I used to work in a bookshop - these are my five favourite books of all time

There is nothing better than getting stuck into a good book. I've lost hours to reading and have never regretted it. However, spending hours glued to can sometimes feel like a waste of a day. When I was younger, my first job was in an independent bookshop. It was a lovely job and often meant I spent hours serving customers, putting books on shelves and display tables and unloading new stock. Despite what many people may believe, working in a bookshop does not mean you spend all day with your head in a novel; in fact, it was quite the opposite; most days, I was swept off my feet. However, it did help me hone my knowledge of books with colleagues and customers providing me with several recommendations over the years.

My all-time favourite genre is crime fiction/thriller, but I also enjoy cult classics, fantasy, women's fiction, autobiographies and humour. But after a few years at the bookshop, I went on to study English literature at university, which exposed me to modernism, post-modernism, Shakespeare and Gothic literature. With this in mind, these are my five of all time:

1. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, 1969

Often described as an 'American classic', Slaughterhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death, focuses on the devastating firebombing of the German city of Dresden in February 1945, which is estimated to have killed around 25,000 people.

Straddling several genres, including autobiography, the book is based on Vonnegut's experience as an American prisoner of war. He was captured by the Germans at the Battle of the Bulge and transported to Dresden. While in Dresden, Vonnegut was held in a deep cellar with other POWS called Schlachthof Fünf (Slaughterhouse Five).

But this isn't just Vonnegut's story. It's Billy Pilgrim's, too. Billy, a fictional character, is a barber's assistant who was drafted during the war. He's also an optometrist, an alien abductee and a widower who gets 'unstuck in time'.

Billy's story is told chronologically, starting with his birth in 1922 and ending with his death in 1976. Throughout the book, we are transported to moments in Billy's life - the most notable being when he is abducted by aliens and taken to their planet of Tralfamadore, where he becomes an exhibit. There, he learns about their concept of time.

The first time I read Slaughterhouse-Five, I finished it in a day. Despite sounding complex, the novel's style is simple, with sentences often being short and snappy with quirky bites of humour sprinkled in.

There is no other way to describe my feelings after reading this book other than that my mind was blown. Genre-defying novels can sometimes be pretentious or lack a clear direction, but the intention, emotion, and meaning behind this novel could not be clearer.

And it's one of the few books I could read repeatedly and never get bored.

2. The Glass House by Eve Chase, 2020

This is a beautiful book, both inside and out. It is wonderfully descriptive and explores themes of grief, loss, and family.

The minute I began reading this, I knew it would be a page-turner, and I was proved right when I finished it in a week. The plot is split into two timelines, exploring the 1971 story of Rita Murphy, a nanny to the Harrington family who move to Foxcote Manor for the summer. The Harrington family includes two children, Hera, 13, and Teddy, 6, and their mother Jeannie, while their husband Walter remains in London.

One day, Hera finds an abandoned baby in the woods on the property, but rather than reporting it to the authorities, they decide to keep her a secret. Days later, a body is found in the woods, changing their lives irrevocably.

The present day follows Sylvie as she juggles her daughter Annie, separates from her husband, and cares for her mother.

As the two stories unfold, it becomes clear how Sylvie is connected to the events of 1971 and how the two stories will intertwine.

3. Adults by Emma Jane Unsworth, 2020

I discovered Emma Jane Unsworth while desperately looking for something light to read during lockdown. The Sunday Times bestseller has been described as "witty", "hilarious" and "heartbreaking" by readers - and I couldn't agree more.

The book centres on Jenny, a thirty-something columnist living in London who has a dysfunctional relationship with her mother and her smartphone. Addicted to social media, Jenny can't post a single photo of a croissant on Instagram without obsessively editing the caption.

There were moments reading this when I was doubled over cackling to myself, recognising some of Jenny's messy traits in myself. There were also heartfelt and moving moments when I wanted to swoop in, give Jenny a hug, and tell her, "Everything is going to be alright."

Adults is about friendship, the relationship between mothers and daughters, and learning to love yourself, even when the chips are down.

4. Animal Farm by George Orwell, 1945

A controversial book at the time, George Orwell's Animal Farm is, in my opinion, one of his best.

This novella, while satirical, haunted me and has left a lasting impression. At the time, Animal Farm was seen as targeting Stalin's Russia. However, as each decade passes, when people's freedom is threatened, the events of Animal Farm feel just as fresh as they did 80 years ago.

The story centres on a group of farm animals, who, sick of being treated poorly by their keeper, Mr Jones, decide to revolt and take over the farm themselves. They create a new society, 'Animal Farm', where all animals are free and treated equally. However, the pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, eventually seize power, oppressing the other animals, creating a totalitarian regime, mirroring the humans they fought to overthrow.

5. The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell, 2019

This psychological thriller was gripping, dark and a number one bestseller. Brilliantly written and compulsively readable, I honestly couldn't put it down.

The story centres on Libby Jones, who, after years of not knowing where she came from, on her 25th birthday, finds out she has inherited a multi-million-dollar mansion in London's Chelsea.

Twenty-five years earlier, police were called to the house after reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy 10-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. The four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.