10 of the best VINTAGE books of 2019

A full-throttle reanimation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein by literary giant Jeanette Winterson, this rollicking read blends Artificial Intelligence, Brexit, gender and sexuality into a cautionary tale about the modern age. Darkly entertaining and keenly observed, this Booker Prize longlistee will have you, by turns, on the edge of your seat and shaking with laughter. To quote the New York Times, it's 'a radical love story for right now'.

Dubbed 'an absolute tonic fo grey winter days' by the Evening Standard, The Man in the Red Coat by Man Booker Prize-winner Julian Barnes takes readers on a sumptously drawn tour of Belle Epoque Paris, via the life story of the pioneering surgeon Samuel Pozzi. Full of dry wit, playful prose and full colour illustrations, this gorgeous volume is a real treat.

Tim Bouverie's sweeping, thriller-like account of the build-up to the Second World War is one of the top history debut's of 2019. Another Sunday Times bestseller, Appeasing Hitler is an unputdownable and meticulously researched read illuminating eternal truths that both policymakers and voters alike can take note of in today's fractious political climate.

In a society which often prefers to look in the opposite direction, Kerry Hudson's Lowborn is an essential tour-de-force unravelling the realities of being born working class in Britain. Dubbed 'one of the most important books of the year' by the Guardian, Lowborn is by turns an indictment of the UK's failing welfare state, and a humorous,heart-warming homage to the resilience of the human spirit. Read it, learn from it and pass it on.

The debut novel from T. S. Eliot Prize-winning poet Ocean Vuong was sure to wow, but it has truly taken the literary world by storm. Steeped in critical praise and recently crowned the Foyles Fiction Book of the Year, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous takes the form of a poignant, exquisitely wrought letter from a son to his mother - one he knows she can never read. You'll be floored by this semi-autobiographical novel of masculinity and race.

Now on the shortlist for the Costa Fiction Book of the Year, Shadowplay is a fabulous, atmospheric jaunt back in time to Victorian London's West End, when Bram finds new inspiration and we watch as the immortal Dracula begins to take shape. An unmissable, colourful read about love, performance and creativity, you will practically be able to smell the greasepaint.

With Keanu Reeves, Emilia Clarke and Emma Thompson among its devotees, Richard Powers' Pulitzer Prize-winning novel hardly needs any fanfare. The Overstory is a remarkable, mind-opening tale centred around nine strangers brought together in a last stand to save the natural world from catastrophe. Full of glorious facts about trees, you will race through its pages with awed glee.

Both essential and enraging in equal measure, Caroline Criado Perez's groundbreaking Invisible Women is an expose of the data bias that means women are being systematically ignored. It topped The Sunday Times bestseller list for over 16 weeks and found high profile feminist fans including Caitlin Moran, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Robert Webb. A well-researched, highly readable book that will arm you with enough facts to always come out on top of the feminist debates at the pub.

With trademark intelligence, insight and scabrous humour, Ian McEwan pays tribute to Franz Kafka's most famous work to engage with a world turned on its head. A bitingly funny new political sature which at 112 pages is a perfect read to keep in your pocket.

The Guardian called it 'the literary event of the year', if you haven't heard of Margaret Atwood's riveting sequel to her modern classic The Handmaid's Tale, you've clearly been living under a rock. Blisteringly pacy, humorous and challenging, The Testaments took the world by storm, even bagging this year's Booker Prize, and being shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year. If you haven't yet discovered it, we suggest you come out from under that rock and get reading.