New Blogs December/Jan 2016

New month. New year. New(ish) blogs.

67 Job Applications in a Fortnight and Sanctioned (Unaligned)

Jess on Politics (Labour) (Twitter)

The Alternative Politics (Labour) (Twitter)

The Wilderness Years (Labour) (Twitter)

Thomas Mauchline (Labour) (Twitter)

University of London IWGB (Uanligned/Union)

If you know of any new blogs that haven't featured before then drop me a line via the comments, email, Facebook or Twitter. Please note I'm looking for blogs that have started within the last 12 months. The new blog round up appears on the first Sunday of every month, usually.

Jeremy Corbyn, Women, and the Shadow Cabinet

I know the so-called women's pages in the Telegraph aren't meant for incisive political comment, but Cathy Newman's piece on Jeremy's will-he won't-he reshuffle is a strong contender for idiocy of the year. And we're only on 2016's second day. It has it all: bad faith, banalities masquerading as analysis, omissions of fact. It's awful.

Cathy sets out a thought experiment. What if Jeremy Corbyn chooses to stuff his shadow cabinet full of women? What indeed. The shadow chancellorship should go to Angela Eagle, the foreign office to Yvette Cooper, to Liz Kendall social security or health, promotions for Gloria de Piero and Sarah Champion, and jobs found for Rachel Reeves, Emma Reynolds, Naz Shah, Stella Creasy, and Jess Phillips. She rounds off by noting that "the Labour leader has no excuse as he ponders his next move. If he cares about promoting women, there is no shortage of talent. Now he needs to tap it."

Indeed he does, but given how unassailable Jeremy's position is , is it likely his closest political ally is going to get dumped for someone who refuses to be drawn on whether Jeremy should be Prime Minister or not? Or, again, given the position of strength from which the putative reshuffle is to be made, why would Jeremy hand the shadow foreign office brief to someone, like Yvette, who thinks bombing raids over Syria in the absence of a plan is fine and dandy? And, to be frank, Jeremy would be out of his tree to hand health to Liz Kendall who, lest we forget, wants more markets and more businesses in the NHS - because she thinks they know how to run public services better. Cathy is an experienced political journalist, so to leave out the politics highlights either shocking incompetence or cynicism: when none of these get the call, Jeremy is obviously an awful sexist.

Let's also note that the MPs getting the Newman seal of approval - Yvette, Liz, Rachel, and Emma - were not passed over by Jeremy when he appointed his first shadcab. They ruled themselves out of participating. If they want to put themselves up for future consideration that's a matter for them, but let's not rewrite history and pretend they were unjustly marginalised by bolshevik brocialism.

The other thing about Cathy's list is that it's very, for want of a better word, metropolitan. It's only a matter of time before Jess Phillips is on Question Time more than Nigel Farage seeing as the media can't get enough of our blunt-talking comrade, and all of the others are very well known to the TV studios. Cathy's known to occasionally hang out with some of them too. Meanwhile, there's a pool of 99 female Labour MPs to choose from - many of whom never got a look-in under the blessed Ed, and who Cathy wouldn't know from Adam. For instance, she notes that Anna Turley has "laid low". No, since her election Anna's been neck-deep campaigning for Redcar steel works and is now dealing with the aftermath - I suppose Cathy cannot be blamed for such a non-Westminster trifle not figuring on her radar. There are plenty of other very able women currently knocking about in junior briefs and doing the business from the back benches. Perhaps now it's time they were given a chance instead of the same old same old.

Just like last time, Jeremy's appointments will reflect the political make up of the party, and given the strength of the left and the tilting of the balance against the PLP since his election, I imagine its bent will be more reflective of the new normal. I am sure any women who are brought in will, as with the men, get positions on the basis of their politics, their competence, and likelihood of their not undermining the leader. Whoever gets a job I'm sure Cathy and her ilk will find something to moan about, but tough. This is politics, not the bloody X-Factor.

Antonio Gramsci on New Year's Day

Italian revolutionary Antonio Gramsci casts a long shadow over leftist thought. But few are likely to have read this, a 100 year old missive about New Year's Day. Needless to say, old Antonio wasn't a fan. Many thanks to Viewpoint for digging this out last year.

Every morning, when I wake again under the pall of the sky, I feel that for me it is New Year’s day.

