This list has changed a bit since I first thought about it a couple of years ago. Also a new test ‘which book would you never lend?’ That is probably a different book altogether as I don’t feel sentimental about fiction as most of it is replaceable. The book I wouldn’t lend is a book of photographs by Don McCullin called In England, given to me by a friend as a birthday present a few years ago. It is a book I pick up often and just flick through.

1  A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

2. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

3. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

4. After the Crash by Michael Bussi

5. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

6. The Commitments by Roddy Doyle

7. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor

8. Wild Swans by Jung Chang

9. The Past by Tessa Hadley

10. The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel