Classics                                                                        Author   

Pride and Prejudice                                                       Jane Austen

Still one of the most popular romantic novels of all time, but it is also a wonderful and humorous description of 19^th century manners, morals and society.

Our heroine, Elizabeth Bennett, is a thoroughly modern girl, being clever and witty and not afraid to show it. Her family is relatively well off, but has five daughters and no sons ¡V a real tragedy in those days ¡V the book traces the way in which the girls set about acquiring husbands. Elizabeth meets the dashing but arrogant Mr. Darcy at a party, and takes an instant dislike to him when she thinks he has insulted her. How does their relationship end up? What do you think?

The Picture of Dorian Gray                                          Oscar Wilde

This story is set in about 1890 in London. A handsome, talented but weak young man ¡V Dorian Gray ¡V is having his portrait painted. He wishes that he could always look as young and beautiful as he does in the painting. Somehow, his wish is granted.  He grows older, and more unpleasant and selfish, but remains the same while his portrait ¡V which he hides in his attic ¡V gets older and uglier.

Stylishly written by the brilliant Oscar Wilde, this is a parable for all of us. Never wish for what you want ¡V you might just get it!

The Great Gatsby                                                   F. Scott Fitzgerald

A classic love story set in the Roaring 20s among the extremely rich New York set who spend their time at parties and the theatre and driving fast, beautiful cars.

Jay Gatsby buys a huge estate among the wealthy socialites of Long Island. His wealth comes from somewhere mysterious and possible illegal, but he tries to buy his way into society by throwing huge, expensive parties. He falls in love with Daisy, an upper class girl who lives on a nearby estate.

But Daisy does not return his love and tragedy beckons the unhappy Jay.

The Invisible Man                                                  H.G.Wells

H.G. Wells is often called the Father of science Fiction writers. War of The Worlds has just been made into a major film, and  ¡§The Invisible Man¡¨ has been filmed many times. The original book is not like a Hollywood movie, though, and takes a serious look at the consequences of the scientist¡¦s quest for knowledge. The scientist cannot reverse the effects of his invisibility potion, and the story describes the destructive effects of his powered and how it drives him insane.

Brave New World                                                   Aldous Huxley

A look at the future in the 26^th century in which everything seems to be fine. Humanity is carefree, healthy and technologically advanced. Warfare and poverty have been eliminated and all races are equal. The irony is, however, that all of these things have been achieved by eliminating many things ¡V the family, art, religion, philosophy, and literature ¡V generally considered to be essential to being human.

As in ¡§1984¡¨, the main characters are rebels against this rigid society in that they represent the quest for freedom of thought and choice.

1984                                                                        George Orwell

 A highly influential and well-known book about the future (1984) as seen by the writer 50 years before.

Winston Smith lives in 1984, when every poet of your life is regulated and overseen by a corrupt government that will allow no freedom of thought or expression. Rebels are punished by being taken to the infamous Room 101, where all are made to confront their greatest fears until they become obedient again.

The ideas of ¡§Big Brother is watching you!¡¨ and the State controlling every part of our lives come from here. This is more straightforward and therefore possibly easier to approach than the similarly themed ¡§Brave New World¡¨.

Brighton Rock                                                       Graham Greene

Britain in the 1940s. Pinky is a 17-year-old clever but psychopathic gangster in the seaside town of Brighton. The book follows his rise, and inevitable fall, and gives s a good picture of the criminal side of England just after the last war, when gangsterism became common as men came back from war with no chance of finding a job.

Graham Greene is one of England¡¦s most renowned 20^th century authors and this is one of his more approachable books. You could also try ¡§This Gun for Hire¡¨, about an amoral assassin.

The Old Man and the Sea                                             Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway is not just a famous author, but was famous for the way he lived life to the full, beachcombing in Cuba, gunrunning in the Spanish Civil War, running with the bulls in Pamplona ¡V any thing that he considered ¡§manly¡¨.

His style is deceptively simple and plain, making this a good choice if you are not too confident about your reading ability! However, the simply told story of the old fisherman who never gives up looking for the elusive big fish - despite everything being against him - has a message for all of us.

Of Mice and Men                                                   John Steinbeck

Steinbeck is a favourite American author because of the way he makes small-town and rural America and its people come alive on the page, through his wonderful descriptive skill and sympathy for his characters/.