That’s why I hate these New Year’s that fall like fixed maturities, which turn life and human spirit into a commercial concern with its neat final balance, its outstanding amounts, its budget for the new management. They make us lose the continuity of life and spirit. You end up seriously thinking that between one year and the next there is a break, that a new history is beginning; you make resolutions, and you regret your irresolution, and so on, and so forth. This is generally what’s wrong with dates.

They say that chronology is the backbone of history. Fine. But we also need to accept that there are four or five fundamental dates that every good person keeps lodged in their brain, which have played bad tricks on history. They too are New Years’. The New Year’s of Roman history, or of the Middle Ages, or of the modern age.

And they have become so invasive and fossilising that we sometimes catch ourselves thinking that life in Italy began in 752, and that 1490 or 1492 are like mountains that humanity vaulted over, suddenly finding itself in a new world, coming into a new life. So the date becomes an obstacle, a parapet that stops us from seeing that history continues to unfold along the same fundamental unchanging line, without abrupt stops, like when at the cinema the film rips and there is an interval of dazzling light.

That’s why I hate New Year’s. I want every morning to be a new year’s for me. Every day I want to reckon with myself, and every day I want to renew myself. No day set aside for rest. I choose my pauses myself, when I feel drunk with the intensity of life and I want to plunge into animality to draw from it new vigour.

No spiritual time-serving. I would like every hour of my life to be new, though connected to the ones that have passed. No day of celebration with its mandatory collective rhythms, to share with all the strangers I don’t care about. Because our grandfathers’ grandfathers, and so on, celebrated, we too should feel the urge to celebrate. That is nauseating.

I await socialism for this reason too. Because it will hurl into the trash all of these dates which have no resonance in our spirit and, if it creates others, they will at least be our own, and not the ones we have to accept without reservations from our silly ancestors.

– Translated by Alberto Toscano

Top 100 Independent Tweeting Bloggers 2015

Here's the other list you've waited 365 days for - the top 100 independent tweeting bloggers' list of 2015. Some definition issues first - how do you define "independent"? I play with a fairly loose definition. I.e. If a blog is maintained regularly (i.e. in the last month), isn't attached to an established media outlet, and is filled with political content, it's in. Party blogs like ConHome and LabourList are out as they're professional outfits with paid staff whereas similar for the LibDems and UKIP on this list are volunteer efforts. But, I hear you cry, can't you say the same for Guido? Yes, but it is a self-funding indie affair. Moving onto MPs, while plenty maintain a blog very few of them use it politically. If they talk about politics and ideas, they're in. If they merely recycle press releases about dog shit removal, then no. Lastly, it has to be self-maintained in the sense that freelancers without a home to lay their hat are out.

I know, it's not a perfect definition by any means, but it will do. Right, on with the list!

