Books

A book voted as the best ever by a huge 42,080 readers is becoming increasingly popular. Suzanne Collins’ novel, The Hunger Games is often hailed as one of the best dystopian works and it stands as one of the most influential young adult novels of the 21st century. Since its release in 2008, it has sold over 28 million copies in the USA alone. On the Goodreads list, one reader who goes by the username of Federico DN, called the novel “dystopian perfection”. Set in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem, the novel introduces readers to Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl who volunteers to take her sister’s place in The Hunger Games which is a brutal televised competition where children fight to the death. The Capitol orchestrates these games as both punishment and entertainment, highlight...

Romance novels are some of the most popular amongst readers over the ages but these five have topped a list for being the best. These timeless tales hold true even in the present day, with relatable characters and emotions.Romance reads are the highest grossing fictional genre in the world, according to Literature and Latte. Readers, writers and publishers have theorised that romantic literature is so popular due to love being one of the major elements of human life with the “plot” of falling in love being a universal experience that many relate to. In a list by She Reads, these are the top five best romance novels of all time.Pride and Prejudice by Jane AustenThe novel follows the life of Elizabeth Bennet, one of five sisters. The story begins with the arrival of the wealthy Mr. Bingle...

The 2010s were a massive decade for books with the likes of John Green's The Fault in Our Stars and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn dominating the charts. But there was one fantasy author in particular who holds the title for highest rated books in the 2010s.The Hunger Games trilogy was hugely popular in the 2010s but it was another very famous author whose book series came out on top in the ranking as voted for by viewers. Who do you think it was? Here are the top 10 most high rated books of the 2010s as voted for by Goodreads' fans.10. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled HosseiniA Thousand Splendid Suns follows the lives of two Afghan women whose lives have become connected in tumultuous modern Afghanistan. Mariam is an illegitimate child who has been married off at a young age and later fi...

It’s been 14 years since George RR Martin published A Dance with Dragons and fans are continuing to wait for the penultimate book in his A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series.In that time, the Game of Thrones TV show has come and gone, with showrunners having to rely on the author’s plot points for the yet-to-be-written The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, to complete the screen adaptation.The 76-year-old occasionally gives titbit hints of his progress with The Winds of Winter on his blog and the latest post featured a blistering slamming of fans complaining about the delay and everything else that comes with it.After mentioning other projects, Martin turned to Winds and mockingly took on the voice of the fans who are fed up of waiting, claiming he doesn’t care and expect he’s giv...

So many books, so little time - it’s a stress that all book lovers feel. But to try and help with your ever-growing TBR, Goodreads has created a list of top books from the past 100 years.Essentially, if you read one book from each year of release, it should be this one.They explained that they wanted to cover a “wide range of genres, topics, authors, and ideas,” rather than just choosing the most ‘popular’ book from each year, as they joked that some years were “very Agatha Christie”.Sharon from Goodreads explained that “you’ll see several stone-cold classics, along with a few books you probably read in your high school English class”.So, which are the best books from each year? Let’s find out…1925 - Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf1926 - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie192...

When Ian Rankin picks a book, it’s never random. The bestselling author of the Rebus novels has spent decades exploring the darker corners of human nature, often through flawed detectives and haunted streets.But his choice for BBC Radio 4’s A Good Read isn’t your standard crime novel. It’s The Glass Pearls by Emeric Pressburger - the screenwriting half of Powell and Pressburger, the filmmaking duo behind British cinema classics like The Red Shoes and A Matter of Life and Death.The story follows Karl Braun, a seemingly ordinary German piano tuner living in 1960s London, who is actually Dr. Otto Reitmüller, a Nazi war criminal hiding in plain sight.Karl lives among other German émigrés, who mistake him for a fellow refugee fleeing Hitler, while he navigates a life of paranoia and self-imp...

Acclaimed espionage writer Nick Harkaway has revealed plans for a second George Smiley continuation novel, promising it won't be as "glamorous" as James Bond.The 52 year old Cornwall native is the son of John le Carre, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 89 and was the original author of the spy series featuring an intelligence officer working for The Circus, Britain's foreign intelligence agency.Harkaway, whose real name is Nicholas Cornwell, released his first continuation novel, Karla's Choice, last year.He confessed: "Last time I was kind of deliberately unaware of how much pressure there actually was."I sort of sat down (to write) and didn't really think about it. And then, after I finished, and as the reviews started to come out and they were positive, I got retrospective terror...

Gillian Anderson has named her favourite books by female authors.Anderson is best known for appearing on our screens in some pretty iconic roles, including Jean Milburn in the hit Netflix series Sex Education and FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in The X-Files . Another string to her bow is shining a light on women's rights through her work in activisim.The actor's role in The Files particularly struck a chord with women and inspired many to pursue careers in medicine and science.She told Stylist that she decided to play the role as "for the first time in a long time, the script involved a strong, independent, intelligent woman as a lead character".Anderson has taken part in charity work, and advocated for positive representations of women and the LGBTQ+ community.In Sex Education, Anderso...

George RR Martin has named a book that he loves, saying he has more than 20 favourite books.In an interview on his favourite books, the Game of Thrones author noted one particular high fantasy series that he always returns to.Lord of the Rings by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien was the choice of Martin.He said: "I do love Tolkien of course, Lord of the Rings is another book I return to."Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy sci-fi series that is set in Middle-earth and it follows Frodo Baggins and others of the fantasy world as they go on a journey to destroy the One Ring and defeat its maker, the Dark Lord Sauron.The Lord of the Rings series is renowned as one of the best books of all time so it is no surprise that sci-fi writer Martin would admire it.The series of books were...

Reading can transport you to other worlds (stock photo) (Image: Getty)Everyone has their favourite genre of media, whether you're a fan of binge-watching crime dramas, watching sci-fi films, or burying your nose in romance books. For me, it's horror books.I could never sit through a horror film without hiding behind the sofa and wanting to burst into tears, but books are entirely different. There's no tense music unless that's what you choose to listen to in the background, and nothing is going to jump out from the pages and actually scare you.Instead, you're left with interesting tales about things that go bump in the night and plot twists that make your jaw drop. Whether it's monsters, ghosts, or a creepy mind-controlling fungus, I'm here for it.I actually wasn't a big reader before t...