Coming up with books wasn't difficult - I love books. Narrowing my list down to only five was far trickier. But here goes, my five life-changing reads.

A humorous look at what happens when taxidermy goes very wrong, by the founder of crappytaxidermy.com

Sequel continues the adventures of lovelorn Asperger's hero.

Society must not forget Henry VIII was a child abuser and wife killer, author Philippa Gregory tells Stephen Jewell.

His own experience has taught him the importance of simply being available for his kids and willing to listen.

An exclusive extract from Stand by Me by Sir John Kirwan, his guide for helping parents and teens around mental health.

They came out of California, featured window seats and shingled tiles, were clad in weatherboard and Auckland has thousands of them.

Booker-prize-winning author admits she thought about killing the British PM when she found herself within shooting range of her in 1983.

Lena Dunham reinvented the oversharing style on her hit show, Girls. What will her first book do? Meghan Daum meets TV’s hottest property and talks psychotherapy, sisterhood and why she can’t keep a secret.

Man Booker prize-winner Eleanor Catton is made of the write stuff.

That tree Keith Richards fell out of and almost killed him when he was last down this way? It's not long for this world.

The author told her ex-fan to follow alleged homophobe Brian Souter instead.

Elegant writing takes us through the highs and lows of a woman’s life.

Sometimes it’s the only way to get in print, and sometimes it’s the best way to keep control of your work. James Russell charts the rise of self-publishing.

Ian McEwan’s new novel centres around a family court judge who gets too involved in one of her cases. She blows it, McEwan tells Linda Herrick.

Sarah Waters’ new novel explores what happens when an ‘unruly passion’ in the form of two lodgers enters a house. She talks to Linda Herrick.

Oh, to write like Alan Bennett. The consummate modulations of mood and structure. The utterly English urbanity and self-deprecation.

Martin Amis is a child of the 20th century, both literally and by literary preoccupation. He was born in the aftermath of World War II and grew up in the shadow of the unholy trinity of great ideologies — fascism, communism and capitalism.

There are two sides to the eReader debate - Shelley Bridgeman is pro paperbacks, while Joanna Hunkin has turned for the hi-tech device. Share your thoughts.