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Inspire's Favourite Reads: The longlist is here!

To mark the National Year of Reading 2026 and Inspire's 10 year celebrations, we're delighted to introduce Inspire's Favourite Reads – 100 books which have inspired us. This curated booklist includes titles suggested by staff across Inspire, our top-issuing books from the last 10 years, and blockbusters and award-winning titles which just had to be included. All the titles are in stock in libraries, and many of them can also be found on Borrowbox in ebook and eaudio format.  

Our criteria for the list were very wide - adult books in print in the UK - and we think this open remit has led to a beautifully eclectic mix. There’s something to suit everyone’s tastes, from fiction to non-fiction, classics to modern, and a multiple of genres to feast on! 

A girl sat on a stairway outside reading a book

Publication dates range from 1818 and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to 2025’s Japanese spooky bestseller Strange Houses by Uketsu. We have authors from across the world, and also Nottinghamshire’s own Stephen Booth – Drowned Lives and T.M. Logan – The Mother.

 

We showcase popular contemporary fiction like Christy Lefterii- The Beekeeper of Aleppo and David Nicholls – One Day. Fancy some literary award-winners?  There’s several to choose from, including Yael van der Wouden – The Safekeep, which won the last year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction and Bernardine Evaristo - Girl, Woman Other, Booker prize winner in 2019. 

A collection of book covers from our Inspire's Favourite Reads longlist

Crime is our most popular genre, and is well-represented by best-issuing authors Richard Osman -Thursday murder club, L.J. Ross – Angel, and more! We also have you covered for romance with titles including Colleen Hoover – It ends with us and Beth O’Leary – The flatshare. There is timeless science fiction, fantasy and horror with Stephen King – It and J.R.R. Tolkien – The Lord of the Rings to bang-up-to-date Andy Weir – Project hail Mary. Perhaps unsurprisingly for a list compiled by book-lovers, there are several book-themed titles - including Matt Haig - The Midnight Library and Markus Zusak - The Book thief.

Not into fiction?  We’ve got you covered with some brilliant memoirs, travel and history books.  From hard-hitting Hallie Rubenhold – The five to comic travel guide Bill Bryson- Notes from a small island and nostalgic memoir Hunter Davies -The Co-op’s got bananas. 

And now it’s over to you!  We’d love you to tell us what books you’re inspired to read from the list. How many have you already read? Is your favourite book missing? We had to make some very difficult decisions about what didn’t fit on the list – 100 books just isn’t enough for any bookworm! 

We’ll be narrowing the 100 titles down to a shortlist of 30 in late June, and we’d love to hear what books you think should be included. Speak to your local library staff or email us at reading@inspireculture.org.uk to let us know your thoughts.

At the shortlisting stage, you will be able to vote for your favourite books to create Inspire’s top 10 favourite reads (to be revealed in Autumn). Look out for upcoming events to celebrate the list, and don’t forget to have fun chatting about books!

Headshot of Ann, our principal librarian

Ann is our Principal Librarian for Resources and Information, covering stock purchasing and our eLibrary offer.