MY SIX BEST BOOKS

ALYSON, 56, is a TV pundit and sports journalist. Her second novel Eleven Lines To Somewhere is out now (HQ, £12.99).

FOUR LETTERS OF LOVE Niall Williams (Picador, £9.99)

The novel that made me realise the importance of belonging to a book group. No way, I said, would I ever read something that looks so soppy, and yet I adored its grace and beauty. Irish writing at its lyrical best.

THE JUNGLE Upton Sinclair (Quarto, £10.99) This powerful book saved lives. Written in 1906, it exposed the plight of immigrants who travelled to Chicago in search of the American Dream only to be exploited by the meatpacking industry.The ensuing public outcry led to reform.

THE MIRACLE OF CASTEL DI SANGRO Joe McGinniss (Sphere, £11.99) About an American who falls in love with football and becomes embedded with an unloved Italian club. It’s funny and self-deprecating. McGinniss builds suspense from a remarkable true story.

McTEAGUE Frank Norris (Out of print) A treasure of a read. It’s epic yet poignant, following the fortunes of a not-very-good dentist in late-1800s America and his moneyobsessed wife.

BURMESE DAYS George Orwell (Penguin, £9.99) It annoys me that Orwell’s novels are overlooked. It’s as if his fame and brilliance for political satire preclude an ability to write about love and grief. This finds pathos and cruelty in British colonialism. Simply superb.

LIFE OF PI Yann Martel (Canongate, £8.99) A boy stranded on a boat with a Bengal tiger.What’s not to love? I retold this magical tale to my young children and they were captivated.