 | And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie Collection) by Agatha Christie
Buy new: £4.97 / Used from: £0.44 She writes fantastically cunning plots; I read many of her books and they were always extremely intriguing and satisfying. This is just one that stuck in my head.
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 | Bill, The Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison
Buy used from: £0.01 This irreverent sci-fi comedy is the only book I've read more than twice. Sadly, the quality drops off after the first sequel. His 'Stainless Steel Rat' series is of a more consistent quality.
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 | Bonjour Tristesse (Essential Penguin) by Francoise Sagan
Buy new: £5.47 / Used from: £0.01 This short novel, recommended to me by a French girlfriend, shows profound psychological insight considering the author was very young when she wrote it.
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 | Chronicle of the Guayaki Indians by Pierre Clastres
Buy used from: £3.16 A very matter-of-factly written book, to the point where it sometimes feels stilted, but the subject matter is fascinating. Sadly, both the author and the savage tribe portrayed are long dead.
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 | The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Buy new: £5.00 / Used from: £0.01 The author takes the best conspiracy theory in existence and weaves a breathless, action packed story around it. Almost as good as "Angels and Demons."
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 | Emotional Intelligence by Daniel P. Goleman
Buy used from: £8.70 A wonderfully perceptive book about the fact that there are different kinds of intelligence. This book will make you a better person.
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 | From Thessaloniki to Auschwitz and Back, 1926-96 (Library of Holocaust Testimonies) by Erika Myriam Kounio-Amariglio
Buy new: £12.95 / Used from: £2.39 I found this very emotional, especially because the author is my grandmother. It is written with such innocence and simplicity that the horror of the Holocaust is brought home with surprising force.
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 | Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
Buy used from: £0.01 Every line in this book is as carefully crafted as if it were a poem. I think the author is a Canadian poet. Very impressive.
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 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Book 1) by J.K. Rowling
Buy new: £4.53 / Used from: £0.01 Definitely inspiring! Especially after watching Jeremy Paxman interview her on TV and seeing the level of background detail she had committed to paper to help create her massive world.
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 | Interstellar Pig by William Sleator
Buy used from: £0.01 This book gave me terrible recurring nightmares when I was young - I don't remember how young, but pre-teen certainly. I read it again recently and it is quite creepy, but fun and very imaginative.
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 | Last Chance to See.... by Douglas Adams
Buy used from: £0.99 A departure from his typical off-the-wall sci-fi, such as the wonderful 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', this is a travel book based on finding endangered species. Funny and affecting.
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 | A Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela by Nelson Mandela
Buy new: £8.73 / Used from: £0.01 Despite being heavily political, this autobiography is consistently gripping and emotive. And educational!
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 | Losing My Virginity: The Autobiography by Sir Richard Branson
Buy used from: £0.01 I cannot recommend this book enough. An incredibly inspirational autobiography, which will make you believe that anything is possible. Utterly compelling.
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 | The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Buy new: £3.86 / Used from: £0.01 This made me cry at almost every chapter. It is full of the most beautiful sadness, and the grisly tragedy at the centre of this novel is captured with such a convincing childlike perspective.
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 | Lucky You by Carl Hiaasen
Buy new: £5.46 / Used from: £0.01 This is a hilarious book, with great characters and atmosphere. I since read a few more books by the same author, and they are all very much in a similar vein, but this is the best.
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 | Mila 18 by Leon Uris
Buy new: £4.84 / Used from: £0.06 An intricately factually detailed WWII story and a great yarn, which I think is typical of the author, but I don't think I've read anything else by him. I'd like to, though.
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 | Mort: A Discworld Novel by Terry Pratchett
Buy new: £4.79 / Used from: £0.01 The first Pratchett book I read, and it made me laugh out loud. All his books are hilarious, loaded with cutting social commentary, insightful and moralistic.
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 | His Dark Materials Gift Set: "Northern Lights", "The Subtle Knife", "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
Buy used from: £7.99 This reads as if the author listed all of the great unanswerable questions in life and wove them all together with the most powerful and sustained display of imagination I have ever been witness to.
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 | Pet Sematary by Stephen King
Buy used from: £0.01 The only book that has actually, physically scared me. As with any horror, though, it's your imagination and anticipation that frightens you, so the ending was a let-down.
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 | The Phantom Tollbooth (Collins Modern Classics) by Norton Juster
Buy used from: £0.01 An excellent children's book. I bought it for my fifteen year old brother and he reminded me how great it was. Helped me develop my fascination with words.
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 | Rendezvous With Rama (S.F. Masterworks S.) by Arthur C. Clarke
Buy new: £5.46 / Used from: £0.63 A spectacular and realistic sci-fi. It's only short, and I highly recommend it. If you like this, there are three sequels, the last two of which are well worth reading.
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 | A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Buy new: £6.29 / Used from: £0.01 His sardonic travel books are fairly entertaining, but the amount of research that must have gone into reinventing himself as a popularizer of science is impressive.
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 | Take Me with You: A round-the-world journey to invite a stranger home by Brad Newsham
Buy new: £8.54 / Used from: £0.01 The most heartwarming and modest travel book I have ever read. Restores your faith in the human race, and as any good travel book should, makes you long for a few months abroad. I want a sequel!
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 | The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
Buy new: £4.97 / Used from: £0.01 The debut novel of a sophisticated and twisted author. I enjoyed the dark & disturbing quality of this book; maybe it was the age I was at when I read it.
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 | Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
Buy new: £6.14 / Used from: £0.01 Just incredible. Shows how crazy our world (and especially China over the last century) can be.
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