Since my book, Just As Well It’s Not About The Bike, was published last month I’ve been asked to name some of my favourite books. It’s a task fraught with difficulties, but I’ve endeavoured to include some stand-out contenders below. (The list includes affiliate links which means I may collect a small percentage of the sale – at no cost to you – if you buy through my link.) If any of the titles in this fairly eclectic collection also make it into your top 10, get in touch and let me know. Equally, if you have any recommendations for books I should read in future, I’m all ears…
The Spy and The Traitor
This is the book that I read most recently, so it seems appropriate to start here. I’ve enjoyed Ben Macintyre’s articles in The Times for a number of years, but this meticulously researched account of Cold War espionage still blew me away. It is a tale of extraordinary bravery and sacrifice.
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4
As one of the very few books I’ve read more than once, this was one of the first titles that sprang to mind. Sue Townsend’s creation has stood the test of time and rightly so.
The Beach
Alex Garland’s novel about a trip to Thailand was a touchstone for an entire generation of travellers. Having only relatively recently read the book, I’m somewhat late to the party, but my tardiness neither lessened my enjoyment of the story, nor my ire at Danny Boyle’s film adaptation.
Born to Run
Set deep within Mexico’s Copper Canyons, this is a book that shows the power of narrative non-fiction and how it can both inform and enthrall readers across the globe.
Inverting the Pyramid
Although this is a relatively niche nomination in comparison to some of the books on the list, to a certain demographic of armchair fans and wannabe football managers, Jonathan Wilson’s forensic analysis of the changing shape of football tactics is without equal. It’s been more than a decade since the book was first published, yet the passing years have only gone on to prove Wilson’s predictions correct.
To Kill A Mockingbird
You didn’t expect such a list not to mention this classic novel, did you? The affection I have for the book, and indeed the film, is such that I daren’t read Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman, which was published in 2016 and is set 20 years after the end of To Kill A Mockingbird.
Noughts & Crosses
Another childhood favourite, Malorie Blackman’s book continues to be widely read and celebrated for its potent mixture of love and betrayal amid racial conflict. I had high hopes for the BBC’s adaptation of the novel, but it was deeply underwhelming.
The Boys In The Boat
This fascinating account of how the University of Washington’s underrated eight-man rowing crew earned the right to represent their country and take on the world at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The book’s depiction of the search for sporting perfection against the odds is breathtaking.
James Acaster’s Classic Scrapes
A giant of the UK comedy scene, Acaster doesn’t feature in many lists of the greatest books. Yet his book is the funniest I have read and any title that can surpass Adrian Mole in this regard deserves inclusion in this shortlist.
Fever Pitch
Nick Hornby’s book about the obsession of football fandom deserves all the plaudits it receives. It was my first foray into trying audiobooks and it helped me to appreciate the medium’s enormous appeal. I wouldn’t have been able to put the book down; with my headphones, I didn’t need to.
Interesting list.
I’m never going to read Go Set a Watchman – if Harper Lee had wanted it published, she would have done so.
I had read that it was a prior effort to TKAM and edited INTO TKAM; didn’t realize it was set 20 years in the future. I still won’t read it – think it was a money grab and affected Lee’s reputation negatively, but I may go look at the Wikipedia article (this is exactly why I send Wikipedia money every year).
As a mainstream novelist myself, I wouldn’t want ANYONE finishing my work. I think. Working on the final volume of a trilogy – I WOULD want it finished – maybe – if I couldn’t. Something to think about. I got great pleasure out of publishing the first two. The WHO is critical – I think the only person I’d trust to understand it enough is my beta reader. I think about that sometimes.