The Second Home Book Club
Reading recommendations from Words of Colour Productions, PR Savvy, Folio and Artsy
Every week we ask four Second Home members to recommend a book that has influenced their life and work. Each title that is selected becomes part of Libreria’s permanent collection and is available to buy in store. This week we have some sublime choices from the brains behind Words of Colour Productions, PR Savvy, Folio and Artsy.
Joy Francis
Founder and Executive Director, Words of Colour Productions
Zora Neale Hurston — Their Eyes Were Watching God. This book touched me and made me cry and laugh. Zora was a pioneer in her time and her words and vision still resonate and have relevance now. She also influenced and inspired other great women writers, such as Alice Walker and Toni Morrison.
Find out more about Words of Colour Productions here
Kate Warwick
Founder, PR Savvy
The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell. I think this might be my Desert Island Discs book. It’s complex, spirited and chaotic, but the beauty of the prose and Lawrence’s ideas hold you in. You can smell the heat of Alexandria.
Find out more about PR Savvy here
Dan Symons
Co-founder, Folio
Italo Calvino — Invisible Cities — A childhood favourite that I go back to pretty often. I’m also a fan of pretty much everything by Junot Diaz, with The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao being the standout.
Find out more about Folio here
Legacy Russell and Gemma Rolls-Bentley
UK Gallery Relations Lead + UK Gallery Relations Manager, Artsy
Legacy: Right now I’m all about books that can provide tools and language to address what is taking place in the world at the moment, and remind me that the action of dismantling power is a daily commitment. I am finding inspiration in the nonfiction of Audre Lorde’s Sister Outsider, the poetry of Anaïs Duplan’s Take This Stallion, and the surrealist prose of Monique Wittig’s Les Guerilleres.
Gemma: The most powerful book that I read in 2016 was Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts. I think everyone should read it, I bought Legacy a copy for her birthday (from Libreria, I might add).
Find out more about Artsy here
Second Home is a creative workspace and cultural venue based in London and Lisboa. We bring together diverse industries, disciplines and social businesses. Find out more about joining us here: secondhome.io
