We work in a bookshop — these are the 5 books we recommend above all others

There’s nothing quite like settling down with a good book. However, with such an array of choices available, selecting your next read can be somewhat daunting. For reliable recommendations, there’s no better source than a fellow bibliophile. In honour of Independent Bookshop Week, we’ve gone a step further and asked five book-loving booksellers to share their all-time favourite reads.

Independent Bookshop Week, running from 14–21 June, is a flagship campaign by the Booksellers Association that celebrates independent bookshops and the unique cultural, economic, and community value they contribute to the retail sector and society at large. From timeless classics to a 2023 novel hailed as “historical fiction at its finest”, here are the top reading recommendations from five booksellers. Do let us know in the comments how many of these you’ve read and which ones you’re planning to delve into next.

Dean Freeman, from Heron & Willow in Jedburgh, said: “As my shop uniform is a homage to Winston Smith, I guess I should pick 1984! Over the years I’ve re-read it so many times (something I rarely ever do) and it never disappoints. An under-appreciated strength of the book is how it can be enjoyed from so many perspectives; political commentary, a love story, a thriller.

“Now a parent, it hit me hard once more when Winston recalls a happy day with his mother but then disregards it as a politically unsuitable false memory. I really admire Orwell’s work in explaining how this society functions on a practical level, including the book within a book and the appendices explaining Newspeak, though I know some people find that very dull!”.

“It’s been an interesting few years for fans of Orwell, with copyright on most of his works expiring and many now receiving sequels. Julia by Sandra Newman retold 1984 from Julia’s perspective and took some wild swings at the end, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

“1984 itself is so ubiquitous that, oddly, I think it’s actually overlooked and under read. Aside from all the cultural baggage, it absolutely stands up as a masterful piece of fiction.”

Mel O’Brien, from Dark Peak Books & Gifts in Glossop, said: “My favourite book of all time is The Offing by Benjamin Myers. I’ve read lots of Myers’ work, and each book he writes is so different, but this one has always stood out as one I recommend to my customers.

“It’s the story of a friendship between a young lad from a mining village in the North-East and an older woman living in Robin Hoods Bay, set over one summer just after the end of the Second World War. Myers’ descriptive prose paint an incredibly picture of the natural environment in an area I grew up in.

“His portrait of the tender, platonic friendship between the two characters and the effect they have on each other is beautifully heart-warming. I first read this book at the start of the 2020 Covid lockdown and I wanted to be there by the sea with Robert and Dulcie eating fresh lobster with garlic and lemon and drinking cold dry white wine.

“It is a book I will come back to again and again, and one I will continue to sell in droves at my bookshop (which celebrates its 4th birthday this Independent Bookshop Week!).”

Steph Collis, from David’s Bookshop in Hertfordshire, said: “Lonesome Dove, with its 840+ pages and very masculine cover design, is about as difficult a hand-sell as you could ask for. Even when I’m shouting at customers browsing in the M section of fiction that McMurtry’s novel won the Pulitzer Prize back in 1989 and that you’re getting potentially weeks’ worth of entertainment for just £12.99, it’s still a hard sell.

“Despite this, eight copies have sold in the last seven months; that’s seven people who will journey from Texas to Montana in the company of some of the most unforgettable characters (in my opinion) ever written. Lonesome Dove is a gripping adventure, a doomed love story, and a deeply sad and nuanced take on the myth of the wild west.

“On the cover of my 2011 edition published by Pan Macmillan the quotation reads ‘if you read only one Western novel in your life, read this one’, and I think that pretty much sums it up. Pan Macmillan are releasing Lonesome Dove as one of their Picador Collection at the end of June – just look for a lasso on the shelf.”

Sue Porter, from Linghams Bookshop in Heswall, said: “It’s so difficult to choose just one favourite book-honestly. My go to for a lasting impression, would be The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell. This is historical fiction at its finest. From the winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction comes the haunting and beautifully written story of Lucrezia de’ Medici, Duchess of Ferrara.

“At just sixteen years old, Lucrezia is plucked from the safety of her home and thrust into a political marriage with the volatile Alfonso II d’Este, Duke of Ferrara. O’Farrell transports the reader into the grandeur of the Renaissance courts-lavish, gilded, and glittering on the surface, yet shadowed with danger and secrets underneath.

“From the very beginning, we’re made aware of Lucrezia’s fate. There is only one known portrait of her, and I defy anyone not to immediately search for it while reading! The book is filled with rich characters, each with their own compelling backstory, as well as vivid descriptions of sumptuous palazzos and the golden cages in which many women were confined.

“This novel captures the heart and imagination from the start. It’s a story of youth, power, art, and survival-one to return again and again.”

Jacqui Delbaere, from The Little Green Bookshop in Herne Bay, said: “Choosing my all-time favourite book is so difficult! For a long time, it has been Anna Karenina but a new contender has come along – ‘The Glutton’ by A. K. Blakemore. Published in 2023, it is the novelisation of The Great Tarare, a real-life figure in 18th century France. A sudden act of violence sees him left for dead and the attack ignites the strange phenomenon of his all-consuming appetite.

“The story follows Tarare as he joins a band of rogues romping through central France towards the epicentre of the Revolution in Paris. He becomes their meal ticket, the Glutton of Lyon, a sideshow performer.

“As Tarare’s journey unfolds I felt both horrified and empathetic towards his plight. Illiterate, repulsive and shunned by most others, his brief brushes with love and lust offer glimpses of the life he could have had if he were not afflicted by his ferocious hunger. Even though he breaks every moral code, I still felt sympathy for him.

“What I absolutely loved about this book is Blakemore’s exquisite use of language. She describes Tarare’s huge, horrifying appetite with stomach-churning delight as he feasts on everything from animal carcasses to household objects in front of crowds, watching with morbid fascination.

“Blakemore brings the past to life through rich, lyrical language and precise imagery, I felt completely immersed in the period. Her masterful way with words retains the sensual style of her work as an award-winning poet.

“The Glutton made me feel like I was right there with Tarare through his extraordinary life, and he is still with me today, long after I finished the book.”