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The 5 books I love... Jenny Colgan

Author Jenny Colgan shares her five favourite reads with Good Housekeeping's books editor Jo.

By Joanne FinneyPublished: 25 July 2014

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The 5 books I love... Jenny Colgan

Romantic novelist Jenny Colgan shares her favourite reads. Her latest book, Little Beach Street Bakery, is out now in paperback.

A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving

Sleeve, Landscape, Atmospheric phenomenon, Publication, Grassland, Book cover, Book, Poster, Fiction, Novel,

I love a good weepie. A Prayer For Owen Meany absolutely punched me in the stomach and I’m still not over it. Owen is so funny and charming, and John Irving has such a light touch that, when tragedy comes, it’s almost unbearable.

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Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

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I never grow tired of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I still find reading the passage where Beth dies unbearable. ‘On the bosom where she had drawn her first breath she quietly drew her last’ is one of the saddest lines in the English language.

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Text, Font, Rock, Geology, Bedrock, Electric blue, Publication, Summit, Outcrop, Book,

Into Thin Air is the story of the ill-fated 1997 Everest attempt, when eight climbers where killed on one day. Jon Krakauer was there. It’s not just an attempt to get to the truth of what happened – it’s also utterly thrilling.

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Middlemarch by George Eliot

Brown, Pattern, Orange, Tan, Maroon, Circle, Publication, Book, Book cover, Rectangle,

I only picked up Middlemarch by George Eliot because I felt that to be well-read you really ought to – then got completely addicted to it. It’s gossipy, funny, tragic, sexy; just sensationally good.

The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper

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I adored Susan Cooper’s books as a child, and The Dark Is Rising was my favourite. This is the scariest, most thrilling, most evocative and exciting of children’s books, and I read it every year.

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