Rowan Smith’s Desert Island Books
Name: Rowan Smith
Job role: e-Resources Librarian
About: I manage access to all the online resources that the library provides. I love reading, alongside far too many other hobbies that all compete for my terrible attention span.
Book 1: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The classic gothic tale of a slightly deranged med student’s ambition to defeat death through his ill-advised experiment. Through the tragedy of the creature’s life and his relationship with Frankenstein, it’s a story of hubris, motherhood, rejection, queerness, mortality, all of the above. This is my absolute favourite book that I’m happy to read again any day of the week.
Book 2: Trumpet by Jackie Kay
Trumpet tells the life story of Joss Moody through the recollections of his friends and family after his death. It’s inspired by the real story of Billy Tipton, a jazz musician who was outed posthumously as a transgender man. I first read this a decade ago, and it’s stuck with me ever since, so a stint on a desert island seems like the perfect time for a re-read! Jackie Kay’s prose is as lyrical and rhythmic as her poetry, so Trumpet is both a delight to read and ideal for when you want to have a bit of a cry.
Book 3: The Martian by Andy Weir
Mark Watney is part of a NASA’s third mission on Mars when an accident results in him being left behind by the rest of the crew, stranded and believed to be dead by his crewmates. With every obstacle he comes up against, he has to improvise and problem solve to survive. This is a comfort book for me that I’ve re-read loads of times. Watney is such a likeable character and you’re really rooting for him. It’s a book about the perseverance of the human spirit, the robustness of potatoes, and disco.
Book 4: The Collected Poems and Drawings of Stevie Smith
Stevie Smith’s poems are deceptively light-hearted, which is often covering up a more tragic meaning (she had a bit of a preoccupation with death, who doesn’t?). She’s probably best known for ‘Not Waving but Drowning’, and some personal favourites are ‘Now Pine-Needles’ and ‘My Cats (a Witch speaks)’. I have a big collection of her poems and drawings that I’ve dipped into but never committed to reading fully, ideal for that desert island life.
Book 5: The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice
I’ve really been enjoying the Interview With The Vampire TV series and would really like to read the book series it’s adapted from. The series begins with Louis de Pointe du Lac telling his 200 year life story to a reporter, including his turbulent relationship with Lestat du Lioncourt. In Anne Rice’s world, everyone is a bit evil, a bit bisexual, and more than a bit chaotic.
Book 6: Villager by Tom Cox
A 1960s musician wanders through a small village and writes what becomes an obscure folk record that earns him a cult following. The story follows a series of interconnected, inter-generational snippets, all woven into the slightly wild and very much alive landscape of the surrounding moors. It’s a psychedelic, whimsical book with a bizarre cast of characters that I’d happily read again and again.
Luxury item
Just the biggest box of teabags available.