Tim Farron is president of the Liberal Democrats and shares his reading list with Spectator readers. Hopefully he is not thinking of the state of his own party when he suggests Lord of the Flies as the book that best sums up ‘now’, but in case he is, the next book he plans to read is all about ‘the empty promises of love, money and power’.
1) Which book’s on your bedside table at the moment?
The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo.
2) Which book would you read to your children?
Currently reading The Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis.
3) Which literary character would you most like to be?
Ellie Arroway, the hero in Contact by Carl Sagan.
4) Which book do you think best sums up ‘now’?
Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
5) What was the last novel you read?
A Troubled Man by Henning Mankel.
6) Which book would you most recommend?
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer.
7) Given enough time, which book would you like to study deeply?
Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations.
8) Which books do you plan to read next?
Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller and probably some more Jo Nesbo!
9) If the British Library were on fire and you could only save three books, which ones would you take?
The ones nearest the fire escape. I’ve never been to the British Library actually, so I’m assuming you’re asking which three books do I consider my favourites? England’s Dreaming by Jon Savage; The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis and The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco.
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