writing – Natalie Jones

What I Read in 2025

It’s been five years since I did a round-up of my 2020 reading. I had good feedback on that post, with many people telling me it had inspired them to pick up a book. After several years of not keeping good track of my reading, I decided to do it again — both for my own interest, and hopefully to again give others some inspo for their TBR piles.

The main question I got from last time was: how do you read so much? The main reasons are:

I don’t own a TV. I have next to no desire to watch TV and this means I have a lot of time that other people might spend on watching series.
I read quickly. I always have done. But I have no good tips to increase your reading speed, sorry.
I have a truly excellent public library that uses a great e-book/audiobook app called Libby. Probably about 3/4 of the books I read this year, I read on Libby — for free! I highly recommend finding yourself a public library.

The main thing that’s changed from 2020 is that reading books no longer forms a significant part of my full-time job. Now, I read almost exclusively in mornings, evenings and weekends. If there’s one thing I miss about academia, or at least the privileged version of it that I occupied, uninterrupted hours of reading time is that thing.

The second thing that’s changed is that I got really into audiobooks this year. I listened to books while running, gymming, walking, hiking, on the Overground, on the bus, on the tube, on the aeroplane — everywhere. But for some reason I can only listen to non-fiction. Fiction I save for reading visually.

Upon reviewing the below, what stands out to me is that I was big into memoir this year. Queer fiction/memoir in particular formed a big theme. Conversely, I read less political economy than in the past, preferring lighter fare.

Without further ado, here’s the list:

Fiction

All That We Know by Shilo Kino. Very funny and cutting.
Poorhara by Michelle Rahurahu. I found the sections in text slang quite hard to read but other than that really enjoyed this book.
Amma by Saraid de Silva. I liked the way that certain characters’ hair almost became its own character in the story.
Chrysalis by Anna Metcalfe. Quite strange and I’m not sure whether I enjoyed it.
Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett. I was very late to the Pond party, but so glad I got there in the end. A wonderfully weird book.
But the Girl by Jessica Zhan Mei Yu. I loved the intertextuality of this book, especially the commentary on Sylvia Plath.
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. One of my top four books of 2025. An absolute ripper of a novel.
Waist Deep by Linea Maja Ernst. I read this straight after MoT and found the contrast somewhat jarring as this book contains so much interiority whereas the other is very plot-driven. Will read again at another time.
Ordinary Saints by Niamh Nì Mhaoilcoin. Weirdly foreshadowed certain aspects of my year.
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters. Also late to the party on this one, which I really enjoyed.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. This made me want to read more by him.
Fair Play by Tove Jansson. Ah, Tove Jansson! This book was absolutely glorious.
Stag Dance by Torrey Peters. I wished the short stories had each been novels in their own right.
Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. My favourite of hers that I’ve read so far, and utterly devastating.
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. Just as good as everyone says.
Gunk by Saba Sams. This book made me want to live in Brighton.
Swimming Home by Deborah Levy. Omg this book.
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. My favourite Rooney so far. I loved the way the chapters for each of the brothers differed in style and tone.
The Words of Dr L by Karen E Bender. This book should be better known.
Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh. The twist near the end is utterly spine-tingling.
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. A classic for a reason.
Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor. Not much to say except that I really enjoyed it.
All Fours by Miranda July. I loved this; it’s hilarious.
On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle. Oddly compelling. I cannot wait to read the sequels.
Aerth by Deborah Tompkins. Reminds me of Ursula K Le Guin’s writings, in that it’s as much about politics and economics as it is about science and technology.
Whale Fall by Elizabeth O’Connor. Completely devastating and a strong contender for one of my favourite books of the year.
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata. Very weird.
Saga (Volumes 1-11) by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples. So good. Thanks to Bernard for the recommendation.
I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Towards Darkness by Irene Solà. This book really leans into the grotesque and gets quite weird.
Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata. Also very weird.
Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley. Very nice to read something set in my corner of London.
Universality by Natasha Brown. Very clever; I loved the characters.
Since the World is Ending by Indyana Schneider. Schneider writes about classical music in a way no other author I’ve encountered does. Her descriptions of pieces flow perfectly into the story.
The City and its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami. Completely haunting.
Wild Boar by Hannah Lutz. Primal and strange and very good.
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad. I think I talked about this book to everyone I met for about a month. So good.
Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I wanted the whole book to have been from Kadiatou’s perspective.
Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushima. The light in the apartment! So good.
Moderation by Elaine Castillo. A strong contender for one of my favourite books of the year, and probably my second favourite novel.
Girlbeast by Cecilie Lind. Probably the most distinctive and poetic writing style of any novel I’ve read this year. Expanded my conception of what a novel can be.
The South by Tash Aw. Heartbreaking and very good.
La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman. Re-read and much better the second time around.
Lyra’s Oxford by Philip Pullman. Re-read, and my favourite of PP’s “little” books.
Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman. Re-read.
Serpentine by Philip Pullman. Re-read.
The Collectors by Philip Pullman. Not a re-read, and quite weird.
The Imagination Chamber by Philip Pullman. Very sweet and nostalgic.
The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman. Re-read, and also much better the second time around.
The Rose Field by Philip Pullman. I loved this (albeit with some major quibbles).
Hospital by Sanya Rushdi. Everyone should read this book.

