Interestingly, nearly all of these were turned into movies/TV series. I’m not numbering them, because all of these authors have been at the top of my reading favourites at one time or another, but the order reflects when I was reading them (ish).
Picture Perfect 95
Mercy 96
The Pact 98
Keeping Faith 99
The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell
I could have picked any one of a dozen different series by this man – he proper gets historical writing, and I’ve used his books as research on more than one of my stories.
The Winter King 95
Enemy of God 96
Excalibur 97
Dark Tower series (plus standalones) by Stephen King
He taught me so much about lean, mean writing, and that was before I read his phenomenal book (On Writing) about the craft.
The Stand 90
Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands 91
The Green Mile 96
Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass 97
Jack Reacher by Lee Child
Even leaner, meaner writing with a couple of bonus extras: 1. the sheer quantity of maths involved – Reacher’s a walking calculator which appeals to the engineer in me and 2. the fact that an author from Coventry can make it so big – gives me hope.
The Killing Floor 97
Die Trying 98
Tripwire 99
Standalones by Nicholas Evans
The Horse Whisperer 95
The Loop 98
The Smoke Jumper 01
Harry Potter (and the) by J. K. Rowling
I will admit to struggling with the first couple of pages of the first book – took me a while to get into her writing style. But once I got over myself and the expectations garnered from having people critique my own stories, I couldn’t get enough. One of my favourite memories is sitting outside the beer tent on gala day while my kids roamed around the stalls at our local football club’s annual extravaganza. My mission: to re-read all the previous books before the latest HP hit the bookshelves. Top fun!
Philosopher's Stone 97
Chamber of Secrets 98
Prisoner of Azkaban 99
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
This guy’s imagination and ability to make a fantasy world seem absolutely real are excellent. He writes for kids as though they are mini-adults – brilliant!
Northern Lights 95
The Subtle Knife 97
The Amber Spyglass 00
Hannibal Lecter by Thomas Harris
Big cheat here because the 1st 2 were 80s and I actually saw the movies long before reading the books. Despite the horrific subject matter, his writing is compelling and so recommended.
Red Dragon 81
The Silence of the Lambs 88
Hannibal 99
French Trilogy by Sebastian Faulks
The Girl at the Lion D’Or 89
Birdsong 93
Charlotte Gray 98
Alternative histories by Robert Harris
Utterly readable, minutely-researched, gripping stories.
Fatherland 92
Enigma 95
Archangel 98
A Song of Fire and Ice by George R. R. Martin 96
I thought Game of thrones was the best historical fiction I’d read since Bernard Cornwell, and I loved the strong main characters. But as the series went on, I became less enamoured with the cast of millions and the way even the most minor one had to be introduced with a lengthy description of his siguls, only to be killed off a few pages later. Far. Too. Much. World-building. The HBO series was very watchable, tho’ and I loved the strong female leads.
A Game of Thrones 96
A Clash of Kings 98
A Storm of Swords 00
Bridget Jones books by Helen Fielding
Quirky, fun chick lit. Biggest grouse is how come they had to use an American actor in the movies when we have so many fabulous British ones?
Bridget Jones’s Diary 96
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason 99
Bridget Jones’s Baby 17
Legal Thrillers by John Grisham
I like a courtroom drama as much as the next person, but these dug behind the legal profession’s glamour to turn their dirty laundry into thrillers.
The Firm by John Grisham 91
The Client 93
The Rainmaker 95
A special mention for this non-fiction series which had a massive influence on me, but not until several decades later.
The Celestine Series by James Redfield
The Celestine Prophecy 94
The Tenth Insight 96
The Secret of Shambhala: In Search of the Eleventh Insight 99
And a whole bunch of other books turned into movies/TV shows - some of which are my favourites:
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton 90
The Bourne Ultimatum by Robert Ludlum 90
Band of Brothers by Stephen E. Ambrose 92
Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab 93
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh 93
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres 94
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman 95
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks 96
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk 96
The Beach by Alex Garland 96
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt 96
About a Boy by Nick Hornby 98
The Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier 99
Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden 99
Chocolat by Joanne Harris 99
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky 99
Star Wars: Episode 1, The Phantom Menace by Terry Brooks 99
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