1. (1) Alastair Campbell (331k followers)
2. (3) Guido Fawkes (174k followers)
3. (4) Louise Mensch (94.9k followers)
4. (5) Iain Dale (68.1k followers)
5. (6) Left Foot Forward (60.1k followers)
6. (9) Wings Over Scotland (45.8k followers)
7. (15) Douglas Carswell (42.6k followers)
8. (12) Bella Caledonia (42.1k followers)
9. (NE) Nick Tyrone (40.9k followers)
10. (14) Open Democracy (40.7k followers)
11. (10) Political Scrapbook (40.5k followers)
12. (11) The F-Word (38k followers)
13. (16) Richard Murphy (33.1k followers)
14. (18) Labour Left (29.1k followers)
15. (19) Mike Smithson (26.3k followers)
16. (20) Exaro News (25.7k followers)
17. (34) Coppola Comment (23.9k followers)
18. (25) Another Angry Woman (18.9k followers)
19. (32) UK Media Watch (18.7k followers)
20. (29) Pride's Purge (17.3k followers)
21. (26) Libcom (16.9k followers)
22. (22) Labour Uncut (16.9k followers)
23. (27) LibDem Voice (16.7k followers)
24. (35) Disabled People Against Cuts (16.6k followers)
25. (31) Jon Worth (15.9k followers)
26. (24) Archbishop Cranmer (15.5k followers)
27. (NE) Chi Onwurah (15k followers)
28. (38) Carl Gardner (14.1k followers)
29. (NE) Exposing UKIP (13.6k followers)
30. (NE) Steve Topple (13.4k followers)
31. (37) Lenin's Tomb (13.1k followers)
32. (45) Paul Flynn MP (13.1k followers)
33. (33) The Commentator (12.8k followers)
34. (NE) Paul Bernal (12.7k followers)
35. (NE) Neil Clark (12.5k followers)
36. (42) Angela Neptustar (12.5k followers)
37. (NE) The Optimistic Patriot (12.4k followers)
38. (60) Lallands Peat Worrier (12k followers)
39. (36) Mark Thompson (11.9k followers)
40. (47) John Redwood MP (11.7k followers)
41. (50) Hopi Sen (11.4k followers)
42. (54) The Enlightened Economist (10.9k followers)
43. (75) Mainly Macro (10.9k followers)
44. (49) Sarah Ditum (10.7k followers)
45. (57) Big Brother Watch (10.2k followers)
46. (59) Mark Pack (9,481 followers)
47. (56) Kate Belgrave (9,145 followers)
48. (NE) I'm a JSA Claimant (9,000 followers)
49. (65) The Void (8,255 followers)
50. (68) Welsh Not British (8,214 followers)
51. (62) David Hencke (8,085 followers)
52. (NE) Novara Media (7,608 followers)
53. (NE) Tim Bale (7,446 followers)
54. (71) Left Futures (7,277 followers)
55. (NE) Anthony Painter (7,022 followers)
56. (67) A Dragon's Best Friend (6,948 followers)
57. (RE) Bloggerheads (6,901 followers)
58. (73) Zelo Street (6,880 followers)
59. (NE) Dilly Hussain (6,403 followers)
60. (78) Karen Ingala Smith (6,334 followers)
61. (74) Chris Dillow (6,202 followers)
62. (77) Stephen Tall (5,935 followers)
63. (79) Flip Chart Fairy Tales (5,873 followers)
64. (NE) Social Abjection (5,411 followers)
65. (NE)  5 Pillars (5,400 followers)
66. (NE) David Skelton (5,385 followers)
67. (NE) Twll Dun (5,266 followers)
68. (NE) Bloggers 4 UKIP (5,255 followers)
69. (89) Bright Green (5,222 followers)
70. (83) All That Is Solid (5,152 followers)
71. (NE) Look Left (5,089 followers)
72. (NE) Kate Godfrey (4,933 followers)
73. (95) Vox Political (4,806 followers)
74. (88) Tim Worstall (4,722 followers)
75. (86) Liberal England (4,691 followers)
76. (NE) All That's Left (4,303 followers)
77. (NE) A Room Of Our Own (3,931 followers)
78. (96) Rob Marchant (3,860 followers)
79. (NE) Political Sift (3,815 followers)
80. (NE) Genders, Bodies, Politics (3,754 followers)
81. (NE) Chelley Ryan (3,629 followers)
82. (NE) Neil Scott (3,504 followers)
83. (NE) SCOT goes POP! (3,393 followers)
84. (93) Lisa Ansell (3,382 followers)
85. (NE) Public Policy and the Past (3,322 followers)
86. (NE) Bishop Hill (3,122 followers)
87. (NE) Think Left (3,048 followers)
88. (NE) Sarah Brown (2,965 followers)
89. (NE) Cllr Alice Perry (2,941 followers)
90. (NE) Tom Owolade (2,925 followers)
91. (97) Liberal Burblings (2,882 followers)
92. (NE) Jade Azim (2,818 followers)
93. (100) Luna17 (2,736 followers)
94. (NE) Bob from Brockley (2,663 followers)
95. (NE) The Thoughtful Campaigner (2,606 followers)
96. (NE) Dick Puddlecote (2,554 followers)
97. (NE) Revolution Breeze (2,549 followers)
98. (NE) Labour Hame (2,443 followers)
99. (NE) David's Soap Box (2,428 followers)
100. (NE) Ambush Predator (1,981 followers)


This list proved more consuming this year because of the massive amount of churn that has occurred over the last 12 months. The 2014 list was starting to resemble the mainstream commentators' one what with sclerosis at the top and few new entries. In 2015 there has been a huge shift: loads of people have simply packed it in. Some, like Tom Watson and Harry Cole have gone on to do other things, and a few others are people I've missed in previous years, but mainly large numbers of bloggers have simply stopped. I make it 41 new entries, which is crazy.

That also means the list is a little rough so, by all means, treat this as a beta build. If you know of anyone who regularly blogs politically and has more than 1,611 followers on Twitter let me know and the list will be duly updated.

Five Most Popular Posts in December

The five most read last month were ...

