Read Readar

These are the books I'd hand you myself — no algorithm, no trending list, just the ones that stuck with me long after I closed them. Some of them are my favourite presents to family and friends.

My go-to when life’s a bit much. Warm, kind books where things turn out alright in the end, even if they make you cry on the way.

I don't mean "charming." I mean I actually laughed out loud on public transport and got looked at. These are the ones I quote back to friends.

Unputdownable, page-turning reads built for one long binge session.

From Les Misérables to Jane Eyre, the great novels that ended up on stage with music. Read the book first, then go and see the show.

Golden-age favourites that started life as novels, stories or memoirs, from Show Boat and The King and I to Fiddler on the Roof and The Sound of Music.

Wicked, Hamilton, The Notebook, The Outsiders and more: the recent bestsellers that made it to Broadway and the West End.