. From literary fiction to crime, childhood favourites and romance, these selections reflect the wide-ranging tastes of the people behind the festival. Whether you’re seeking your next page-turner, a timeless classic, or just want to know who’s tackled the thickest book, turn the page for a curated guide to quality reading from a quality team.
Jersey Festival of Words, 19-28 September 2025, jerseyfestivalofwords.org
Lucy Cotter
Favourite Genre: Historical Fiction
Favourite Book: Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Mogarian.
Why would you recommend it? This book is so evocative of my childhood. I first read it with my mum and now I’m reading it with my children. Based during the Second World War, it’s all about a little boy who is evacuated from extreme poverty in London to the countryside. He’s placed with an elderly gentleman who initially hates the idea of looking after a child but over the course of the book, they both flourish. It’s such a lovely story highlighting how unbelievably difficult life was during WW2, portraying how much was lost whilst illustrating the value of intergenerational links.
Longest Book Ever Read: A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (614 pages) – this one felt the longest. It’s brilliant but extremely traumatic. I felt like I was reading it forever, sobbing most of the way through it.
Chris Bright
Favourite Genre: A bit of everything.
Favourite Book: A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell
Why would you recommend it? A brilliant depiction of the subtle horrors of the old British class system, demonstrated by the lives of a vast cast of memorable characters.
Longest Book Ever Read: The aforementioned Anthony Powell masterpiece (3200 pages, 12 volumes).
Ellen Baker
Favourite Genre: Any Fiction
Favourite Book: Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
Why would you recommend it? It’s better reviewed by the Daily Telegraph: “Only this writer, in this time, could have made such a mesmerising pattern from mess and colour. Deeply funny, sometimes shocking, and admirably open-hearted and optimistic”. I’d recommend it to any and every woman.
Longest Book Ever Read: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (656 pages).
Richard Pedley
Favourite Genre: At the moment, crime.
Favourite Book: Faber Book of Reportage by John Carey
Why would you recommend it? It collects eye-witness accounts of major world events – such as Pompeii, Roman troops landing in Britain, the sinking of the Titanic, the bombing of Guernica and the fall of President Marcos – collating hundreds of snapshots from those who were there.
Longest Book Ever Read: A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth (1504 pages).
Lucy Layton
Favourite Genre: Literary Fiction
Favourite Book: To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Why would you recommend it? It’s a groundbreaking work of modernist literature in which Woolf uses shifting perspectives to explore the inner lives of the Ramsay family and guests in their summer cottage before the First World War. Immerse yourself in the lyrical, poetic language and don’t worry about understanding it all! I’d recommend it to lovers of good writing rather than plot driven narratives.
Longest Book Ever Read: Middlemarch by George Eliot (896 pages).
Paul Bisson
Favourite Genre: Anything goes.
Favourite Book: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Why would you recommend it? I’d recommend it to 14-16 year olds, and the rest. As an English teacher I’m familiar with this book on a genetic level, though that doesn’t stop me from loving everything about Steinbeck’s classic; it’s simplicity, emotional impact (that ending, still) and the universality of its themes. Most days this question would have me pointing at Lemuel Gulliver but today I’m looking at you, Lennie Small. And yes, of course you can tend the rabbits. In a bit.
Longest Book Ever Read: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (1079 pages).
Pippa Le Quesne
Favourite Genre: Any Fiction
Favourite Book: Watership Down by Richard Adams
Why would you recommend it? Watership Down is essentially about ‘home’ and ‘belonging’, yet it is also a classic epic quest tale with an unlikely hero at its heart – Hazel. Running through the book are themes of bravery, friendship, good versus evil and perseverance. I read it twice when I was eleven and several times since, and although Richard Adams claimed it was just a ‘story about rabbits’ created for his daughters, at every age it has resonated deeply with me and remained my longstanding favourite book. I’d recommend it to anyone over the age of ten.
Longest Book Ever Read: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagiraha (832 pages).
Marnie Baudains
Favourite Genre: Literary Fiction – in particular novels set in other times or cultures.
Favourite Book: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Why would you recommend it? It’s a beautifully written, slim, Irish novel, where not a word is wasted. Characters live on the page and stay with you afterwards. It describes hard and cruel times but leaves you with a strong sense of human decency. I’d recommend it to everyone.
Longest Book Ever Read: A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth (1504 pages).
Alanna Rice
Favourite Genre: Either short story collections, poetry anthologies or – secretly – romance.
Favourite Book: The Penguin by Dorothy Parker
Why would you recommend it? The Dorothy Parker collection is great to dip into if you feel like you need a dose of acerbic and honest wit and observation. If you want to meet Dorothy in her pain or share in her disappointment, then this is a good book for you. I’d recommend it to anyone who is happy to laugh, gasp or sniff back a tear whilst reading a book.
Longest Book Ever Read: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (720 pages).
Lauren Hallam
Favourite Genre: Literary Fiction… but I do love a crime novel.
Favourite Book: A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
Why would you recommend it? A Suitable Boy manages to be a family drama, a romance, political history and philosophy all at once. Lata’s story ties it all together as her mother tries to marry her off in newly independent India. You can read it in so many ways, and the first time I finished it I was bereft – I felt like I was leaving a whole world behind. Longest Book Ever Read:A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth (1504 pages).