George and Lenny are two brothers who move around from farm to farm seeking work. George is not just an ordinary farm hand though ¡V he has the soul of a poet even though he is uneducated, and sacrifices every hope of the future for his brother.  Lenny is a large, amiable but slow giant with the mind of a child. Their touching relationship is the backbone of this haunting and poignant tale.

To Kill a Mockingbird                                                   Harper Lee

One of America¡¦s best loved boos, this tells the story of an honest lawyer called Atticus Finch in a sleepy and backward town in the Deep South when racism and segregation divided the black and white people. This is where black people used to be kept as slaves. He is called upon to defend a black man accused of raping a white girl, and has to face all the prejudices of the townspeople.

The tale is told through the voice of his young daughter, Rumer, making this quite simple to read in terms of vocabulary and structure.

A Town Like Alice                                                 Neville Shute

This has become a modern classic but is also a rattling good war story and romance. Set amongst the British and Australian male and female prisoners of war in Malaysia, it follows the unlikely romance between two of them as they are marched from camp to camp in that tropical country.

The title refers to Alice Springs, a town in central Australia, which is the man¡¦s hometown, and where some of the story takes place after the end of the war.

Neville Shute writing is clear and easy to follow, and this is a very entertaining book.

Catcher in the Rye                                                 J.D. Salinger

The story of a young man in the 1950s, Holden Caulfield, who is a 17-year-old student suddenly expelled from school. The story relates his lonely, life-changing, two-day stay in New York as he attempts to deal with the death of his younger brother and his fear of change as he leaves childhood behind. It is told from his point of view so it is easy tio identify with him and his problems.

Possibly the most well-known ¡§rites of passage¡¨ (this means ¡§growing up¡¨, in other words) book ever written. Salinger truly captures what it is to be a confused teenager not yet ready to be thrown into the adult world.

Catch-22                                                         Joseph Heller

Have you ever heard of this phrase? It means, ¡§to be given an impossible choice or put in an impossible position¡¨ and was invented in this book set in and around an American air ¡V base in WW II.

The pilots know they have little chance of surviving the war as the planes keep being shot down by the Japanese, but if they try to get reassigned on the grounds of being mad ¡V which is the only way you can get out of flying - they are told they are obviously sane enough to fly since they don¡¦t want to do it  ¡V and back they go. Catch-22.

This is a semi-comic anti-war book with a serious centre ¡V but still fun to read. But you won¡¦t be laughing when you find out why Snowden is so cold (on ongoing scene in the book).

Lord of the Flies                                                    William Golding

A deceptively easy read, this is in fact an allegory, or a symbolic story, in which the lost boys represent humanity, and how easily mankind would turn into lawless animals if civilization suddenly disappeared

Ralph, Piggy and Jack are three of the group of boys who find themselves on a desert island with no adults after a plane crash. There is plenty of fruit to eat and fresh water to drink, but over time the differences between the boys start to show, and Jack becomes arrogant and obsessed with his own power. The boys become more and more savage under his leadership. He represents the dictator and bully. Ralph is the voice of reason who finds that in the end reason is not enough. And Piggy - poor, fat, shortsighted, clever Piggy ¡V represents the outsider or intellectual that every dictator will always try and crush or kill.

Planet of the Apes                                                  Pierre Boulle

You must have at least heard of this, even if you haven¡¦t seen any of the films! So you should at least know the basic idea. A long space voyage goes wrong, and when the crew ¡V who have been put to sleep for the many years of the journey ¡V are awoken, they all die except one. He crash-lands on the planet below, only to find that the world is ruled by apes! Who speak English! And the humans are savages!

Perhaps you don¡¦t know the ending, so I won¡¦t reveal it here. Classic science fiction by this French author.

Mystery and Short Stories

The Hound of the Baskervilles                                     Sir A. Conan Doyle

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Short Stories)           Sir A. Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson chasing villains through the foggy, cobbled streets of Victorian London or in the stately homes of England. The famous detective is as popular today as ever. Start with the short stories.

The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories                         Mark Twain

Mark Twain is better known for ¡§Huckleberry Finn¡¨ but he wrote many other books, including this fine selection of mystery stories.

