Recommended Reading

More to follow but here are some to keep you going...

 

 

CULT CLASSICS

 

Iain Banks The Wasp Factory - Warped debut novel from Banks about a strange family in the north of Scotland. Odd, weird & nastily funny.

History of the Zombie War - fight against zombies. Could this be real? I believe him!

Charles Bukowski Post Office - Brilliant look at down and outs in 1950s America through this autobiographical cult classic. First in his series of novels.

Anthony Burgess A Clockwork Orange - Burgess’s still infamous nightmare vision of youth in revolt as 15 year old Alex is sent to prison, for rape, to be reconditioned.

John Christopher Death of Grass - Vicious & prophetic tale of anarchy in the UK after a food shortage brings the country to its knees. Powerful, prophetic, 1950s novel.

Philip D Dick Minority Report - Mind-bending science fiction classic in which people are arrested for thought crime - crimes they have yet to commit.

Cory Doctorow For the Win - Startling vision of teenage rebellion against global corporations. Listen to what this author has to say in this dark vision of the future.

Michael Faber Under the Skin - Bizarre story of a woman hunting for male hitch-hikers in the Highlands. Nothing is what it seems in this cruel, evil novel ....

Hans Fallada Alone in Berlin - An elderly couple drop random post-cards criticising Hitler in this terrific WW2 set German novel. An amazing look at rebellion.

Alex Garland The Beach - The ultimate backpacker novel! A young traveller finds a hidden beach near Thailand. A truly fantastic summer read.

Thomas Keneally Chant of Jimmy - The brutal tale of a young Aborigine going on a violent rampage

Blacksmith in the early 20th century - Gripping and stunning revenge story.

John King Football Factory - Violent look at the Chelsea football hooligan movement in the 1980s. Bloody, vicious and unputdownable. First in a loose trilogy.

Jack Kerouac On the Road - The definitive ‘Beat’ novel. Kerouac’s autobiographical novel about his experiences whilst traveling across America in the 1950s.

Katie Kitamura The Long Shot - Brilliant look at a revenge rematch, 4 years in the making, in the violent world of mixed martial arts. I adored this book.

Jeff Long The Descent - Absolutely terrific horror thriller in which a series of tunnels leads to the discovery of a dangerous new species living underground.

Richard Matheson I Am Legend - The last man on earth finds he is not alone in this acclaimed SF novel about vampires and survival. A short, snappy, amazing read.

Cormac McCarthy The Road - Dark Pulitizer Prize winning novel set in the future after an environmental disaster wipes out 99.99% of the population.

Chuck Palahniuk Fight Club - Gripping and mesmerizing tale about schizophrenia, soap and illegal bare-knuckle fighting. The film of this made Palahniuk a star.

DCB Pierre Vernon God Little - Hilarious, nasty & black comedy about a high-school boy who is suspected of being an accessory in a high school shooting.

Kevin Sampson Away Days - Tranmere Rovers football hooligans run wild in the late 1970s.

William Sutcliffe Are You Experienced?  - Great coming of age novel set, on a travelling holiday of a lifetime, in India. Hilarious, rude and totally believable.

Koushun Takami Battle Royale - In a dark future teenage children are chosen to fight to the death on a remote island. All for television. Vicious, nasty and brilliant.

Irvine Welsh Trainspotting - Legendary heroin/junkie novel set in 1980s Edinburgh.

Eiji Yoshikawa Musashi Sequence - Five book Japanese series about a coward who overcomes his fear to become Japan’s most fears samurai, set in 1650.

 

PRE 19TH CENTURY CLASSICS

Jane Austen Emma - Classic novel in which Emma has to come to terms with her own mistakes as well as other peoples.

Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice - Classic romantic fiction with plenty of humour provided by the ‘comedy of manners’ typical of Jane Austen.
 

George Eliot The Mill on the Floss - The evocative, tragic story of Tom and Maggie, which remains one of the most widely read novels of the period.

E M Forster A Passage to India - Society in India under the British Raj sees clash between East & West arise in this tale of British failings in India.

Thomas Hardy Jude the Obscure - Hardy’s last novel focuses on Jude Fawley, a gifted Wessex man, whose love for Sue Brideshead forces him to break the conventions of Victorian society, with tragic repercussions.

Mary Shelley Frankenstein - The fable of the scientist who creates a man-monster, only to see it inflict murder on the human race.

Bram Stoker Dracula - Classic tale of the vampire seeking the help of Jonathan Harker.

HG Wells War of the Worlds - The Martians invade in this classic invasion story.