The Best Fiction Books

Author Jeremy Duns says Maksim Isaev was a kind of Soviet James Bond and when they rerun the old black and white TV shows the Russian crime rate drops because everyone is indoors watching them

Which are the best historical novels? Bestselling author Vanora Bennett recommends her top five.

Booker Prize-winning translator David Bellos says Les Misérables is the greatest novel of all time. When it came out, "it was an event bigger than the launch of Titanic and Avatar put together." He picks the five greatest French novels.

The acclaimed Haitian author Edwidge Danticat chooses five must-reads from the riches of Haitian literature – including 19th-century poems by a ruler's daughter.

2010 Man Booker Judge selects Tom Connolly’s The Spider Truces and Amy Sackville’s The Still Point among her five choices; she says they are "old-fashioned books" about the way in which our families define us

Everyone’s on the run from something in their life. Bestselling author Louise Bagshawe recommends some of her favourite chase stories, a world of jailbreaks, secret documents, beautiful heroines, honour, revenge, death and glory.

Actor and comic chooses five books on comedy. One choice is The Comedy Bible, which explains that every comedian is either saying, "It is hard to…" or, "I love being…" - and you need to fill in the blanks.

Bestselling British historian and author Alison Weir plunges us deep into the world of walled-up skeletons, Vikings, poisoning, intrigue, witchcraft and rebellion. This is the best of historical novels – books that never compromise on painstaking research.

The bestselling author of the Shopaholic series, Sophie Kinsella, chooses her own favourite books from the Chick Lit genre. Have a romp with these angst-ridden women searching for the perfect man (and the perfect pair of high-heels).

One of Italy's greatest living authors, Dacia Maraini, nominates her choices for the best works of Italian literature.