1. Top 100 Tweeting Politics Commentators 2015
2. Hilary Benn's Appalling Speech
3. Advice for "Bullied" Labour MPs
4. The Anti-Imperialism of Fools
5. Farewell to Dan Hodges

What a month and what a year. This was the best December for traffic ever, after the busiest ever year for the blog. In the end it clocked up 695,399 hits - just over 1,900 a day. Let's see if that can be smashed out the park in 2016!

Anyway, back to the matter to hand. As is traditional, the tweeting commentators list is top of the pile, followed up by the brouhaha surrounding Hilary Benn's speech and the moaning of moaning Labour MPs. My little rant about Stop the War comes next, followed by yet another resignation from serial resigner, Dan Hodges. More of the same next month?

What delights have I plucked from the blogging treasure chest for another airing? It has to be my Essay in Self-Criticism in which I make a stab at sorting out the fog a lot of Labour people have been caught up in since Jeremy's election, and some reflections on the coming shadcab reshuffle.

Top Ten Dance Songs 2015

You know this is the real reason why you come here: for 2015's iteration of the annual chart of the finest tunes. Yo DJ pump this party, as they say:

10. Love's Got Me High by SCALES

9. King by Years & Years

8. How Deep Is Your Love by Calvin Harris & Disciples

7. Go by The Chemical Brothers

6. Don't Be So Shy by Imany feat. Filatov & Karas

5. Ocean Drive by Duke Dumont

4. About You by Sebastian Weikum

3. Foolish Dreams by Frozen Plasma

2. Opus by Eric Prydz

Like last year, 2015 has been a pig of a year and, if truth be told, that held true for dance music as well. I was distraught, distraught, that once again trance music generally has disappeared up its arse. Long-term readers know this is my electronic genre of choice so to have it disappoint two years on the trot is a bad thing.

All I can do is thank the disco heavens that the house music renaissance has continued. In fact, so overground and mainstream it's become that the superstar DJ establishment are eyeing it up. Step forward Mr Calvin Harris. You can't avoid concluding that How Deep Is Your Love is one of this year's highlights, even if it's one of the most cynical pieces ever to grace the end-of-year chart. Authenticity is a load of old hooey, but it's as if Calvin set out to record a deep house monster simply because it's the in-sound. The only thing that surprises is how inveterate bandwagon jumpers like Tiësto have yet to clamber aboard. When they do, you know that's when the sub-genre has passed its peak.

I was also disappointed by the return of The Prodigy this year, and their lack of presence here says everything you need to know about my thoughts regarding their efforts. Yesteryear is instead ably represented by The Chemical Brothers - their Go rocks a very on-trend 80s vibe. I couldn't afford to miss the grotesquely popular King by Years & Years either. That hook caught many an earworm over the course of the last 12 months. There's no avoiding the two entries near the top either. 2015 was the year I properly got into EBM, or Electronic Body Music. I've always had a thing for goths with synths but, weirdly, Frozen Plasma's Foolish Dreams grabbed me because it sounds, well, lovely. And flying the flag for progressive is Eric Prydz with Opus, a ridiculously simple track that makes you wonder why it hasn't been done before.

Number one then. Who can it be? Well, I'm cheating a bit. It's a rework of Sia's 2014 mega hit that manages to improve on it in every respect and come over all housey and 80s. How could it not be the All That Is Solid song of the year?

2016 Politics Predictions

Dare I tip my tippy toes into the waters of idle speculation again? As Adam Bienkov notes, most political punditry is utter rubbish, having called the general election, the Labour leadership election, and the general election, the Labour leadership election, and the Oldham by-election totally wrong. Looking back over last year's forecasts, I'm almost as useless as they. Almost.

As we know, Labour came nowhere near to being the biggest party, and the dear leader as was may as well have etched a eulogy to his career on the bizarre and unlamented EdStone. As a consequence the other big prediction, that David Cameron would no longer be the leader of the Tories, turned out to be mistaken as well. Shame. Still, the one thing I did get right was my forecast about UKIP. I said they were looking at between 12 and 13% and, lo and behold, 12.6% is what they got. I also said they would win a single seat - Carswell's - and again the antennae were correct. And yes, I was right about the infighting as well. So that's a better result than pundits who get paid to write this sort of nonsense. And, of course, I was right about the far left getting nowhere. But asserting such doesn't require anything in the way of special insight or a detailed scrutiny of their doings.

Okay then. I've got out my astrology chart. Let's see what 2016 has in store for our Westminster friends.

