Sophie Mazzier recommends
I read quickly, voraciously and indiscriminately enjoying crime thrillers, biographies and general fiction. Reading quickly has advantages (I usually average a book a day on holiday) in terms of quantity but I can seldom remember the plot for long (which means I also enjoy re-reading books) and while I know whether or not I have enjoyed a book, I am useless in book club discussions…
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
Bill Bryson
A really joyful account of the innocence Bill Bryson’s boyhood - growing up in a different era in Midwest America. I enjoyed most of his other works as well, but this one is stand out.
A Prayer for Owen Meany
John Irving
How do you choose just one from Irving’s prolific and diverse excellence? Comic and tragic and beautifully written - I LOVE THE WAY OWEN SPEAKS IN CAPITALS.
To Kill a Mockinbird
Harper Lee
As one of my “O Level” books (yes I am that old), it has remained a favourite and unlike others I enjoyed at that age, it withstood the test of my reading it aloud to my own daughters.
Cannery Row
John Steinbeck
My introduction to Steinbeck. I was drawn in from the first page and read it without putting it down the first time (luckily it is short) and then devoured everything else he wrote, but this remains a favourite.
A Gentleman in Moscow
Amor Towles
A beautiful meandering tale set in Moscow in the 1920s where the main protagonist, Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced to house arrest by a Bolshevik tribunal and escorted not to his usual suite at the Hotel Metropol but to an attic room. He adapts, apparently seamlessly to his new way of life and befriends a glamorous actress, a grumpy chef and a very serious child. A thrilling story told at a gentle pace.
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Charlie Mackesy
A beautiful book in every way – the illustrations, the characterisations, the truths, the friendships, the warmth – a truly “feel-good” book which makes me weep every time I read it.