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Oxford University Press staff love to read so we’ve gathered together a few recommendations from what our staff read this year (although maybe not published this year).

Reticence by Jean-Philippe Toussaint
“Jean-Philippe Toussaint is likely still best known for his 1985 debut novel, The Bathroom, but he’s been churning out short, idiosyncratic and generally brilliant books every few years since then (most of them published in translation by Dalkey Archive). The novels tend to be snappy, existential, claustrophobic and yet hilariouss; it adds up to a flavor that’s unique to Toussaint. This year’s Reticence is one of his best: it follows an unnamed narrator as he searches for — and avoids — his friend Biaggi, encountering ominous portents and growing more and more suspicious. The book manages to both skewer the detective genre and meditate on the nature of paranoia, all the while serving up a generous helping of slapstick.
–Owen Keiter, Publicity Assistant

Robinson Alone by Kathleen Rooney
“This is a moving and evocative novel in verse about a young writer making his way through the United States in the middle of the 20^th century. Inspired by four poems written by the nearly forgotten Weldon Kees, whose work is published by the University of Nebraska Press, Rooney fleshes out Kees’s character, Robinson, offering us his letters, humor, and heartbreak, with an eerie facility with period detail, from his days working for Time Magazine in NYC in the 1950’s to ads for shaving cream. Think Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man meets Mad Men. Read it!”
–Jeremy Wang-Iverson, Senior Publicist

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
“By the “Best Book of 2012,” you mean the best of 1860, right? The Mill on the Floss is my page-turner of the year. George Eliot’s wit and biting observations offer insight into 19^th century British society and gender relations that will leave you half-smirking, half-disgruntled.”
–Alana Podolsky, Publicity Assistant

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
“I didn’t get a chance to read Wolf Hall before starting Bring Up the Bodies, and as Hilary Mantel has made a clean sweep of every literary award I wasn’t sure what to expect. (Awards aren’t often good indicators for my own enjoyment.) I’m also slightly apprehensive about historical novels after a run of authors who like to show off their knowledge in what they mistakenly think is an unobtrusive way. (Oh really, three pages on threshing methods of the 1860s with no impact on the story. I won’t be reading this anymore.) Tudor history is an area of endless study, but Hilary Mantel’s exhaustive research is integrated seamlessly into the narrative. Jane Seymour — that mute queen — has machinations all her own, and Thomas More, a man who was the British government for many years, is seen desperately trying to keep his place secure. A riveting read. ”
–Alice Northover, Social Media Manager

Oxford University Press staff like to spend their holidays reading.

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This Day in World History

November 29, 1803

Haitian leaders declare independence

On November 29, 1803, Haitian leaders Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Henri Christophe, and a General Clerveaux joined together to sign a preliminary proclamation of independence for St. Domingo, the former French colony that soon after took the name Haiti. The proclamation came just ten days after French forces under the Vicomte de Rochambeau had surrendered to the Haitian rebels.

The Haitian revolt had been launched in 1798 by Toussaint Louverture, a former slave whose original goal had not been independence. By 1802, though, the Haitian rebels had grander designs—fueled in part by concerns that the French would restore slavery and spurred further by the death of Toussaint under French arrest. On November 19, 1803, they won a decisive victory over French forces at the Battle of Vertieres. Ten days later, at their headquarters at Fort Dauphin, the rebel leaders issued their proclamation of independence, given “in the name of the black people, and men of color of St. Domingo.” The proclamation went on, “Restored to our primitive dignity, we have asserted our rights; we swear never to yield them to any power on earth.” The secretary who recorded the document sent a copy to a Philadelphia newspaper, and it was published widely in the United States..

The Haitian leaders issued a more formal document, the Act of Independence, on January 1, 1804. In this act, the signers pledged their support to independence, explained the significance of the act, and named Dessalines leader of the new nation. At this time, the rebels adopted the name Haiti, derived from Hispaniola’s indigenous Taino people, as the name of their nation. Haiti became just the second independent nation in the Americas—and the first nation formed by a successful slave revolt.

“This Day in World History” is brought to you by USA Higher Education.
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