J.G. Ballard, Empire of the Sun
One boy’s experience of war in China during the 1940s. Bleak but moving.
John Buchan, The Thirty-Nine Steps
A rip-roaring adventure story from the master of the genre.
Tracy Chevalier, Girl with a Pearl Earring
A very accessible story about love and art in the Netherlands. Easy to read.
Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
Get beyond the first few chapters and you’ll be hooked: love and loss during World War II in Greece.
George Mackay Brown, Beside the Ocean of Town
Time travel from the Vikings to the Nazis by one of Orkney's great writers.
G.K. Chesterton, Father Brown Stories
Detective stories with a twist: the detective is a priest.
Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
A profound and wonderful novel about London and Paris.
Roddy Doyle, The Commitments
A short, funny novella about an Irish band; also a great film.
Jostein Gaarder, Sophie’s World
A very clever and readable introduction to philosophy. Reads more like a story than a philosophical work.
George Gamow, Mr Tompkins
Mr Tompkins is a bank clerk whose fantastic dreams and adventures lead him into a world inside the atom. A very readable introduction to the wonders of Physics.
Alex Garland, The Beach
A real page-turner; Lord of the Flies for our times.
Rumer Godden, In This House of Brede
What is life really like in a convent? This novel gives one answer.
William Golding, Lord of the Flies
A beautifully written novel about a group of boys stranded on a desert island. Anything by Golding is worth reading.
Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
A wonderful story with an aspergic narrator. Very readable.
Thomas Keneally, Schindler’s Ark
Also sold as ‘Schindler’s List’; one man’s attempts to save Jews during World War II.
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
A moving story of racism and growing up in 1930s America.
Laurie Lee, Cider with Rosie
The man writes like an angel; growing up in a Gloucestershire village.
C.S. Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet
If you have read the Narnia books, why not try his fiction for adults? This is the first in a triology: Perelandra and That Hideous Strength (the best of the three) are the next two.
Marina Lewycka, Two Caravans
A bitter-sweet story of migrant workers in the Kent countryside. Funny in parts, eye-opening in others.
Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
Truly inspirational autobiography of one of the most remarkable men of our time.
Alexander McCall Smith, The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Light reading. Detective fiction with a twist.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
Magic Realism at its best; one of the best South American novels of all times.
Flannery O'Connor, A Good Man is Hard to Find
Quirky short stories from the American South by arguably the greatest Catholic writer of the 20th Century.
George Orwell, 1984
A great novel about a possibly nightmarish future; any Orwell is worth reading.
Plato, The Apology of Socrates
This reading list has a horribly modern bias, so why not try out the father of modern philosophy. Surprisingly readable.
Oliver Sachs, The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat
Some case studies from a remarkable neurologist.
Oliver Sachs, Uncle Tungsten
A brilliant memoir about the wonders of Chemistry.
Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Amazing what 19-year olds can produce when they put their mind to it. Forget the films: read the real thing.
Shen Congwen, Border Town
Love and loss from arguably China's greatest 20th Century author.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
A very short book about life in one of Stalin’s Siberian prison camps.
Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
A short novel about the powerful influence of a teacher in a Scottish girls school.
John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men
A profoundly moving (and very short) novella about America during the Great Depression.
Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Short. Brilliant. Scottish.
Bram Stoker, Dracula
One of those books everyone knows and virtually no one has read. Really interesting.
Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels
Not for children: a brilliant satire. Another book everyone assumes they know. Another book everyone should know.
Antonio Tabbuchi, Pereira Declares
A postmodern classic by an Italian but set in Portugal.
Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club
An intriguing book about American-Chinese families from different points of view.
Donna Tartt, The Secret History
A murder mystery set on an American campus; very readable.
J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings
Forget the film; read the real thing.
Various, The Bible
Considering how influential it’s been, it’s amazing how little it is read; try one of the Gospels straight through or The Book of Ruth.
Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited
A wonderful novel about love etc in pre-war Oxford.
H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds
The first science fiction writer; great stuff.
P G Wodehouse, Leave it to Psmith
This guy is funny. Try the Jeeves novels too. Great for escapism.
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