Something for the weekend '5 books..' No3

Something for the weekend '5 books..' No3

In the third of our '5 Books that changed your life' series (in-store promotion coming soon) Amelia, our events manager, tells us about her picks.

Brideshead Revisited: I read this when I first became a bookseller, over 6 years ago. It was one of the first (modern) classics I managed to finish - I always picked up classics I thought I should read and not ones I wanted to read - and it's brilliant. I have gone on to read more modern classics and more Waugh as he's brilliant. I have read Brideshead Revisited twice so far and I'm sure it will be a book I go back to throughout my life and I'm sure I will enjoy it equally with each read.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe: My best friend recommended me this book and I was a little sceptical about whether I would enjoy it as it wasn't a book I would have picked up without her. I'm glad I listened as it has become one of my favourite books (and I have now read all of Fannie Flagg's books). I now love having books recommended to me by people as you can discover something new and read a great book while you're at it!

A Midsummer Night's Dream: This was the first play I ever saw at the theatre. It's also one of my favourite Shakespeare plays and I love Shakespeare. This play showed me that Shakespeare can be funny, moving, clever and modern, and not just be something that is studied boringly at school. Obviously seeing Shakespeare acted out is the best, but I also enjoy reading the plays as you can see all the nuance in his amazing language. A Midsummer Night's Dream was the start of a great love for me.

Jerusalem: It took me a while to discover that modern drama can be every bit as great as Shakespeare. The play that exemplifies this for me is Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem. It is an amazing play with an incomparable main character and tells the story of a typical rural village in England and at the same time the death of this very way of life. Butterworth's language is just amazing and remembering Mark Rylance speaking it makes the play worth reading over and over again.

The Song of Achilles: I started reading Song of Achilles because we had an event with Madeline Miller in the shop - and it has become one of my favourite books. I have so far bought it for two of my friends and I plan to buy more copies of it. It has made me want to read The Iliad and The Odyssey and about the Greek myths, as well as seeking out other adaptations of the classic works. I can't think of any other books which have inspired me to read so many other works related to it.

Amelia