Penguin Books has launched eight lists to celebrate its 90th birthday, to celebrate the books that have shaped its readers since the publisher started in 1935.
The lists have been co-curated by authors, editors and cultural figures including Paloma Faith, Jacqueline Wilson and Nish Kumar. Each list comes with the opportunity for readers to vote for their favourite book and help create Penguin’s “Readers’ Choice” list, to be released on Penguin’s birthday on 30th July.
Rebecca Sinclair, chief brand officer at Penguin Books, said: “Since 1935, Penguin has pushed boundaries and been at the heart of stories and ideas that have shaped society in ways both big and small. As publishers, we want to spark conversations and there is nothing like a book list to do that! We hope these lists might
prompt a fond memory or surface other titles but, either way, we’re delighted to share our suggestions in partnership with our wonderful co-curators.”
The eight lists are as follows:
The Penguin books that inspired generations of young readers
Co-curated by Dame Jacqueline Wilson
The list includes:
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (1901)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (1964)
Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman (2001)
Full list here.
Wilson said: “I was eight years old when I bought my first Puffin with my own pocket money (one shilling and sixpence!). I was attracted to its price, its format and the beautiful bright green cover showing three girls in white party frocks. It was Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, and it’s remained my favourite children’s book ever since.”
The Penguin books that shaped our everyday lives
Co-curated by author Oliver Burkeman
The list includes:
A Book of Mediterranean Food by Elizabeth David (1950)
Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi (2010)
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo (2011)
Full list here.
Burkeman said: “The best books of this genre feel more like frank and forthright friends. They may explicitly offer advice, and you may or may not choose to follow it. But often enough, their most valuable role is in reassuring you that you can trust your own instincts.”
The Penguin books that redefined love and relationships
Co-curated by Paloma Faith
The list includes:
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (1956)
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton (2018)
Full list here.
Faith said: “I was raised by a feminist of the 1960s and my mother lent me The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer when I was about 13. I also read Simone de Beauvoir and Anaïs Nin, but when I found Jeanette Winterson it was like a shot of electricity.”
The Penguin books that challenged our view of the environment
Co-curated by birdwatcher, environmentalist and diversity activist Mya-Rose Craig, AKA Birdgirl
The list includes:
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962)
Unbowed by Wangari Maathai (2006)
Orbital by Samantha Harvey (2023)
Full list here.
Craig said: “As humans, we increasingly see ourselves as separate and independent from nature, but these books remind us that we are part of it and responsible for it.”
The Penguin books that shaped our political understanding
Co-curated by Nish Kumar
The list includes:
The Rights of Man by HG Wells (1940)
The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein (2007)
Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera (2021)
Full list here.
Kumar said: “As our world shrinks into a phone screen, the books on this list urge us to be more expansive in our thinking and embrace complexity. The threat is existential, but the solutions are in our hands.”
The Penguin books that ignited a pop-culture phenomenon
Co-curated by TikTok pop culture influencer Jack Edwards
The list includes:
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (1915)
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (1955)
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (1970)
Full list here.
Edwards said: “Without Nineteen Eighty-Four, we wouldn’t have Big Brother or Room 101. Without Pride and Prejudice, there’d be no Bridget Jones’s Diary or Bridgerton. Without Lord of the Flies, there’d be no Yellowjackets or Lost.”
The Penguin books that helped us through hard times
Curated by writer, creator and musician David Larbi
The list includes:
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (1978)
The Little Book of Calm by Paul Wilson (1996)
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy (2019)
Full list here.
Larbi said: “To read is to be comforted, to be validated and affirmed, to be given clarity and hope. In hard times it can be deeply meaningful, lifesaving even, simply to feel seen in another person’s words.”
The Penguin books that shocked society
Co-curated by Simon Prosser, publishing director of Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Books
The list includes:
Hiroshima by John Hersey (1946)
Lady Chatterley’s Lover by DH Lawrence (1960)
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie (1988)
Full list here.
