Listmania!
My top twelve books
The Jungle Books: Jungle Book AND Second Jungle Book (Penguin Modern Classics)The Jungle Books: Jungle Book AND Second Jungle Book (Penguin Modern Classics) by Rudyard Kipling
Buy new: £3.12 / Used from: £3.75
Rich story-telling; can be read by children and adults again and again
The Valley of Fear (Oxford Sherlock Holmes)The Valley of Fear (Oxford Sherlock Holmes) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Buy used from: £0.01
Classic Sherlock Holmes thriller
Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of PhilosophySophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder
Buy used from: £7.95
Another book aimed at children, but a hit with adults. Prose introduction to philosophy
The BeachThe Beach by Alex Garland
Buy used from: £0.01
A gripping escape
The Manuscript Found in Saragossa (Penguin Classics)The Manuscript Found in Saragossa (Penguin Classics) by Jean Potocki
Buy new: £8.44 / Used from: £4.98
A Russian doll of a book, from a Polish author: layers of fantastic stories within stories
An Intimate History of HumanityAn Intimate History of Humanity by Theodore Zeldin
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £1.47
Personal interviews provide a looking-glass into the sociology of the past
Guns, Germs and Steel: A short history of everybody for the last 13,000 yearsGuns, Germs and Steel: A short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years by Jared M. Diamond
Buy new: £6.29 / Used from: £4.99
Convincing explanation of the world's history
Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid (20th anniversary edition with a new preface by the author)Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid (20th anniversary edition with a new preface by the author) by Douglas R. Hofstadter
Buy new: £13.29 / Used from: £11.75
Heavy, but worth it. Maths, artificial intelligence, music and art cunningly combined
Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life (Penguin Science)Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life (Penguin Science) by Daniel C. Dennett
Buy new: £7.79 / Used from: £6.00
Enticingly illustrates the power of evolution
The Fabric of Reality: Towards a Theory of EverythingThe Fabric of Reality: Towards a Theory of Everything by David Deutsch
Buy new: £7.69 / Used from: £2.90
An original and exciting perspective on science and knowledge
The Big Sleep and Other Novels (Penguin Modern Classics)The Big Sleep and Other Novels (Penguin Modern Classics) by Raymond Chandler
Buy new: £8.44 / Used from: £6.31
Oozes style from every page
The Meaning of the 21st Century: a Vital Blueprint for Ensuring Our Future: A Vital Blueprint for Ensuring Our FutureThe Meaning of the 21st Century: a Vital Blueprint for Ensuring Our Future: A Vital Blueprint for Ensuring Our Future by James Martin
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £1.50
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