TOP TEN

01

His Dark Material by Philip Pullman

Northern Lights (the first of the trilogy) blew me away as a child. My sister hadn't wanted me to read it as there's violence from the very first chapter, but I remember finding the world so bizarre and so immersive. And that ending! The twist in the first book was I think the first time a novel had ever stunned me. FYI my daemon is a fox.

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02

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I still feel my heart racing when Mr Darcy proposes for the first time and gets shot down immediately. I just love it. Austen was ingenious with her dialogue and it's so easy to fall in love with her characters. It does also help that Darcy comes with a visual of Colin Firth in a wet shirt.

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03

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

This is one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. I love the film too but the book is so real that I looked up a painting described in the book as I just wanted to see it for myself - totally forgetting this is a work of fiction. When a book trips you up like that, you know it's one for all time.

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04

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy by Laini Taylor

This series has a very cool vibe. Set in Prague, Karou is introduced as a blue haired art student who dips in and out of worlds to gather teeth. Why? The mystery is fun to discover and besides all the great twists and interesting characters, the romance is killer. Love the style of writing and loved the mythology.

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05

The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling

Yes, I waited for my letter to Hogwarts. I wanted an owl quite possibly more than a wand, but really I just never wanted the series to end as I grew up with Harry Potter. Disappointingly the legacy is being ruined by the author herself. J.K.Rowling has said some very transphobic things and her later writings in film, books and tweets take away much of the magic she created. But nostalgia is a powerful thing and I can't help remembering that excitement I had with the series growing up.

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06

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

This is one of those books that nowadays would be published with the childhood years edited out, or at the very least cut down to a chapter or bare bones paragraph. Thankfully we get those troubled years as it's those moments (her first friend, Helen and the Red Room) that attach the reader so thoroughly to the character that when she says 'Reader, I married him,' it really does feel like the line comes directly to us from Jane Eyre herself. Never have I felt so at one with a character.

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07

A Song of Ice & Fire by George RR Martin

No, the series isn't finished yet. Will it ever be? So far, there are five books published though Martin has many other novels and short stories in circulation and are must reads if you, like me, are a fan of his writing style. Windhaven is a particular favourite that was co-written by him. But the Song of Ice & Fire series is an unfinished masterpiece of epic proportions - I literally couldn't count how many characters there are in this story as it isn't only the point of view characters (and there are many of those) who drive the story forward, countless others all have their own intricately woven paths. I love that each chapter feels like a short story, the writing is so well thought out and each voice so distinct. Truly a thing of wonder.

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08

The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank

Quite possibly one of the most tragic books ever published that will at the same time make you smile along with Anne. She's a beautiful writer and her diary was meant to be a typical trials and tribulations of a teenager who's starting to get interested in boys. The angst she feels with her family as they're locked in a confined space is a true reflection of teenagehood. Of course the context of how life for all of her family ended, save her father, is felt heavily in every word hopeful or otherwise that she writes. You wish the world was better, you wish you knew who turned her family in and, more than anything, you wish this was a work of fiction.

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09

Concrete Rose/THUG by Angie Thomas

Originally I had To Kill A Mockingbird here and I do still love that book, but Angie Thomas has something magic about her writing. She brings issues of systemic racism into a modern context and these literary gems, like Harper Lee's novel, should definitely be taught in schools. I loved the strong sense of family within the novels and the voice she writes with is funny, heart-breaking and powerful to read. 

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10

Circe/The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

There are many re-imaginings of Homer's Odyssey and Iliad, but none as poetic and devastating as Madeline Miller's. Circe is a great work of feminist art, while The Song of Achilles is gut-wrenchingly romantic. I loved both and only wish Miller to re-write as many Greek myths as the Muses inspire.