Katerina Deligiorgi, Helen Fulton, Sir John Holman, Karen McAulay and Ruth Mieschbuehler...

Katerina Deligiorgi, reader in philosophy, University of Sussex, is reading The Impact of Idealism: The Legacy of Post-Kantian German Thought (Cambridge University Press, 2013), edited by Nicholas Boyle and Liz Disley. “This is a striking achievement: in four volumes of essays, across a range of topics, from religion to aesthetics and from science to politics, leading scholars examine the influence of post-Kantian idealism across disciplines and philosophical traditions. An invaluable research and teaching resource, this collection demonstrates the vitality of German idealism and its relevance to contemporary thought.”

Helen Fulton, professor of medieval literature, University of Bristol, is reading Alan M. Kent’s The Theatre of Cornwall: Space, Place, Performance (Westcliffe Books, 2010). “Anyone who thinks a history of Cornish theatre must be a very short book should try to lift this 900-page blockbuster. From Arthur to the environment, Cornwall’s theatre evokes the landscape and community of a region that thinks it is a nation. Periodic revivals of folk drama signify a vigorous cultural nationalism that thumbs its nose at England.”

Sir John Holman, emeritus professor of chemistry, University of York, is reading John Dos Passos’ Manhattan Transfer (Penguin, 2000). “I wish I’d begun my self-introduction to Modernist literature with this instead of Ulysses. It’s a kaleidoscope of a book whose picture of high and low life in 1920s New York is painted through short interlocking episodes, more like cinema than a book. The colourful anarchy of the money-driven, pitiless city imprints itself indelibly.”

Karen McAulay, music and academic services librarian at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, received as a gift Jessica Pigza’s BiblioCraft: A Modern Crafter’s Guide to Using Library Resources to Jumpstart Creative Projects (Abrams, 2014). “Professionally, I’m always looking for ways to inspire creativity using unusual or intriguing library materials, although our own readers are more likely to compose a song or write a play than seek inspiration for crafting. Pigza, a rare books librarian at the New York Public Library, introduces crafters to the riches of a world-class collection then outlines different projects. Unusual, but ideal winter reading for an itchy-fingered bookworm.”

Ruth Mieschbuehler, researcher in the College of Education, University of Derby, is reading Adrian Hart’s That’s Racist! How the Regulation of Speech and Thought Divides Us All (Imprint Academic, 2014). “Hart argues that consciousness of supposed ‘racial differences’ is disappearing, but this positive development is undermined by official anti-racism. It is ‘anti-racist’ policies, he contends, that are now racialising perceptions of people and normal relationships and bringing racism back in. These policies encourage a mindset that actively creates and exacerbates divisions between people.”