Most people have some books that fundamentally touched their soul in some way. I was discussing this with a friend the other day and it made me wonder what mine were. The list seemed endless at first, so I put some thought into it and distilled it down to five fiction books that had a great impact on me in terms of my writing, if nothing else. It was fun to remember these books again, and I firmly believe they still have the power to impact on people’s lives.

Dracula – Bram Stoker

I was in my teens when I read this for the first time and it was probably my introduction to gothic horror. It was also my introduction to vampires, which have always been my favourite fantasy creature – long before the sparkly kind came and took over the genre. It was a short jump then towards Interview with a vampire and increasingly dark fantasy. It was shortly after this that creatures that go bump in the night started to find their way into my writing. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Poet – Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly is, in my opinion, one of the consistently rewarding authors I know. This was a birthday present which I devoured in almost one sitting the day after. My intention had been to see just what this book was about, and I was instantly gripped. It is a masterpiece in plotting and pace, which is something that Connelly has really mastered right from the beginning. The technology was state of the art at the time, almost fantastical. Strange to think we’ve all got phones a thousand times more powerful now.

The Stand – Stephen King

I’d always assumed Stephen King was ‘horror’. Which is a mistake that most people make, given the fact that Carrie is always talked about in a terrifying way and even to this day you’ll still find all his books in the horror section. The Stand was breathtaking in its scope and I thank the person who forced me to read it on the insistence that it wasn’t ‘scary’. In many ways it was, but not in the ways I’d feared.

The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis

Technically more than one book, but I don’t think that I could narrow it down to a single one. I remember many nights under the sheets with a torch, unable to put them down, even though I was supposed to be asleep. Reading in the summer months was the best, when being packed off to bed before 8 meant another two hours of sufficient light to read by. I don’t think I stayed up as late as it felt most times, but every word was worth it regardless. These books first gave me the permission to imagine different worlds and beings, as well as an underlying sense of what was right and wrong.

The Eyre Affair – Jasper Fforde

This book is impossible to explain if you haven’t read it. If, for some reason, you haven’t but you love books, then you owe it to yourself to read this. I’d hit a wall with my reading when this was given to me, and I found myself drawn into the crazy world where books are more important than pretty much everything else. Check your reality at the door and embrace the suspension of disbelief.

So, that’s my top five. I would imagine most people will have read at least one of them, maybe them all (congratulations if you have – your mindset is the same as mine!), but if you haven’t then give them a go. Escape the world for a little while, reality is overrated anyway…