Experts have shared the books they believe everyone should read at least once, with recommendations ranging from a young adult series set in a dystopian London to a beloved children's book under 50 pages long.
Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman
Joanna Reynolds, CEO of The Folio Society, recommended Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman, which has been reissued as one of the Folio Society's special editions. On Goodreads, the book is described as "a thought-provoking look at racism and prejudice in an alternate society," holding a 4.16 star rating with over 85,000 reviews.
Joanna said: "I pushed for Folio to publish this book. We live in south London and it had an enormous impact on my children and me when we read it. It made you sit back and see the world completely differently."
"Malorie Blackman is a hero and I used to go and sit in local venues listening to Benjamin Zephaniah when I first came to London. His introduction to the Folio book is amazing. Please read it."
Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Kate Wilson, CEO and co-founder of independent children's publisher Nosy Crow, recommended Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are for both children and parents.
She said: "I'd say the book every child and parent should read is Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. It's a celebration of the way that children are wild and untameable and utterly themselves."
"And that, however wild and untameable and utterly themselves they are, and however much they drive their parents mad, their parents will always love them and look after them: when the child comes home after their adventures, their supper is waiting for them, 'and it was still hot.'"
The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton
Mark Thornton, senior partnership manager at Bookshop.org, chose The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton as his one book.
He said: "It was first published in the year 2000, and there is something of the turn-of-the-Millennium optimism about it, but in hindsight it was a prepper manual for darker times ahead. The philosophy boom started here as far as I am concerned, but this little miracle of a book remains a perfectly formed, eminently readable introduction to a range of philosophies."
"It serves as a gateway to philosophy and a workable handbook in its own right. At a time when stoicism, the darling of the tech elite (which – conveniently for them – tells you to 'suck it up') dominates the philosophy bestsellers, de Botton's special genius is to present different philosophies as a set of tools to approach the modern challenges of the world – challenges as familiar to Montaigne and Socrates as to us."
