Read all about it! The Book Hive's top ten books of 2018

Whether you’re looking for a gift or a good read for yourself, there’s something for everyone in the Book Hive’s top ten books of the 2018. Now where to start? 

The Wanderers by Tim Pears Guaranteed to spell-bind any modern reader with the poetry and pace of the past. Pear’s trilogy started with ‘The Horseman’, and follows a young boy, in the 1910s, training to be a carter on a West-Country farm. 'The Wanderers' sees Leo Sercombe's life upended as the first world war looms, throwing him into a turbulant transition from boy to man. Delicate and devastating, Pears' prose is alive with the wonder of nature. We've been lucky enough to read an early proof of 'The Redeemed', the third and final book, and felt a genuine loss when we reached the end; we just wanted to spend more time with the beautifully, patiently drawn characters.  

West by Carys Davies This is a gob-smacking debut from an award-winning writer already famed for her stripped-back prose in short story form. 'West' tells the story of Cy Bellman, a settler in early 1800s Pennsylvania who is enthralled by the news that some gigantic animal bones have been dug up in a swamp in Kentucky. After months of feverishly imagining huge creatures still wandering around the unexplored territories of the west, Cy sets out to find them, leaving his 10 year old daughter behind. The result is an elegant, tragic tale of obsession set against sweeping landscapes - one that echoes in your mind long after the final page.

The Chameleon by Sam Fisher Every bookish person's dream - an awe-inspiring, magical-realist, spy-thriller come romance come historical drama (it blends genres gloriously) narrated by John, a book who can become any book. Yes, you read that right. What a concept - and boy does Fisher deliver!

Against Creativity by Oli Mould This is a rallying cry against the co-opting of concepts of creativity by neo-liberal capitalism. It's a timely and much-needed defence of REAL creativity that utterly skewers modern coroporate nonsense. Are you exasperated at the fact that every job description nowadays asks for you to be 'innovative' and 'creative'? Are you concerned that work 'benefits' like flex-hours actually just make people work far more, for far less, and more stress? Then read this brilliant book.  

‘The Last Children of Tokyo’ by Yoko Kawada (originally published 2014; published 2018 by Portobello)  Set in an eerie semi-post-apocalyptic Japan where the elderly seem to be living longer and longer, while the young are dying off... What a premise! Tawada’s quirky, dream-like writing style is totally unique: charming, often funny, but also arresting and disturbing (particularly when it comes to ecological themes).

Devoured by Anna Mackmin - Winner of the 2018 East Anglian fiction award. 

Set in North Norfolk in 1973, amongst a commune of deluded, well-meaning people, a young girl and her sister struggle to grow into adulthood surrounded by the chaos of the adult lives around them. Very funny, and very dark...

"A dazzling debut" - Stephen Fry.

"Quite Brilliant" - Esther Freud

The Assembly of the Severed Head by Hugh Lupton

Set in 12th Century Wales after the gruesome discovery of a number of severed heads washed up on the shore, (local writer) Lupton's stunning novel imagines what events caused a great epic myth cycle to first be put down on parchment, and the effect it has on lives to come...

"Bloody wonderful.The oral tradition and the written, perfectly met, bracingly alive." - Max Poter

The Ballad of Syd and Morgan by Haydn Middleton

A glorious, fictional imagining of a meeting between the 22 year old Syd Barrett and the 89 year old EM Forster, brought together by powers beyond their control, wherein they realise a wealth of shared experience, pain and joy, despite the great difference in their age and background.

"Exquisite, brilliantly imagined..." - The Observer best books autumn 2018

Melmoth by Sarah Perry

Norwich based Perry follows up on her success of The Essex Serpent with this great, dark gothic novel. A brilliantly conceived idea, superbly written. A must for those who enjoy great storytelling and the unsaid terror of looking into a world on the edge of our own.

Rock 'n' Roll is Life by DJ Taylor

Norwich author Taylor tells the story of The Helium Kids, a fictional 1960's british band which lives though the birth of the pop music industry. Not only a an insightful look at the madness of the rock world, but also a razor sharp piece of social history, both of the UK and the states.