My top 5 books of all time

I really really love books. I don't get much time for reading any more but ever since I was really young I've loved it. On holidays I'd get through a good 7 or 8 books each year and I remember being so excited when another new Babysitters Club book arrived at the library! Books were one thing we were always allowed, toys and games had to wait for birthdays and Christmas but my mum would happily buy us a book if we passed a bookshop. I know I'll be the same with Henry when he's older. I love children's books too and am enjoying having a good excuse to buy them now. I try to read to Henry every evening before bed, he really loves books at the moment and I really hope he'll continue to love reading as he grows up.

Here are my favourite books of all time...

F Scott Fitzgerald - Tender is the Night 

This was the first book I read by F Scott Fitzgerald and I've now read them all. I adore this book and he is by far my favourite author of all time. I read this when I was about 17 and it really captured my imagination. I especially loved it because I'd just been on holiday to the Côte d'Azur so I knew loads of the places where the story was set.

F Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby 

I loved this book so much when I read it, again it really captured my imagination and it painted such a vivid picture of 1920s America in my head. I was really apprehensive when the film came out but I wasn't disappointed. I love how the screenplay was so close to the original novel, with a lot of the dialogue being directly taken, totally unchanged, from the original. The film took the book to another level, that's not something you can say very often.

Truman Capote - Breakfast at Tiffany's

I still remember reading this for the first time and not being able to put it down. It's a pretty short book and I got through it in a couple of days. It's a magical book,  I absolutely love it. The film is good, but I definitely prefer the book.

JK Rowling - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I love the whole Harry Potter series, I always preordered the next instalment for when it was released and would sit waiting for the postman that morning, desperate for it to arrive. My mum then wouldn't see me for a few days as I sat engrossed in my book for days on end. This was my favourite of the 7 books, I don't really have a reason, it just was. It's probably my favourite film too which is funny because I was actually an extra in the second film when it was filmed in Durham Cathedral...my only claim to fame!

Daphne Du Maurier - Rebecca 

I was always going to read this book being called Rebecca myself and I think I was about 16 or 17 when my mum bought it for me. I love the mysterious characters that Du Maurier creates and it was another book that I couldn't put down until I'd finished. I've read it another few times in the last 10 years and have to say, it's as good as ever. My favourite gift that I've ever received from a pupil was actually a copy of this book. It's the most beautiful hardback copy with a handwritten note from the little girl who bought it for me. I know that I'll never ever throw it away or even lend it to anyone...it's definitely my most special book on the bookshelf.