Sophie Roell, Editor

Given the development of the characters and the plot over the course of the series, it’s important to read the Harry Potter books in order. The first book, The Philosopher’s Stone (aka The Sorcerer’s Stone in the United States), was published in 1997 as a relatively straightforward boarding school novel, but for wizards. By the time the final book in the series, The Deathly Hallows, was published a decade later, the plotlines had become complicated, the books long, and the whole saga beautifully tied together for a very satisfying finale.

Psychological thrillers with a twist are some of the most gripping books to read, keeping you awake late into the night in a quest to find out what unexpected person or event was the hidden driver of the entire plot. Novelist and literary critic Hannah Beckerman recommends five of her favourites, from Agatha Christie to Alex Michaelides.

If you like your novels long, Spanish literature has some gems to lose yourself in. Richard Village, translator and publisher of Spanish Beauty, recommends five of his favourites, from the chaos of 17th-century Spain to the traumas of the 20th century, and also including a classic detective novel.

There’s nothing in modern works of fiction that wasn’t already there in the great novels of the 18th century, argues Sophie Gee, a professor of English at Princeton University and co-host of the Secret Life of Books podcast. She talks us through five of her favourites, from the irrepressible Moll Flanders to the melancholic beauty of Sense and Sensibility.

James Bond novels may be a lot of fun to read, but as a depiction of life as a spy, they are pure fantasy. Novelist and ex-spy Charles Beaumont recommends five brilliant novels based on true events—and the manipulation and dishonesty that lie at the heart of espionage work.

British author Kate Summerscale has mastered the art of writing historical nonfiction books that are real page-turners. Here, she shares some of her own favorites, from the murder of a family in 1959 Kansas to the tragedy of Japan after the 2011 tsunami.

Whether it’s a tragic novel set in post-indepedence Sudan or picaresque stories about a Palestinian living in Israel after 1948, many of the key Arab novels of the 20th century are available in English. Raphael Cormack, a professor of Arabic studies at Durham University, talks us through five novels from a variety of countries that explore different themes and trends in the evolution of the novel in the Arabic-speaking world.

In the West, Daoism (also spelled ‘Taoism’ in English) has sometimes been reduced to a ‘go with the flow’ approach to life, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Simon Cox, a scholar and martial arts teacher, recommends five books that demonstrate Daoism’s “robust intellectual and aesthetic traditions” since the movement first appeared in China two-and-a-half millennia ago.

Biographies of musicians are a good way to learn more about music without getting too technical, argues musicologist and composer Andrew Ford, author of the brilliant Shortest History of Music. He chooses five of his favorite music biographies, books that set “a life in the context of the times and a musical life in the context of the music.”

Chile is a country of extremes says travel writer and translator Natascha Scott-Stokes, who has lived there for nearly two decades. She chooses five books that give a good sense of the country, from a novel by one of Chile’s great writers, to the biography of the folk singer who was brutally murdered after the 1973 military coup.