Dave will successfully "renegotiate" Britain's position in the EU
We all know that this isn't terribly serious, which is why Dave is asking for so little. Sure there's argy-bargy now over social security eligibility, but this is very minor in the grand scheme of thinks. We know that Dave doesn't really want to renegotiate, and neither do European governments with better things to do with their time. Dave therefore is aiming for a quick result and then a quick referendum - he doesn't want to see the agony of the Tory party fighting itself drawn out. So if matters are concluded quickly, it's reasonable to expect the referendum in the Autumn - preferably before people at Tory party conference get the opportunity to commit hari kari in front of the cameras. Oh yes, and stay will win.

Jeremy will still be leader this time next year
As I've previously written, Jeremy's position is nigh-on impregnable. No amount of front bench resignations or revelations from the past are going to shift him. The only thing that can is if the bulk of the membership turn against him, and short of being found out as a tax-dodging city slicker with huge private health, fracking, property portfolios, and a stake in the Murdoch empire, that isn't going to happen. The only outside chance of an early defenestration are the results of the London, the Scottish, and the council elections. Already pundits are throwing around suggestions that a rout ooop north is likely, along with the loss of some 200 seats in the locals. Those would be bad results, but I don't think they would do for Jeremy. Only if the outcomes are utterly catastrophic (anything north of 400) would we see the leader take to the window ledge. And I don't think they will be. Labour will perform poorly in Scotland, as expected. But not as bad in England as is presently feared (it might even surprise as local party after local party run highly localised campaigns because they believe their local record to be more of an asset than the leader), and I also think Labour's going to win the London mayoralty.

And that's all I'm prepared to stick my neck out about because, at least where Westminster watching is concerned, this is where the action is concentrated for the next 12 months. That's it. Enjoy what's left of 2015!

On Jeremy Corbyn's Reshuffle

I wanted to hold off commenting about "real" events until after the New Year. Even monomaniacal bloggers deserve a break. But there's just been so much nonsense and idiocy swilling around Jeremy Corbyn's will-he/won't-he reshuffle that I feel compelled to say a few words myself. I mean it's not as if the government have totally screwed up on the northern floods and Labour ought to be seizing this moment to knock lumps out of them for their mismanagement or anything.

First thing first, I've suggested previously that MPs would do better not to whine and moan about their predicament because they will find scant sympathy in the party. So what happens? We have a (unnamed, of course) shadow minister accusing Jeremy of ruining Christmas with all this talk of demoting and reshuffling. Diddums. Then we have people saying that Jeremy can't possibly demote people on the basis of the Syria free vote because it was free, innit. Then we have people saying they will resign if so-and-so goes.

Let's strip out the political divisions and look at how the world appears from inside the leader's office. Jeremy won a huge majority among the membership, and it is one that is still growing as new people sign up and a much lower number of (mainly card-carrying) centre and right members flounce out. Those who've damned sitting MPs for failing to depose Jeremy yesterday are blind to this most obvious of facts. Jez won under rules (favoured by some on the right) that were designed to dilute the influence of a membership they mistrusted before the surge took place. Jeremy romped home under those rules and, presently, from his perspective, he has good reason to accept a basic congruence between his policies and priorities and those of the members. Second, not unreasonably, this is interpreted as a mandate to carry through his programme regardless of what the shadow cabinet and the bulk of the PLP thinks. Third, it doesn't matter how it is dressed up, direct criticisms of him in the media by his shadow appointees and the various proxy attacks via Andrew Fisher, or via Stop the War, or via Momentum, are seen as challenges to his authority as well as attempts to undermine him. When you have the shadow foreign secretary banging the drum of war, or shadow ministers repeatedly refusing to back the leader when asked, or shadow ministers openly attacking proxies for Jeremy, or worst criticising him directly, how else can that be interpreted? One should not be surprised if their places around the leadership table is not as secure as they thought. It's also worth remembering that Ed Miliband was more ruthless in rooting out shadow ministers who were less than enthusiastic with his leadership, so Jez has precedence on his side. Jeremy is well within his rights to axe who he wants, and b;eating about it just looks like, well, bleating.

By the rules of the game, what Jeremy decides is law. His position is unassailable, and no amount of front bench resignations will tip him over into retirement. Especially now Jeremy reportedly has around 30 MPs that are considered loyal - a number that has grown since assuming office. In these circumstances, I think it's probably for the best if oppositionists are neither seen nor heard. From the standpoint of winning the party "back" to the centre or the right, it would do their cause a world of good if a) they shut up, b) cared more about attacking the Tories than Jeremy, and c) confined their opposition activities to out-recruiting their opponents, rebuilding the labour movement, and/or making constructive criticisms. Shadow ministers and backbench MPs moaning down the phone to the Telegraph news room weakens their position among the membership, and finds no echo whatsoever among a largely indifferent public. Yet they won't pack it in, even though it would be good for them. With a few dozen exceptions, they don't know how to organise and so they're locked into this pattern of self-destructive behaviour.

