Here are some books that I loved, and which have stayed with me. Not business books, but fascinating novels that you HAVE to read! In no particular order:
Crash by JB Ballard, it’s shocking and rude, but wow, what a tour de force of living, dying, and being obsessed by cars!
The Magus by John Fowles – fascinating and mysterious, bringing back one’s adolescence, the combination of sex and discovering mysteries, it’s an amazing book
Money – I think this is Martin Amis’s best book, although London Fields comes a very close second. The way it’s written is just incredible, even though it’s populated entirely by horrible people.
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks – unique atmosphere and fun of creative ideas, and the ending will amaze you, you won’t see THAT coming. Just an extraordinary novel.
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – took 100 pages to get going but stick with it – this book has everything – romance, horror, learning about history, some incredibly funny sections and terribly sad ones too. This is what a novel SHOULD be like!
Longitude by Dava Sobel – the incredible story of the first accurate clocks and how they changed the world, with the inventor getting no recognition. Heartbreaking but also fascinating.
The Name of The Rose, by Umberto Eco – one of the few books where the film is almost as good – it is a REALLY good film – but the book is even better, of course. Very dark and atmospheric, and you can imagine how it can end satisfactorily, until it does. Foucault’s Pendulum also really good.
The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman, by Denis Theriault – this little novel has TWO amazing twists that you won’t see coming, and this makes it totally brilliant.
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson – the ultimate climbing / mountain / exploring / survival story, quite incredible, and it’s also TRUE!
They Die Alone – David Howarth – a true story from the Norwegian resistance in the Second World War, this is compelling reading
The Fermata – a bit of fun from Nicholson Baker – what would YOU do if you could stop time??
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry- an incredible book about several families and friends in India and how their luck changes for better and worse – I really cared about all of the people in this book, and the ending – just wow!
The Life of the Spider by JH Fabre – this is the diary of his experiments into spider behaviour – can they learn, can they improvise, how to they know what to do? Completely fascinating, as are his other books about flies, beetles, wasps and bees.
- enjoy!
…. and now, back to my main list of Book Lists
