Win £700 worth of the best books of 2015!

Village Christmas Miss Read

Old-fashioned values, slow country living,
Less selfish taking, more joyful giving!

Perdido Street Station is a fantasy book & completely terrifying, with strange winged beasts and a vein of horror and darkness.

Just finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy - what a powerfull read. Cant get it out of my head. Was hoping until the last that it would have a happy ending. You were left wanting to know what happened next. This is the sort of book I enjoy but I am now finding it hard to move on to another book.

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe - Just such a great story - read it as a kid countless times and after my child read it recently, I reread it myslef - utterly timeless!

This is a hard decision but I will go with Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I can still remember reading it for the first time and it has stood the test of time and I have enjoyed rereading it many times.

John Fowles - The Magus - paradoxical views on life, psychologically gripping - couldn't put it down!

All the books I read with my grandchildren. The light in their eyes is inspiring, their questions intriguing and the discussions about the pictures fascinating.

My favourite book is Friday's Tunnel by John Verney. It was the first hardback book I ever owned and I can still remember begging my mother to buy it for my birthday in 1959. And I've still got it in my bookcase.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a book I read aged 16 which has stayed with me and been re-read many times. Evocative and humbling.

Any book by Roald Dahl. He started my love of reading.

Alice in Wonderland has always been my escape, my place of dreams where anything is possible.

The Edge of Heaven by Gordon Honeycombe, a truly nostalgic book for me because I spent some of my teenage years in Cyprus before the island was divided and the places mentioned - Episkopi Garrison, Pissouri, Akrotiri, Curium - all have memories. To any other gransnetter who had a father in the Army or Air Force out there in the 1960s you will love it too.

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It is a massively epic story following one family over a hundred years, but still manages to focus on the in-depth feelings of the main character. I read it every year.

Dam-Burst of Dreams by Christopher Nolan, this exceptional young man with cerebral palsy shows us the power and glory of words, spirit and living. A revelation of a book.

Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. I'm a historian, I know the ending - but Ms Mantel is SO super as a writer that it makes me cry every time!

I like a good chick lit book so it has to Shopaholic Ties The Knot by Sophie Kinsella.

Most memorable is The Reader by Bernhard Shlink. A beautifully written book that made me think about the complexities of intimate relationships with people who have committed atrocious acts.

My favourite book depends solely on my mood I am afraid. It could be Pride and prejudice because it describes society so wittily, Jane Eyre because my daughters say it reminds them of when I read it to them, Harry Potter and the philosophers Stone because it helped me as a teacher to inspire many reluctant boy readers or even The boy in the Striped Pyjamas because it was so moving about the Holocaust!maybe I haven't even read yet what might turn out to be my favourite book.

Currently re reading "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime " by Mark Haddon, having just seen it on stage at the West End. Both are, quite simply, superb. Insightful, funny, touching and clever. Must read,must see.

The Shellseekers

I've always loved Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce, in spite of reading it countless times to children and grandchildren.

I love Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge. I first came across it as a radio dramatization on Radio 4 and was quite aghast at the dreadful ways of Michael Henshaw, who sold his wife. The book portrays Dorset as it was in the mid-19th century, and in particular, Dorchester, which is a place I knew quite well.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

It's hard to choose but my favourite is 'Me Before You' by JoJo Moyes.
She has such an amazing way of bringing her characters to life.

Arthur and George- Julian Barnes. Beautifully written. Full of drama and intrigue. If you have not read this classic then read it on holiday or at home where you will be transported into a glorious story.