I was somewhat pleased to have finished 47 books last year, and speaking with other lecturers – some of which far surpassed my count – it is clear that reading for pleasure is widespread within the team.
Research supports the positive impact that reading for pleasure can have. It is important to educational and personal development (Department for Education, 2012). Other benefits include reading attainment, writing ability and general knowledge, whilst also improving self-satisfaction and esteem, decision making and ability to connect to others (Quick Reads, 2015). It has been linked to better memory recall (Stine-Morrow et al., 2022) and positively impacts mental health, loneliness and isolation (du Sautoy, 2021).
With World Book Day falling earlier this year, it served as a timely reminder to share these recommendations more widely in the hope to influence a similar passion for reading within our students. Please enjoy some recommendations from the UWE Policing Team in the first of our ‘UWE Policing Book Club’ series…
Claudia McCready recommends ‘We Are Bellingcat: An Intelligence Agency for the People’, by Eliot Higgins.
Higgins’ 2021 non-fiction focuses on demystifying the expanding practice of online open-source investigations. Higgins is the founder of Bellingcat, which started as an online community of volunteer ‘digital detectives’ who would use open sources to fact check global politics, crime and events. Whilst the book is based on real-life events, it reads like a spy thriller which had me gripped from the first to last page.
The novel details impressive investigations into the fatal use of Novichok in Salisbury, with Bellingcat being the first to identify one of the suspects. The book explores other investigations including those which identified current European supporters of ISIS and the Neo-Nazis responsible for violent attacks in America, as well as confirming the source of chemical weapons in Syria and the Russian downing of passenger flight MH-17 over Ukraine.
Having collected, developed and utilised police intelligence throughout my career, I was impressed by the methodology developed by Bellingcat to establish, verify and then share the truth. In a time where social media is heavily criticised for its negative impact on society, it was a timely reminder of its positives and the potential role it can take against disinformation and isolation. This book is the perfect introduction to online sleuthing, explaining how critical thinkers can galvanise geolocation, data and information available on the internet as a method of intelligence gathering.
Mike Coliandris recommends ‘Autumn’, by Karl Ove Knausgaard.
Autumn is the first book in the Seasons quartet by Knausgaard, a love letter to his unborn daughter. The book is presented as a series of short essays about his observations of the world and the concepts and feelings these evoke. Each essay begins from a small topic but soon conjures deeper, existential contemplations. Everyday objects and phenomena – plastic bags, the sun, picture frames, tin cans, dawn – are juxtaposed with reflections on how these things are so often taken for granted. Slowing down and witnessing the world around us can help us re-capture a fascination with life and its contents.
The standout essay, for me, is about a plastic bag floating in a lake. Through thoughtful reflection, Knausgaard takes the reader through feelings of changelessness, of objects out-of-place, and of concern about the state of things we leave behind. Yet it ends on less a positive note, but perhaps a phlegmatic musing that despite the worries we find in the world and our dissatisfaction with parts of it, beauty is found in the plastic bag suspended in the calm waters of the lake. It was an inexorable thing that bore no insight, did not mark a beginning or even an end. It just was.
I have learned from this book to pay attention to the small things, that no thing is so trivial so as not to impact us in some way. There is a power in observation and being curious about the things going on around us.
Anne Eason recommends ‘Dear Fatty’, by Dawn French.
If you’re a Vicar of Dibley or French and Saunders fan, you will truly enjoy the humour of this absolute masterpiece. Dawn French is as compelling an author as she is a comedian and throughout the book, an autobiography, her wit and literary style will have you in stitches. However, whilst she brings a smile with her funny anecdotes and self-mockery, there are some poignant moments of self-reflection, of her experiences of racial discrimination and deep trauma.
She talks a lot about when she and Lenny Henry met, where they talked (and snogged – her favourite pastime) for days and nights on end but as their relationship blossomed and became public, the acts of racial discrimination she faced; gaslighting, dog excrement posted through the letterbox and other behaviours spurred on by mindless prejudice. Regardless, their relationship continued for many years, and she spoke of the fondness she found despite these ills that exist within our society. A true testament of strength and love not just of theirs but of those around them that celebrated their relationship and their differences. She also spoke of their break-up and the sadness that it brought.
The other poignant chapter is around her father’s suicide. She was only 19 when he died. He had suffered with depression for years but managed to hide it and the previous attempts on his life from her. When she was 19 however, he was finally successful. It took a long time for her to recover from the trauma of his death, and whilst she spoke lovingly of how he shaped her during his life, she also spoke of his influence after his death and how the impact of his passing affected her. Some honest lived-experience shines through in her writing giving context and understanding to the reality of how trauma influences who and how we are.
Funny, sad, insightful – a great read and of course, Jennifer Saunders is ‘Fatty’.
Gary Stephens recommends ‘The Salt Path’, a true story by Raynor Winn.
This is one of a trilogy of books telling their story and is shortly to be released in a film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs.
Having led a relatively comfortable life Raynor and her husband ‘Moth’ lose everything in their early 50’s after becoming victims of a dubious business deal. They also learn Moth has an incurable, and untreatable, degenerative neurological condition.
With their world having fallen apart and being homeless they question, ‘What next?’ They decide to walk the South West Coast Path, 630 miles from Minehead to Poole via Land’s End.
The book catalogues their daily struggles walking the path living on virtually nothing and sleeping each night in a flimsy tent. Despite this there are nuggets of joy such as swimming in deserted coves and of eating ripe blackberries lightly salted by sea spray.
So what did I learn from this book?
Firstly, the strength of the human spirit in coming to terms with, and thriving in, adversity. Secondly, the benefits of connection to nature and it’s therapeutic value. The way Winn describes the smells, sights and sounds of the coast and the wildlife makes you feel you’re there. Thirdly, it brought a whole different context to my concept of homelessness, how people find themselves in that position and the shamefully cruel reaction of some strangers towards them.
As Winn says, ‘Life is a series of ups and downs. It’s how we navigate through them that defines who we are’.
Hopefully some of the above recommendations make it to your ‘Want to Read’ lists. The team is always looking ahead for some excellent book recommendations – let us know what you’ve enjoyed reading in the comments below, or consider reaching out and contributing to our next book club edition yourself…
Happy reading!
References
Department for Education (2012) Research evidence of reading for pleasure [online]. London: Department for Education. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-evidence-on-reading-for-pleasure . [Accessed 15 May 2025].
du Sautoy, T. (2021) The benefits of reading for pleasure. InnovAiT [online]. 14 (5), pp. 325 – 330. [Accessed 15 May 2025].
Quick Reads (2015) Reading Between the Lines: the Benefits of Reading for Pleasure. Available from: https://www.letterpressproject.co.uk/media/file/The_Benefits_of_Reading_for_Pleasure.pdf . [Accessed 15 May 2025].
Stine-Morrow, E. A. L., McCall, G. S., Manavbasi, I., Ng, S., Llano, D. A. and Barbey, A. K. (2022) The Effects of Sustained Literacy Engagement on Cognition and Sentence Processing Among Older Adults. Frontiers of Psychology [online]. 13 (1), pp. 1 – 15. [Accessed 15 May 2025].
Editorial Team
Paul Williamson (Editor-in-Chief); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Claire Bowers (Senior Lecturer); Eve Smietanko (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer); Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer) & Micah Hassell (Senior Lecturer).
If you would like to be a guest blogger, please contact Police.Blog@uwe.ac.uk
