Collection: Reading Sets

In the din and stink that is Cannery Row a colourful blend of misfits - gamblers, whores, drunks, bums and artists - survive side by side in a jumble of adventure and mischief.

In a cult classic that rivals 'Pulp Fiction' for its portrayal of violence in the postmodern society, Anthony Burgess's novel is part horror farce, part social prophecy and part penetrating study of human choice between good and evil.

A timeless story rediscovered by each new generation, 'The Diary of a Young Girl' stands without peer. For both young readers and adults it continues to bring to life this young woman, who for a time survived the worst horror the modern world had seen.

Set in the 50 years after the Civil War, this novel tells the story of the Trasks and the Hamiltons. Adam Trask marries Kate. When she abandons him and their twin sons to run an infamous brothel, the family is consumed in a bitter struggle.

Griet, the young daughter of a tilemaker in 17th century Holland, obtains her first job as a servant in Vermeer's household. She loves being drawn into his artistic life, but the cost to her own survival may be high.

A masterpiece, a dazzling social satire, and a milestone in twentieth century literature, The Great Gatsby peels away the layers of the glamorous twenties in the U.S. to display the coldness and cruelty at its heart.

This is the unsentimental story of the remarkable relationship between the desperate Billy, a friendless boy living in a soulless northern town, and the equally destructive, fierce kestrel, Kes, which he raises from the nest.

One hundred years after one of her forebears married into an Egyptian family, Isabel returns to Egypt after falling in love with an Egyptian in New York. The story explores inter-racial love in a heart-piercing manner.

In the summer of 1920, a young man escapes London to embark on the unveiling of a medieval church wall painting in a small north country village. As he becomes absorbed by his work so too does he get drawn into the lives of those around him.