“Sometimes, immersed in his books, there would come to him the awareness of all that he did not know, of all that he had not read; and the serenity for which he labored was shattered as he realized the little time he had in life to read so much, to learn what he had to know.”
– Stoner, John Williams
Brainy Brit Lucy Boynton charmed Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, terrorized her classmates in The Politician, and is set to top the charts as Marianne Faithfull in the iconic singer’s upcoming biopic.
But more importantly, for our purposes, she’s a giant book nerd. So do what she tells you and get on these.
STONER
by John Williams
The best gift I have given my father, apparently. With this book Williams was delving into what it means to be a teacher, in every sense of the word. I’m not sure where to begin in describing the impact of Stoner so I defer to The New York Times which described, “to read the book today is to recognize how shallow our conception of the heroic has become.”
FRANKENSTEIN
by Mary Shelley
A beautifully woven lesson on humanity and the feeling of otherness.
Side note: as most schools’ curriculums are predominantly male-centric, I strongly encourage all men to read more female authors.
I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS
by Maya Angelou
The first of seven installments of this prolific author’s autobiography, James Baldwin articulates it best: “I know that not since the days of my childhood, when people in books were more real than the people one saw every day, have I found myself so moved.”
CHECK OUT LUCY
OUT NOW
As Astrid Sloane in Ryan Murphy’s first and second seasons of The Politician out on Netflix.
COMING SOON
As Marianne Faithfull in director Ian Bonhote’s forthcoming biopic Faithfull.
BEST OF
As Mary Austin in the Oscar-nominated Bohemian Rhapsody.
As Coutness Elena Andrenyi in Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express.
As Raphina in John Carney’s Sing Street.
