Latest Book Recommendations

Cornelia Funke on Fairy Tales in Contemporary Fiction for Kids

Fairy tales are multi-layered, laden with multiple meanings and uncomfortable truths. Cornelia Funke, multi-award winning writer of imaginative fiction for children and young adults, discusses why fairy tales continue to fascinate her and her young readers, and why you need a deft hand to create convincing new fiction from fairy tales.

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On Liberty by John Stuart Mill

Recommended 9 times

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Recommended 8 times

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Recommended 8 times

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Recommended 7 times

Scoop by Evelyn Waugh

Recommended 7 times

Confessions of St Augustine by St Augustine

Recommended 7 times

The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright

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Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

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Middlemarch by George Eliot

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The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

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Holiday Gift Ideas for Book Lovers

Useful Presents for the Book Lover Who Travels

Kindle Paperwhite
$$$$

Carry your library with you: Amazon's mid-range, waterproof e-reader weighs 6.4oz and stores up to 32MB.

World Literature Anthology
$$$

It's illuminating to 'read local'; this acclaimed Norton anthology will direct you in your literary journeys.

AirBnB gift card
$$–$$$$

A great last minute gift idea – delivered via email. Why not compile a suggested itinerary in a literary location?

Premium leather Kindle cover
$$$

The lightest and thinnest Kindle cover available, so as to protect your device's screen in transit.

Montblanc passport case
$$$$

This woven-carbon passport cover would make an ideal luxury gift for someone who lives on the road.

Presents for Biologists and Life Scientists

Phone adapter for microscope
$$$

Fits most smartphones and optics, allowing you to view on screen and capture photos or video.

Brain specimen coasters
$$

Ten slices of a human brain for your inspection: pop them under hot drinks, or display them stacked.

The Annotated Origin
$

A facsimile of the first edition of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, as annotated by Prof James T Costa.

Giant Microbes: Ocean Dwellers
$

Plushie algae, plankton, waterbear. Fun novelty gift for marine biologists (other specialities catered for).

Glass terrarium
$$

This elegant glass and copper creation, filled with ferns, would make a nice addition to an academic office.

Recent Reader Lists

Our aim is to make Five Books the place to go to on the web for book recommendations, arranged by topic. Help us achieve our goal by making a reading list on a subject you know a lot about. These lists have been created by our readers using our new interactive tool. Browse them all, or make your own.

The soul of architecture, recommended by dilgreen

A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Center for Environmental Structure Series)
by Christopher Alexander

Le Corbusier and the Tragic View of Architecture
by Charles Jencks

Leon Krier: Houses, Palaces, Cities (Architectural Design Profile)
by Leon Krier

Architecture and Utopia: Design and Capitalist Development
by Manfredo Tafuri

The Timeless Way of Building
by Christopher Alexander

Five of the books that helped me understand 2018, recommended by Phil Darby

Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government (Princeton Studies in Pol
by Christopher H. Achen & Larry M. Bartels

Forgetfulness: Making the Modern Culture of Amnesia
by Francis O'Gorman

The Tribe: The Liberal-Left and the System of Diversity (Societas)
by Ben Cobley

National Populism: The Revolt Against Liberal Democracy
by Roger Eatwell & Matthew Goodwin

Demons: A Novel in Three Parts (Vintage Classics)
by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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