Poetry & Letters

Time is a Mother by Ocean Vuong. What to possibly say about Vuong. I’ll be returning to this book.
Love Letters by Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West. Will someone be publishing books of whatsapp messages one day??
In the Hollow of the Wave by Nina Mingya Powles. I loved how this book integrated sewing, fabric and texture.
Echidna by essa may ranapiri. I loved essa’s first collection and I loved their second too.
Wild Dogs Under My Skirt by Tusiata Avia. Evocative and quite lovely.
Giving Birth to My Father by Tusiata Avia. Hit me right in the heart.

Memoir & Essays

Arrangements in Blue by Amy Key. Loved it; quite insightful on Joni Mitchell.
Swimming Studies by Leanne Shapton. One of my top four books of 2025, serendipitously picked up in the marvellous D&Q bookshop in Montreal.
Desperately Seeking Semen by Hayley Hendrix. Picked up from my building’s lobby/community library, this is a one-of-a-kind account of the author’s quest to have a child.
Things I Don’t Want to Know by Deborah Levy. I already know I’ll be coming back to this trilogy (+TPOS) time and time again.
The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy.
Real Estate by Deborah Levy.
The Position of Spoons by Deborah Levy.
Uncommon Measure by Natalie Hodges. This book has some really great descriptions of what Bach’s music is like.
Not That I’d Kiss a Girl by Lil O’Brien. Hilarious.
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. Bechdel is brilliant.
Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong. I don’t remember much about this book, which I’m not sure is an indictment of it or of me.
The Collected Schizophrenias by Esme Weijun Wang. The hype around this book was totally deserved.
A Man’s Place by Annie Ernaux. Honestly all the Ernaux I read this year kind of blurred into one. It was all moving, gutting, and transcendent.
Happening by Annie Ernaux.
Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux.
The Young Man by Annie Ernaux.
Exteriors by Annie Ernaux.
Love in Exile by Shon Faye. Of course love is political, we all knew it, but this book spells it out in the most gripping way. Also, it’s laugh-out-loud funny.
The Loves of My Life by Edmund White. Stunning.
The Centre Cannot Hold by Elyn R Saks. Lucid and compelling.
Pageboy by Elliot Page. Trans rights = human rights.
Readme.txt by Chelsea Manning. A remarkable story.
Tiny Moons: A Year of Eating in Shanghai by Nina Mingya Powles. A re-read; made me hungry.
Bluets by Maggie Nelson. Another re-read of this mysterious and enigmatic little book.
The Woman In Me by Britney Spears. Picked up from a sidewalk library in Machynlleth, this was a surprisingly good read.
Translating Myself and Others by Jhumpa Lahiri. I think I would have benefited from reading other works of hers before jumping straight into this one.
Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou. I always wonder at how people who write memoirs about their childhood manage to remember so much in so much lucid detail, and this book is no exception.
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner. Vital; manages to transform heartbreak into something transcendent.
Completely Normal and Totally Fine by Rosie Viva. Unexpectedly laughed out loud during this one.
I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee. The author passed away while I was reading this book — RIP.
Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams. One of my top four books of 2025. Totally wild and I think I’ve recommended it to everyone I know at this point.
Slowing the Sun by Nadine Hura. Essential reading–especially on connections between colonisation and climate change.
Kissing Girls on Shabbat by Sara Glass. Soooo good. One of the best memoirs I read this year.
Pathemata by Maggie Nelson. A compact book ostensibly about one thing (jaw pain) but actually about a lot of things (grief, love, covid…)

