MY SIX BEST BOOKS

JOJO, 50, is a romantic novelist whose bestsellers include Me Before You and The One Plus One. Jojo’s The Makeover features in short story collection A Fresh Start (Orion, £1), one of Quick Reads 2020’s bite-sized books. See readingagency.org.uk

THE FABER BOOK OF REPORTAGE

Ed. John Carey

(Faber, £19.99)

If it’s for dipping into, for gaining perspective in troubled times, or just for the most gripping eyewitness descriptions of historic events, this book is endlessly fascinating.

THREE WOMEN

Lisa Taddeo

(Bloomsbury, £9.99)

Many male friends have been bemused by this book but nearly every woman I’ve given it to has recognised something of their own lives – and desires – in there.

LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA

Gabriel García Márquez

(Penguin, £8.99)

A novel centering on a lifelong love affair that manages to be both romantic and pragmatic. Everyone is flawed and yet it leaves you with a sense that all will be well.

THE SCIENCE OF STORYTELLING

Will Storr

(William Collins, £12.99)

I thought I understood what’s going on in other people’s heads. This book showed me I don’t. It deconstructs how our brains interpret and create, and makes you think anew.

RIDERS

Jilly Cooper

(Corgi, £9.99)

The filthiest of comfort reads.There is nobody quite like Jilly and for me this is her finest bonkbuster, with Rivals a close second.

HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS

Nigella Lawson

(Chatto & Windus, £26)

This is the book that brought up my children and every spattered page tells a story. Now they are grown, I mostly live on Marmite on toast.