 | Germinal (Penguin Classics) by Emile Zola
Buy new: £5.98 / Used from: £4.39 A beautifully written and translated masterpiece. Zola is the master of the crowd scene. Germinal is about the struggle between man and machine, peasant and capitalist businessman. A gripping read.
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 | Of Human Bondage (Vintage classics) by William Somerset Maugham
Buy new: £7.49 / Used from: £5.02 Under the influence of Zola, Maugham wrote this masterpiece about the shackles that confine us - love, disability, money, health, religion - it's all here!
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 | The Picture of Dorian Gray (Penguin Classics) by Oscar Wilde
Buy new: £3.97 / Used from: £0.19 So much more than a Gothic novel. This deals with many issues, including the human soul and the role of art in life. Full of Wilde's epigrams: it will seep into your brain and stay there forever!
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 | Madame Bovary (Penguin Classics) by Gustave Flaubert
Buy new: £5.48 / Used from: £0.44 Wonderfully atmospheric stuff from the godfather of realism. Flaubert's painstaking writing process and his search for perfection in writing makes this a compelling read. Full of twists and surprises.
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 | Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Buy used from: £0.34 This book knocked me off my feet! One of those books that has everything - social commentry, plot twists, suspense and great writing. Many parallels with modern politics are in this prophetic work.
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 | A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Buy new: £6.07 / Used from: £0.01 Five years in the making - this is about popular science and will astound you and make you laugh at the same time. Bryson makes you realise how unimportant human life is compared to the grand scheme!
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 | The Conquest of Gaul: Conquest of Gaul (Classics) by Julius Caesar
Buy new: £5.56 / Used from: £1.00 Caesar's incredible if biased account of Europe B.C. This book proves that politics haven't changed in 2000 years. Also contains the first recorded accounts of life in Britain.
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 | Crow: From the Life and Songs of the Crow by Ted Hughes
Buy new: £5.98 / Used from: £0.58 Beautifully written poetry that speaks on a level that connects directly with the subconscious. A haunting read.
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 | L' Assommoir (Classics) by Emile Zola
Buy used from: £0.01 Filth, squalor, sex and swearing - not the intellecual read you might imagine. A nineteenth century soap opera full of scandal and infidelity. Difficult to put down.
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 | Keep the Aspidistra Flying (Penguin Modern Classics) by George Orwell
Buy new: £6.22 / Used from: £3.69 Gordon Comstock is a struggling writer who shuns money and craves the gutter. Chapter eight made me CRY with laughter. Anyone who has ever struggled with money will LOVE this book!
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 | Bel-ami (Classics) by Guy Maupassant
Buy new: £6.47 / Used from: £3.50 Deliciously written comedy about 'Bel-Ami', a 19th century cad, who sleeps his way to the top. Saucy and devilish titillation!
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 | The Orton Diaries by Joe Orton
Buy used from: £3.93 18 months of London in the Swingin' 60's. This diary follows Orton through the glittering socal scene and squalid public lavatories of London. A story of fame and, ultimately, murder.
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 | The Kenneth Williams Diaries by Kenneth Williams
Buy new: £9.72 / Used from: £0.01 Fascinating book by a greatly misunderstood man. Williams obsesses about his failing health and slags off everyone around him. Real fly-on-the-wall stuff.
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 | A Woman's Life (Classics) by Guy de Maupassant
Buy used from: £1.51 A gripping, beautifully-written story of the ups and downs of a woman's life. Full of scandal and suspense, this book demands to be read in one or two long sittings. Put your bedside lamp on!
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 | The Pimp by Iceberg Slim
Buy new: £4.88 / Used from: £4.87 A shocking semi-autobiographical account of one of America's most successful pimps. Written in a direct, no-nonsense style that will be too graphic for many. An incredible read.
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 | Blankets by Craig Thompson
Buy new: £15.41 / Used from: £7.07 A beautiful, delicate book about lost innocence and the emotional rollercoaster that is childhood. This book will bring back hidden memories of your formative years.
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 | Mother Tongue: The English Language by Bill Bryson
Buy new: £6.98 / Used from: £0.01 A funny, amazing and informative book about the origins of the English language. Everyone who has borrowed it from me has ended up placing it in their top 10. Essential reading.
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 | The Coffee Table Art Book by R. Crumb
Buy used from: £44.23 The life story of Robert Crumb, underground cartoonist of the hippy counterculture, in words and pictures. This WILL offend you, shock you and make you laugh. P.C is NOT on the agenda here!
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 | The Diaries of Kenneth Tynan by Kenneth Tynan
Buy used from: £1.13 These diaries follow the last years of Kenneth Tynan, theatre Critic and literary manager of the National Theatre. Encounters with Miles Davis, Muhammed Ali and other greats make this a great read.
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 | Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
Buy new: £5.77 / Used from: £0.01 At last: a bestseller that deserves the hype. This is the story of 3 generations of Chinese women. Read about life in feudal and communist China. Trust me - you will want to read it all in one go!
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 | Tales of Mystery and Imagination (Wordsworth Classics) by Edgar Allan Poe
Buy used from: £0.01 Poe is the master of pyschological terror. His short stories still, after over a century, have the potency to chill your bones. Keep the light on after you've finished reading these tales!
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 | Women by Charles Bukowski
Buy used from: £2.50 Written under the influence of several bottles of whisky and beer, this is a sordid and poetic account of Charles Bukowski's encouters with women. You can SMELL the alcohol wafting from the pages!
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 | Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (International Writers) by Patrick Suskind
Buy new: £4.44 / Used from: £0.01 Often quoted by teen goths as their fave book, but don't let that put you off. The central character is a man with a highly-developed sense of smell who becomes infamous in Restoration-period Paris.
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 | Slaughterhouse 5, or The Children's Crusade - A Duty-dance with Death by Kurt Vonnegut
Buy new: £5.08 / Used from: £2.95 Set against the backdrop of the Dresden bombings, a pilot is kidnapped by aliens from the planet Tralfamador and mated in a zoo with a porn star! An anti-war novel that will change the way you think!
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 | Therese Raquin (Penguin Classics) by Emile Zola
Buy new: £5.49 / Used from: £3.09 Zola's darkest work, set in the claustrophobic alleyways of 19thC Paris. An illicit affair leads to a grisly murder. The couple are driven insane by the memory of the victim and by his ailing mother.
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