This article was inspired by a circular I received on Facebook encouraging people to write down the fifteen books they found interesting and/or inspiring. After doing that, I realized I wanted to share my insights with more than just the few friends on Facebook I have who would bother reading! So here they are for you, in no particular order…

1) The Dark Tower, Stephen King.This is definitely King’s masterpiece, an almighty work of fiction that took him 34 years to complete. And in many ways, every book that he wrote in between was a part of this story. The Dark Tower encompasses the worlds of The Stand, It, and ‘Salems Lot – all Stephen King classics in their own right, and yet even seven books barely seem to contain the complex (yet at the same time utterly simple!) storyline. The world he has created is superb, and the characters nothing short of breathtaking. I remember reading the first, second, and third books very quickly – and then having to wait nearly a year for the release of part 4!! Then another 6 (7? 8? I really don’t remember any more) years for the final 3 parts. There was a time when it seemed obvious that King’s tale would NEVER be finished – and that drove me nearly mad with frustration.

Ever since picking up those novels, I have been urging people to read those novels – and now I’m doing the same! If you haven’t read them, get hold of them and READ them. You may have to persist through the first one, as the story may seem quite strange at first… But believe me, power through the first and get onto the second, and it won’t be long before you’re hooked!

2. The Green Mile, Stephen King. Don’t worry – they aren’t all going to be Stephen King novels, but I had to include this one as it was the first I ever read. It was originally released as a 6-part thriller, one small book released every month. I remember, even now, the day I saw part 1 and 2 in Safeway (I think!). For some reason, the once-a-month thing appealed to me, so I bought them and read them together that Saturday afternoon… Then waited a month and got the next one and read it that afternoon… You get the idea… You’ve probably seen the film, and it is a pretty decent translation of the text (though there are a few slight omissions, and I’ve always hated that drawn-out execution scene), but just in case you haven’t, the book is brilliant.

3. The Talisman, Stephen King and Peter Straub. Okay, this is the last Stephen King one in the list, that’s a promise. This is a fantasy adventure about an all-American (Jack Sawyer) boy who finds out that he can travel to another world. Which turns out to be pretty handy, as his mother is dying of cancer and there is one object in that other world (The Talisman) that can cure her. So begins Jack Sawyer’s quest to find the Talisman and save his mother. A fast-paced (well, apart from the first couple of chapters, which may take some work to get into) adventure story that will sweep you along to the very end.

4. Ghost Story, Peter Straub.This is exactly what the title suggests – a ghost story. The ultimateghost story, in my opinion. It would be difficult for me to go into exact details of the plot, as it’s been a long time since I read it, but I assure any fan of suspense that you won’t be disappointed.

5. Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling. Another magical adventure story. Okay, so now I sound, and feel, like a big kid – but there’s nothing quite like a good adventure yarn, or a coming-of-age story, or a good vs evil showdown – and these books have it all. The first three did read like kids stories to me – but good kids stories – but the last ones were something very different. Much darker, much more complex – brilliant.

6. His Dark Materials, Phillip Pullman. Another novel aimed at teenagers. Another magical fantasy incorporate other worlds, magic, talking animals… Should point out that I didn’t actually read these books as a teenager either… Still brilliant though.

7. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck. Purely brilliant, all through. An example of near-perfect writing!

8. The Dice Man, Luke Rhinehart.A cult classic about a psychiatrist who starts using dice to make his day-to-day decisions. This then leads him on to using the dice to make more and more decisions, and then all of them. Right down to who he is and how he should live. Using his position as a psychiatrist, he then begins to introduce this “dice-living” to his patients… and then sets up “dice centres” where people can come and begin the process of living their whole lives by the whim of the dice. The author takes a completely wacky idea, but writes it with such passion and realism that it’s hard to believe that the the Luke Rhinehart who’s narrating is not the same man as the Luke Rhinehart whose name appears on the front cover.

9. The Godfather, Mario Puzo. A modern classic; and totally unsurprising that the book spawned what could be two of the greatest films of all time. The book is a fusion of the best parts from the film, but written with excellent detail of the workings of the mafia – and of Don Corleone in especial. As well as giving us the inner workings of Vito Corleone’s web of connections, the story is about Michael Corleone’s coming-of-age, and his inevitable rise to his destiny at the head of the Corleone family.

10. Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes.A truly moving piece of storytelling. Charlie has an IQ of 85, and is offered an operation concocted by a group of scientists that will make him smart. They have already performed the operation on a mouse named Algernon, and are looking for their first human subject. Fast forward a few months and Charlie has an IQ of 185, a genius. He is given a new job, working with the very scientists who helped make him intelligent. Despite his new intelligence, Charlie struggles to come to terms with the ways of the world around him – he struggles with new personal relationships, and the old ones fall apart. All of this story we are told through a series of diary entries, starting with an early Charlie who’se grammar is poor and who can barely string coherent a sentence together. So it’s not so much being told the story as living it; and when Charlie discovers a flaw in his scientists’ work, and watches the mouse Algernon regress back to his former state and then die, we feel the same horror as he does, knowing that his IQ too will return to its former level… Gripping, heart-wrenching stuff.

11. Watership Down, Richard Adams. Talking of gripping, heart-wrenching stuff… I can think of nothing that moved me (or surprised me) more than this story about a group of fluffy, cute bunny rabbits. Most of them fluffy and cute anyway. For those of you who’ve seen the film – unlucky. I can’t imagine what it would be like to read this book and already know what happens. It is a testament to the writer that, reading this book as an adult, I somehow managed to identify with this group of rabbits (never once questioning how that was possible), was sucked into the story so completely that it was like I was there, and even found myself dreaming of the rabbit god El-ahrairah!!

12. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov. An astounding piece of writing, especially if writing is something you enjoy doing yourself. I’m sure you all know what it’s about – but the most amazing thing about this story is the way it’s told, the way you find yourself, for the first part of the novel, actually accepting the narrator’s version of the tale… accepting it, and even sympathising with him, with his predicament, with his behaviour… It’s only as you get deeper into the book that you start questioning yourself on these things too!! Right about the time you begin questioning Humbert’s sanity.

13. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey.Another great read. In fact, I remember skipping classes at college, finding an empty room, and reading it there. Only took a couple of days doing it that way!

14. We Need To Talk About Kevin, Lionel Shriver.Another mind-blowing novel. Started quite slow but really built up to an awesome climax. Written in the form of letters, it is the story of Eva Khatchadourian, a mother desperately trying to come to terms with what her son has done… and what part she may have had to play in it. At the age of fifteen, Kevin walked into school and killed several of his peers… Eva was never cut out for motherhood, never keen on it, and maybe it was this, she wonders, that led Kevin to commit his despicable act? The book explores the nature vs nurture argument deeply, whilst at the same time providing a thrilling story.

15. The Dark Tower, Stephen King. Yes. This is the second time it’s on the list. Back to the beginning again. Very apt.Just in case you forgot about it. The story is so good that I’ve actually just re-read it (or them, whichever way you want to think about it). It’s hard to believe that a book can have a profound effect on your life on two separate occasions – but with this one it really has!!