The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2008) by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows: Also made into a film, the book is a modern epistolary novel set in 1946 Guernsey in the Channel Islands, where the book’s intrepid protagonist finds literarily adventures and of course, love.

A Man Without A Country (2005) by Kurt Vonnegut: Vonnegut’s last work, the book is a collection of essays dealing with topics ranging from the importance of humour, to problems with modern technology, to Vonnegut’s opinions on the differences between men and women.

White Truffles in Winter (2011) by NM Kelby: The book imagines the world of the French chef Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935), who changed how we eat through his legendary restaurants at the Savoy and the Ritz.

Women in Power: A Manifesto (2017) by Mary Beard: The book addresses the misogynists and trolls who attack and demean women and traces the origins of this misogyny to its ancient roots, examining the pitfalls of gender and the ways that history has mistreated strong women since time immemorial, from Homer’s Odyssey to Medusa, Philomela, Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren.

Forty Rules of Love (2009) by Elif Shafak: This bestseller by the Turkish author Elif Shafak, tells the story of Maulana Jalal-Ud-Din, known as Rumi and his companion Shams Tabrizi and explains how Shams transformed a scholar into a Sufi (mystic) through love.