Society, Politics & Economics

Becoming Tangata Tiriti by Avril Bell. Packs a lot into a little book.
Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal by Mohammed El-Kurd. One of the best books I’ve read about Palestine.
No Straight Road Takes You There by Rebecca Solnit. Solnit does it again!!
The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye. Required reading, and has only aged better over time.
Doppelganger by Naomi Klein. Loved this, especially the attempt to engage properly with conspiracy theorists.
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad. Oof. This book really hammers it home.
Minority Rule by Ash Sarkar. I honestly can’t remember much about this book, alas!
Recognising the Stranger: On Palestine and Narrative by Isabella Hammad. A short yet vital account of the stories we tell.
The Unsettled by Richard Shaw. One in the great tradition of books by Pākeha attempting to understand and ‘unsettle’ their family history.
Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke. A fun and funny romp through the cultural history of bums, which of course ends up being all about gender and race.
Empireworld by Sathnam Sanghera. An insightful account into how the legacies of British empire permeate the whole world. Thanks to Alisha for the recommendation.
We, the Heartbroken by Gargi Bhattacharyya. Ideal bath reading.
The Financial Colonisation of Aotearoa by Catherine Comyn. This book is essential for understanding Aotearoa New Zealand’s past and present. I learned a lot!

International Law

The Human Right to Resist in International and Constitutional Law by Shannonbrooke Murphy. I reviewed this book for EJIL and shortly you’ll be able to read my review!

Nature, Climate & Environment

The Language of Climate Politics by Genevieve Guenther. Guenther expertly exposes the narratives and language used by climate deniers/delayers.
Crude Britannia by James Marriott and Terry Macalister. I liked the way they wove in music into the book, which is otherwise about oil politics and economics.
All We Can Save by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine K Wilkinson (eds). Beautiful and powerful essays.
The Destruction of Palestine is the Destruction of the Earth by Andreas Malm. Highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to know about the longue durée of Palestine and climate.
Thirst by Robert Macfarlane et al. A short collection of essays and poems about fresh water: vital.
Dispersals by Jessica J Lee. Very beautiful and ideal hiking reading.
Strata by Laura Poppick. Makes me wish I had studied geology!
Here Comes the Sun by Bill McKibben. Maybe the most uplifting climate book I read this year. Solar is the future (and, increasingly, the present).
Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane. One of my top four books of 2025. I recommend the audiobook version (read by the author).
The Climate Diplomat by Peter Betts. An indispensable insider account of climate negotiations. The descriptions of UK civil service politics are especially enlightening/frustrating.
The Long Heat by Wim Carton and Andreas Malm. Compelling and well-argued account of how not to tackle climate change.

Music

Nurtured by Love by Shinichi Suzuki. After reading several books by Dr Suzuki this year, this is the only one that you really need, in my opinion.
House of Music by Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason. Oh my word. Kadiatu is quite a woman.
Memories of Dr Shinichi Suzuki by Lois Shepheard. A very nice account of one woman’s time in Matsumoto.
Shinichi Suzuki: His Speeches and Essays by Shinichi Suzuki. A bit repetitive with other Suzuki books.
Ability Development from Age Zero by Shinichi Suzuki. My second-favourite of Suzuki’s books.
Suzuki: The man and his dream to teach the children of the world by Eri Hotta. The definitive account of Suzuki — very well researched and written.
Man and Talent: Search into the unknown by Shinichi Suzuki. This one comes across as a bit dated.
Quartet by Leah Broad. A really well-researched group biography of four women composers in the 20th century. I loved this book especially because it introduced me to a lot of music I hadn’t heard before.

Management

The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo. I read this for work, since I’ve recently become a manager, and found it really helpful.

My advice for a student hoping to get a job in climate

Every month I speak to at least two or three students who have reached out to me, usually on LinkedIn, who are hoping to get a job once they graduate in the climate space. I figure for each of these people there are probably two more who would love to know this information but for whatever reason don’t like to send cold connection requests.