To reiterate, the majority of members voted for the left-led Labour Party experiment and would like to see it to be allowed to work itself out on its own terms. You might be sceptical. I might be sceptical, but it does deserve that. If assorted shadow ministers, MPs, or factions are seen to be sabotaging it, the members aren't going to revert back to the old ways. If anything, they will be outraged. So that is it, that is the situation. If front benchers don't like it, they should make way for others who are prepared to do the job. And if they persist in attacking in making much of the motes in Jeremy's eyes while ignoring the beams sticking in the Tories', well, reselection after the boundary review is going to be interesting.

The Most Read 15 of 2015

As 2015 sits patiently in the anteroom of history, it's time to pause and reflect on the one thing that really mattered these last 12 months. All That Is Solid had the best viewing figures ever. That's right, this blog has been clicked on some 687,000 times this year, which is almost 1,900 page views a day on average. Not bad, but I want more. It was always going to be a busy year what with the general election and an increased interest in all things political, so let's see if that can be trumped in 2016.

So here for your jollification are the 15 most-read posts of the last year. If you missed any of them first time round you now have no excuse ...

15. The Unavoidable Horizon of Lesser Evilism
14. If David Miliband Had Won
13. Labour Vs the Militant Tendency
12. Who I Voted For Labour Leader
11. Why Labour Should Adopt a Citizen's Income
10. The Sociology of Tory Stupidity
9. The Socialist Party's Erratic Marxism
8. Jeremy Corbyn and Hard Left "Infiltration"
7. The Far Left and the 2015 General Election
6. Lessons of the Labour Leadership Campaigns
5. Far Left General Election Results 2015
4. Dear Liz Kendall
3. Top 100 Independent Tweeting Bloggers 2014
2. Top 100 Tweeting Political Commentators 2015
1. Class and Ideology in Sex Party Secrets

The usual then, a mix of hard left things, lists, and bonking. Except on this occasion there is no SWP - they're so marginal even I can't be bothered to write about them any more. Nevertheless, knowing the audience here are as much a creature of habit as I, the next 12 months is highly likely to feature a mix of the same. Though, who knows, perhaps substantive posts about other topics - witness Liz Kendall and other "straight" political posts infiltrate the list in okay numbers - might feature more prominently next time out.

Okay, okay, what didn't make the list deserves more of your time? Here are a few choice cuts: The Postmodern Effacement of Class, The Political Economy of Scapegoating, and How the Conservatives Can Win Again. I think these two latter pieces are the most important I've written this last year - so check them out.

Was there a post you particularly liked? Or, even better, one you really hated?

What I've Been Reading Recently

Since last time, I've polished off the following books:

LA Noir by James Ellroy
The Long Utopia by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
Expressions of Identity by Kevin Hetherington
Xeelee Endurance by Stephen Baxter
Networks of Outrage and Hope by Manuel Castells
Party and Society by Cedric de Leon
Isaac and Isaiah by David Caute
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
Third Wave Feminism by Stacy Gilles, Gillian Howie, and Rebecca Munford (eds)
Up Against Foucault by Caroline Ramazanoglu (ed)
Gaga Feminism by J Jack Halberstam
Complete Fairy Tales by The Brothers Grimm
Ocean's Eleven by Dewey Gram
Understanding Judith Butler by Anita Brady and Tony Schirato
Psychoanalysis: An Introduction by Ian Craib
The Magus by John Fowles
Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy
Masculinities in Theory by Todd W Reeser
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Masculine Domination by Pierre Bourdieu
Snow Falling On Cedars by David Gutterson
Pornification by Susanna Paasonon, Kaarina Nikunen, and Laura Saarenmaa (eds)
The Swimming Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst
Body Talk by Jane M Ussher (ed)
The Woman In Black by Susan Hill
Sixty Lights by Gail Jones
Feminisms and the Self by Morwenna Griffiths
A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris
Rereading Capital by Ben Fine and Laurence Harris

There are some truly superb novels and thought-provoking works of social theory in that list. Anything catch your eye? And what have you been reading recently?