Perhaps the greatest story ever told, J. R. R. Tolkien’s incredible trilogy of otherworldliness brought a world of hobbits, dwarves, elves and orcs to life in a way never read before. Ultimately a tale of companionship and the battle between good and evil, the fictional world of Middle Earth has endured to become far greater than the sum of its parts.

Two years in the making, this philosophical novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky questions big topics like faith, free will and morality but it’s also a very readable one that’s part murder mystery, part courtroom drama.

In Thomas Mann’s semi-autobiographical family epic, he portrays the slow decline of a wealthy and highly esteemed merchant-family in northern Germany over four generations, as they grapple with the modernism of the 20th century. 

Quite simply some of the finest writing ever committed to a page. A book that is simultaneously repulsive and utterly seductive.

Frances Hodgson Burnett's book will awaken the curiosity of any reader, no matter their age. There’s something so completely irresistible about hidden doors, mysterious noises and secret hiding places. But this is more than a story of adventures and gardening, at its heart, The Secret Garden promises that with time and plenty of nurturing, we can all blossom.

Partly based on Evelyn Waugh’s personal experiences, Scoop is a satirical take on the lengths reporters – and newspaper magnates – will go to for a story. With modern exposés on hacking scandals and the like, Scoop feels as relevant as ever.

A companion novel to The Pursuit of Love, our narrator Fanny tells the story of her cousin Polly who has little interest in the London season and the marriage market at the exasperation of her parents. Full of hilarious, eccentric relatives and the thrills of navigating the glamorous 1930s social season.

After 18 years in the Bastille, Dr Manette is released and sent to live in Britain with a daughter he’s never met. Split between Paris and London, A Tale of Two Cities is a mammoth story set during the brutal years of the French Revolution.

Diary of a Nobody follows a respectable middle-class man, Charles Pooter, and his attempts to live a respectable middle-class life. This riotously funny novel created such an impression that it inspired an adjective in honour of its main character: 'Pooterish', a self-important person who takes themselves far too seriously. 

Anna Karenina is a woman who seems to have it all. She’s married, she’s wealthy, she’s well-liked – but she feels her life is empty until she meets Count Vronksy. Leo Tolstoy’s novel is essentially a philosophical meditation on the meaning of life and happiness but it’s a very readable one.

Alessandro Manzoni's novel takes is the story of two young lovers trying to be together, set against a wider backdrop of 17th-century Italian life. The Betrothed is considered by many to be the greatest novel ever written in Italian.

Immense yourself in the dazzling breadth of Virginia Woolf’s imagination in this short but powerful novel and follow Orlando from the court of Elizabeth I to a celebrated poet in the 20th century.