Why am I passionate about this?

My literary interest began in childhood when my love for rhyme encouraged me to write limericks and poems. In 2009, my first novel, An Ordinary Life was published, which I considered to be a therapeutic exercise to see where it would lead, and here I am, much wiser, but still learning. Becoming an author has greatly enhanced my appreciation of the written word and how powerful it can be, hence, my book choices – a personal literary journey.  


I wrote

The Healing

By Karen E. Stokes,

Book cover of The Healing

What is my book about?

I have always been drawn to ghosts and the paranormal, and wanted to write a story that would reach out…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Rachel Papers

Karen E. Stokes Why did I love this book?

Martin Amis’s first novel, published in 1973, was the first book that I read from cover to cover. 

I was only eighteen at the time and even though my memory of the story is vague, I remember being drawn in by the unique and compelling way it was told.

I went on to read other works by the same author, but The Rachel Papers has a particular poignancy, in that it has lingered in my psyche for over forty years. Even in adolescence, I came to realise that books are as individual as the person reading them.  

By Martin Amis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Rachel Papers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In his uproarious first novel Martin Amis, author of the bestselling London Fields, gave us one of the most noxiously believable -- and curiously touching -- adolescents ever to sniffle and lust his way through the pages of contemporary fiction. On the brink of twenty, Charles High-way preps desultorily for Oxford, cheerfully loathes his father, and meticulously plots the seduction of a girl named Rachel -- a girl who sorely tests the mettle of his cynicism when he finds himself falling in love with her.


Book cover of Puffball

Karen E. Stokes Why did I love this book?

Reading Fay Weldon for the first time played on my imagination with her unconventional style and interpretation.

I was always a daydreamer at school and remember being able to relate to the innocence of the main character. She led you on a journey where you didn’t quite know what to believe and for this reason, I fell in love with her work. 

By Fay Weldon,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Puffball as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A novel of urban deceit and rural passion, of doctors, witches, birth and death.

'Many people dream of country cottages. Liffey dreamed for many years, and saw her dream come true one hot Sunday afternoon, in Somerset, in September... A trap closed around her. The getting of the country cottage, not the wanting - that was the trap.'

Richard and Liffey, a young married couple, follow their dream of moving out of London to a country cottage in the middle of Somerset. Richard continues to live and work in London, coming to stay with Liffey only on weekends.

Pregnant Liffey…


Book cover of Anatomy of Errors: A Self Help Course in Problem Solving

Karen E. Stokes Why did I love this book?

There are literally thousands of life-coaching books on the market right now, but I found this particular title in a charity shop many years ago.

It gets to the point, offering concise solutions to combat irrational thinking. I love a psychological ‘life dictionary’ and although it was published in 1993, I believe that the given solutions would be much the same if it were re-written today. 

By Alex Howard,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Anatomy of Errors as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of The Cry of the Lake

Karen E. Stokes Why did I love this book?

The Cry of the Lake was published in 2020, the same year as my book, and around that time, I had gotten to know many authors, including Charlie.

From the first line, I was drawn into the story which is told with impeccable detail, its characters clearly defined to create the dark and mysterious tale.  

By Charlie Tyler,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Cry of the Lake as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Alice and the Fly

Karen E. Stokes Why did I love this book?

This book inspired me as an author and how to write with conviction.

The mental health element of the story was totally relatable, being a former worker in such a setting. I understood the hostility surrounding schizophrenia and the thoughts and feelings of the main character, a young boy who had the condition. 

Skewed thinking and phobias can be isolating, where the sufferer can feel truly alone and this is the overwhelming sense throughout. 

By James Rice,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Alice and the Fly as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Powerful' Closer

'A darkly quirky story of love, obsession and fear . . . a beautiful story hung around the enchanting and heartbreaking voice of teenager Greg' Anna James

Miss Hayes has a new theory. She thinks my condition's caused by some traumatic incident from my past I keep deep-rooted in my mind. As soon as I come clean I'll flood out all these tears and it'll all be ok and I won't be scared of Them anymore.

The truth is I can't think of any single traumatic childhood incident to tell her. I mean, there are plenty of bad…


Explore my book 😀

The Healing

By Karen E. Stokes,

Book cover of The Healing

What is my book about?

I have always been drawn to ghosts and the paranormal, and wanted to write a story that would reach out to those who may not believe in the afterlife, but are open to the possibility. Set within an ordinary suburban household where a single mother lives with her young son, The Healing is a heart-warming, yet rebellious mystery.  

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From One Cell: A Journey into Life's Origins and the Future of Medicine

By Ben Stanger,

Book cover of From One Cell: A Journey into Life's Origins and the Future of Medicine

Ben Stanger Author Of From One Cell: A Journey into Life's Origins and the Future of Medicine

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a Harvard- and MIT-trained physician-scientist, and I am drawn to research problems that bridge the basic and the practical – how a better understanding of cells and tissues can inform new therapies for cancer and other diseases. As children, we are all scientists – mini-hypothesis generators trying to make sense of the world. I suppose I never outgrew that curiosity. My list of best science books credits writers who bring to life the excitement that comes from looking at the natural world in a new way, a spirit that I try to emulate in my own writing. I hope you enjoy these books as much as I have!

Ben's book list on science written by scientists

What is my book about?

Everybody knows that all animals—bats, bears, sharks, ponies, and people—start out as a single cell: the fertilized egg. But how does something no bigger than the period at the end of this sentence give rise to the remarkable complexity of each of these creatures?

FROM ONE CELL is a dive inside the cell and its evolutionary prerogatives to explain how these "endless forms most beautiful," as Charles Darwin called them, come about. Along the way, we learn about the scientific process, filled as it is with serendipity, as the story is told through the eyes of the scientists who informed…

From One Cell: A Journey into Life's Origins and the Future of Medicine

By Ben Stanger,

What is this book about?

Every animal on Earth begins life as a single cell. From this humble origin, the nascent creature embarks on a risky journey fraught with opportunities for disaster-yet with astounding regularity, it reaches its destination intact. From One Cell illuminates this epic transformation-still one of nature's most mysterious feats-to show where we all come from and where we're going.

Through the eyes of the scientists unraveling the secrets of development, we see how all the information needed to build a human fits into a fertilised egg, and how the trillions of cells that emerge know what to become and where to…


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