As a caveat, my experience specifically comes from working in climate policy, in a thinktank. The climate space is much bigger than policy. I can only write to what I know. Your mileage may vary!

Without further ado, here’s the advice I wish I had as a student. It boils down to four things: learning, networking, getting (relevant) experience, and volunteering. Most of this is probably pretty generic to any field! But, regardless, here’s what I think.

1. Learn

You may already be studying something extremely relevant to tackling climate change, like geography or environmental science. But, like me, you may be studying a relatively unrelated field, like economics, politics or law, where papers about the environment form a minority of your courseload. Regardless, there’s a lot you can do to increase your knowledge of climate.

I’d recommend reading books, both new releases and classics. For me, books that made a big difference early on in my climate journey were things like This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein, Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit, and Fossil Capital by Andreas Malm. More recent releases that have taught me a lot include books like A Planet to Win by Daniel Aldana Cohen et al, The Climate Diplomat by Peter Betts and Overshoot and The Long Heat by Andreas Malm and Wim Carton.

For staying up to date with current affairs, I’d recommend newsletters. Carbon Brief do an indispensable daily/weekly newsletter. If climate diplomacy is your bag then look no further than the Climate Diplomacy Briefing. But there are others. Podcasts can also be good.

Finally, there are webinars. A lot of think tanks and NGOs regularly hold online events where they discuss their latest research or campaigns. Keep an eye out for these by trawling the websites of organisations that you like the look of. This is a good way to take the temperature of where the cutting edge is.

2. Network

I know. Networking is so painful (especially for an introvert like me). But it has to be done.

LinkedIn is one thing (my main piece of advice for LinkedIn is to always, always send a specific and tailored message with your connection request). However, there’s no substitute for in-person networking.

If you’re in London or within a reasonable distance, there’s no excuse not to be turning up to events. Every month there are climate events put on by various universities, think tanks and NGOs. If you don’t know where to start, search on Eventbrite. Each June there is London Climate Action Week, where hundreds of events take place. There are monthly London climate drinks. Heaps of opportunities to meet people in the sector that you want to work in. The same advice goes if you’re in any big city.

Networking at an event isn’t hard. The small talk script basically writes itself: “What made you come to this event?” “What did you think of speaker X?” “What’s your biggest takeaway?”

3. Get (relevant) work experience

When it comes time to apply for your first graduate job, having (relevant) work experience will set you above the rest.

Undergraduates have long summers, which are perfect for working. Meanwhile, a PhD is 3-4 years long and most universities will let you work alongside your studies to some extent (Cambridge lets you work for up to 10 hours a week). Taking an internship one day a week for a few months is a good way to broaden your horizons while not distracting too much from your thesis.

How to find internships in the climate space? There’s no easy answer. While there are definitely some advertised (to find these I recommend trawling the websites of organisations that you admire), I personally had no luck with applying for these. Instead, I got two of my internships via completely cold emails. My advice for cold emails is to be as specific as possible about why you admire the organisation’s work, what you could bring to the organisation, and always attach your CV.

What to do if you can’t find an internship in climate? Don’t panic. Almost any internship/work experience will give you transferrable skills, which you can leverage in job applications later on. For example, does this internship give you experience in written and oral communication? Does it teach you data analysis, project management, or research? If so, great. All of these skills are indispensable in my current job.

The other good thing about internships is that they’ll also teach you what you like or don’t like about a given workplace or sector. You may find once you do an internship, for instance, that you don’t actually like or want to work in climate, or in a given type of organisation! That’s extremely important information to know.

4. Volunteer

It’s not always possible to get paid work experience in the climate field. Meanwhile, there’s lots of relevant experience to be had in the voluntary sector. There are a myriad of climate organisations, ranging from student societies to NGOs, who rely on volunteers to get things done. There are all sorts of different roles available and it’s a way to gain relevant experience and relevant knowledge, as well as demonstrate dedication.

Personally, during my PhD I got involved in my college’s divestment campaign. Engaging with a big, old institution to try and get it to change its ways when it came to investment in fossil fuels taught me a lot of skills that I now use in my job. I think it also counted as a plus in my job application as it showed commitment to the cause.

