My Favourite Books

I don't have children but I imagine choosing your favourite book is like picking your favourite child. How do you decide? They're each so unique and individual. I thought about the books on my shelves, the ones I've read more than once and often have the book and audio book. These are the books I recommend to friends over and over again so I realised these must be my favourites...

1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I read The Night Circus for my book club and it has been my mission to get everyone I know to read it too. There's a definite line in the sand between people who love it and people who don't. I'm not saying we can't be friends if you don't like it but all my best friends do.  

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. 

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.

I love the way Morgenstern moves between the story and a second person account of visiting the circus. You feel like you are actually there. The sensory detail is out of this world, especially the scents. It made my mouth water! The individual tents are gloriously described in a way that isn't overwhelming - I'm not really a lots of setting kind of person but this book does it fantastically. 

Morgenstern is also a fellow NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) participant which makes it feel extra special. The story is based on a novel she wrote during NaNo and the one idea that she kept when she redrafted was the night circus. It has given me hope during my own frantic writing during NaNo in November.

erinmorgenstern.com
​Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Every favourite books list needs a classic and this is my absolute favourite. I love Jane as a character, she's feisty and intelligent, she follows her heart and loves her freedom. It's a book I've returned to and one I always find new layers to every time I read it.

Jane Eyre has dazzled generations of readers with its depiction of a woman's quest for freedom. Having grown up an orphan in the home of her cruel aunt and at a harsh charity school, Jane Eyre becomes an independent and spirited survivor-qualities that serve her well as governess at Thornfield Hall.

​But when she finds love with her sardonic employer, Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice. Should she stay with him whatever the consequences or follow her convictions, even if it means leaving her beloved? 

Despite being published in 1847 the story still feels relevant, Jane's desire for love, belonging and independence are ones that face women today. There's a wry sense of humour woven throughout the novel and it's a fantastic story.

Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

3. All my Friends are Super Heroes by Andrew Kaufman

This is a fantastic, quirky love story that will have you move from laughter to tears and back within paragraphs. It was another book club read and I adore it. The way Kaufman takes everyday personality traits and turns them into super powers will have you analysing your own quirks and trying to work out which makes you a superhero. I can see myself in many of the characters but I'm yet to pick just one.

All Tom's friends really are superheroes. Tom even married a superhero, the Perfectionist. But at their wedding, Perf is hypnotized by her ex-boyfriend, Hypno, to believe Tom is invisible. Nothing he does can make her see him. Six months later, the Perfectionist is sure Tom has abandoned her, so she's moving away. With no idea Tom's beside her, she boards a plane. Tom has until they land to make her see him.

Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

4. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

THursday Next is a literary detective! Maybe the coolest job ever. She has the ability to go inside books and meet the real life characters. It's the dream of every reader and Thursday is cool and funny too. She's the kind of woman you want to be best friends with, though she would probably land you in a huge amount of trouble. She would get you out of it though and you'd have fun through out. 

Meet Thursday Next, literary detective without equal, fear or boyfriend.

There is another 1985, where London’s criminal gangs have moved into the lucrative literary market, and Thursday Next is on the trail of the new crime wave’s MR Big.

Acheron Hades has been kidnapping certain characters from works of fiction and holding them to ransom. Jane Eyre is gone. Missing.

Thursday sets out to find a way into the book to repair the damage. But solving crimes against literature isn’t easy when you also have to find time to halt the Crimean War, persuade the man you love to marry you, and figure out who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays.
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Perhaps today just isn’t going to be Thursday’s day. Join her on a truly breathtaking adventure, and find out for yourself. Fiction will never be the same again ...

I actually read this before I read Jane Eyre which gave the classic a whole new spin when I did get to it. ​This is the first in a series and the books keep getting better and funnier. I met Jasper Fforde at a book signing and he's a lovely man. He has a "no plan plan" to his writing and the wild, mad-cap stories are a testament to that.

Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

5. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Another book about books, The Shadow of the Wind is about a secret library where copies of out of print books are kept safe. Everybody that visits gets to pick one book to take away and read. The idea captivated me and I wished I could step into the pages and explore the underground labyrinth of shelves.

A stunning literary thriller in the tradition of Umberto Eco. The discovery of a forgotten book leads to a hunt for an elusive author who may or may not still be alive...

Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'cemetery of lost books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles that have long gone out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out 'La Sombra del Viento' by Julian Carax.
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But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from La Sombra del Viento, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax's work in order to burn them. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind. A page-turning exploration of obsession in literature and love, and the places that obsession can lead.

The book was written in Spanish but the translation is incredible, it doesn't feel clunky or as if any of the beauty is lost. The story is complex and beautiful with many elements woven together. In writing this post on my favourite books I realised I enjoy books that combine several stories, merging past and present together as you get to know the characters. It is part of the Cemetery of Books series and the stories build on each other but this one is my favourite. I don't normally like books with a sinister, darker element to them but this is done so well that my desire to know what happens next always drew me on. 

Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

The Others...

As I started this list I realised that I couldn't keep it to five, an acceptable length of a favourite books list, so I'm dividing it up still further to sci-fi and fantasy, life changing and childhood books. That's why there's no Harry Potter here, although maybe he should make it onto both lists. More blog posts to follow...

Have you read any of these?

What did you think? Did you enjoy them too? Let me know in the comments and if you have any suggestions for books you think I ought to read do tell me. I'm always looking for my next favourite book.