The Big Sleep                                                         Raymond Chandler

Raymond Chandler invented the hard-boiled private investigator so popular in films of the 1940s and 50s. The hero, Phillip Marlowe, is tough, has a razor sharp wit ¡V and an eye for the ¡§dames¡¨.

Marlowe narrates the story with lots of 1940s slang, which makes the narrative realistic and colourful.

Rebecca                                                          Daphne du Maurier

The haunting and romantic tale of a plain and ordinary young girl, never named, who meets and marries the mysterious but dashing Maxim de Winter in France and then returns with him to his country house in England. There she finds all sorts of reminders of his beautiful, talented, dead first wife, Rebecca, lost at sea, and starts imagining that Maxim is still in love with her. The mystery deepens when Rebecca¡¦s body is finally found. How did she die?

And Then There Were None                                         Agatha Christie

Classic country house tale with a group of people isolated by a storm ¡V with a murderer amongst them. One by one characters get murdered in a variety of ways as suspicion shifts from one character to another.

Good fun, if not particularly challenging.

Kiss, Kiss                                                                Roald Dahl

Wonderful mystery stories from the same man who brought you ¡§Charlie and the Chocolate Factory¡¨. Yes, he is better know as a children¡¦s author, but his adult books are just as delightfully inventive ¡V and sometimes a wee bit nasty!

Little Ironies                                                          Catherine Lim

Singapore¡¦s most famous author. This is a pleasant collection of short stories evoking the past days of this now ultra-modern metropolis.

Misery                                                                     Stephen King

Stephen King is known as a horror writer of the supernatural, but although this story is full of suspense, there is nothing supernatural in it.

A famous romance writer has a car accident in the snow in a remote part of America. He is rescued by a middle-aged woman who also is one of his greatest fans. She is also completely insanse! She keeps the author trapped in her strange house until he writes a book for her ¡V and he know when he finishes she will kill him. The tension comes from wondering how ¡V or if? ¡V he will escape.

King writes best sellers, but has excellent style and descriptive sense, so this is well worth the effort.

The Da Vinci Code                                                        Dan Brown

Now on of the best selling books of all time, this follows the hero as he attempts to finds out more about the story of Christ through codes that have been left in writings and paintings over the centuries and in many parts of the world.

There are now Da Vinci tours where you can follow in the footsteps of the hero from Paris to Italy to London etc. On the other hand many people do not agree with the author, so you might like to make up your own mind.

The Joy Luck Club                                                        Amy Tan

This follows the stories of Chinese mothers and daughters in America. The mothers, who have undergone great hardship to move from their homeland, do not understand the daughters, who have been born in the States. They are modern and sophisticated and find their parents backward and superstitious. The story shows how a reconciliation of the generations takes place when a daughter goes back to China.

Other Books

Chinese Cinderella ¡V                                                    Adeline Yen Mah

The True Story of and Unwanted Daughter

Batman Begins                                                      Dennis O¡¦Neil

The story of the early days of the caped super-hero.

Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince                               J.K.Rowling

Lord Of the Rings                                                  J.R.R.Tolkien

Non-Fiction

Down and Out in Paris and London                                    George Orwell

Orwell¡¦s adventures as a cook, a teacher and a homeless tramp in 1930s Paris and London.

My Family and Other Animals                                     Gerald Durrell

The author writes about his English family setting up home in Greece in the 1930s, and all the hilarious things that happen to them. Very funny.

All Creatures Great and Small                                     James Herriott

Herriott was a vet in the English countryside before WW II and these short stories tell of all the strange animals ¡V and people ¡V he met.

A warm-hearted and entertaining book, particularly for animal lovers.

Inspirational Books

Tuesdays with Morrie                                                    Mitch Albom

The author reunites with his wise, old college professor, who had helped and guided him so may years before. A modern book, written in the Reader¡¦s Digest style, with lots of lessons in how to live.

The Purpose Driven Life                                              Rick Warren

From the Author: -  ¡§This is more than a book: it is a guide to a 40-day spiritual journey that will enable you to discover the answer to life¡¦s most important question: what on earth am I here for? By the end of this journey you will know God¡¦s purpose for your life and will understand the big picture ¡V how all the pieces of your life fit together. Having this perspective will reduce your stress, increase your satisfaction, and, most important, prepare you for eternity.¡¨