Of course, it’s not always possible to volunteer. Maybe you have caring responsibilities or work many hours a week already. If that’s the case, don’t panic. Volunteering definitely isn’t necessary to find a job later on. But if you can do it, I recommend it.

Good luck!

I hope this post was helpful. My only request of you is that, please, if you do end up getting a job in the climate space, pay it forward and give your honest advice to those who will inevitably ask you the same questions that I get asked all the time.

How I won the Whewell Scholarship in International Law

In 2016, at the end of my LLM year in Cambridge, I won a thing called the Whewell Scholarship in International Law. Nearly a decade on, I still, somehow, get the occasional email from people asking me how I did it. I am sick of receiving these emails. Hence I am writing this blog post. (I will no longer reply to such emails.)

This post will first outline what the scholarship is (and what it is not), before going through what I did in preparation for the exam. If you’re not a current Cambridge LLM student, definitely skip this post.

What the Whewell Scholarship Is (And What It Is Not)

Here’s what the Cambridge website has to say about the Whewell Scholarship:

“LLM candidates in international law are eligible to be considered for the award of the Whewell Scholarship in International Law. The award will be made on the basis of a candidate’s performance in any three of the papers designated as specialist papers in international law, together with a candidate’s performance in an additional examination for Paper 40 (the Whewell Paper) on “Problems and Disputed Points in International Law”. This additional examination does not form part of the LLM curriculum, nor does the mark awarded in this paper contribute towards the overall classification of a candidate’s LLM degree. Instead it is intended exclusively for candidates for the Whewell Scholarship. The examination on “Problems and Disputed Points in International Law” will be held at the same time as the other LLM examinations.“

In other words, to win the scholarship you have to come top, or do very well, in three of your four international law papers, as well as top the Whewell exam (“Problems and Disputed Points in International Law”).

The scholarship entitles you to a place at Trinity College for your PhD, plus a small (and I should stress: small) monetary award. It is not a full PhD scholarship. It may, however, assist you in gaining further funding (I got the Commonwealth Scholarship off the back of my Whewell win).

It’s also worth noting that the Whewell has a certain reputation. Because some very eminent jurists have won the Whewell in the past, certain people (Cambridge or Cambridge-educated international lawyers) will think about you / treat you differently if you win. I definitely noticed it. This is true among only a very small and select group of people though, and will obviously benefit you more if you plan to have a career in (academic) international law.

Finally, you get to have your name painted on a nice little board somewhere in the Lauterpacht Centre 🙂

How I Prepared for the Whewell Exam

It’s difficult or impossible to know what will come up in the Whewell exam; in my opinion in compares only to the All Souls specialist exams for its broad range. My strategy was threefold: revise for my other exams very well; practice past papers; and read widely.

I revised for my other exams very well indeed. I chose not to pick and choose topics, but instead revised everything. (Throughout the year, I read the entire reading lists, too.) This added significantly to my workload, but in my opinion proved worth it. I also revised topics in international environmental law, in which I did not sit the exam (I wrote a dissertation in that paper instead). This latter strategy was very worthwhile as the first question on the paper related to the Paris Agreement, which had then recently been adopted.
I found past papers and practiced writing essay skeletons and full essays. This was the bulk of my preparation for the exam. It helped to get a sense of the kinds of questions that could be asked, and helped me to practice thinking broadly or structurally about the issues. It also helped my overall preparation for all my other exams; in my opinion, it’s impossible to practice essay writing too much.
I read widely. I got a sense from reading past papers that many questions touched on then-current topics or disputes in international law. Hence I read current and recent issues of leading journals like EJIL, AJIL and ICLQ. I read some classic/famous books in international law. I got out my old textbook from undergrad and made sure I was fully across the entire spectrum of general issues in public international law.
This wasn’t part of my deliberate strategy, but that whole year I kept on reading broadly outside of law, as I always do, and I think this proved useful. I remember citing Peter Singer in one of my exam answers, for example, to make some point or other.

That’s all. Will doing these things guarantee a win? No. Will they help? Definitely. Will they make you a better international lawyer? I think so.

Remember, if you don’t win – which is the most likely outcome – there are other ways to do a PhD, and other ways to pursue success in international law.

Good luck!