Annie Kapur

With race, gender, and politics becoming evermore popular, the 1940s were probably most famous for bringing everyone together during one of the most violent wars in human history: World War II. As the world rose against Adolf Hitler, books and films took over the shelves and screen to become the most popular forms of entertainment—and music was roaring out in the most stylish of fashions.

I love sharing book lists with people and I love it even more when people contact me telling me that they've enjoyed some of the stuff they've read by me and taken away one or two books from the list to read. I rarely do lists concerning my personal favourite books of all time and yet, I know that I should because there are people out there that should know that I am not just about the classics.

There were many great things about the 1980s, first of all there was the music. The music of the 80s was the beginning of the dance scene, which was a smooth mixture between the synth of the 70s and the pop music that was slowly climbing and about to make a resurgence well into the 90s. Another great thing about the 80s was the TV shows. I have to admit to my fair share, such as Dallas and that sort. Finally, yes, we have some of the greatest albums of all time including Michael Jackson's Thriller which went on to become the greatest selling album of all time.

Philippa Gregory will always have a special place in my heart as being my favourite author of all time. The woman is an incredible writer of voice and personality. Her books are a timeless example of what happens when history meets fiction and when that meets great writing. Her first person accounts in which her books are normally written are brilliant evocative of the time, place, speed, history, relations and much more of what she is trying to convey.

When you think about Bret Easton Ellis, you're most likely to think of the man who created the feared antagonist Patrick Bateman, or the man who created the tragic Julian, or even the man who most recently wrote on racial divides and how he feels about identity politics in the modern world (somewhat controversial, but understood all the same).

Carson McCullers is one of my personal favourite writers of the modern age. Whatever she writes, she writes with beauty and passion, and every single word seems as if it has been specially chosen for its position in a sentence and every sentence for its position in the text. Though Carson McCullers didn't live very long, I do think that her body of work (though short) is pretty impressive. I always identify with her lonely and struggling characters who hold it all inside as they walk, discontented through meaningless lives, seeking something other than what they have. The eternal displacement.