The first day of this year was the centennial anniversary of the birth of J R R Tolkien, who penned the epic novels The Hobbit and ‘The Lord of the Rings’. Born in 1892, readers have been mesmerised by his stories since they were published and, to this day, feature in myriad Best Books of All Time lists.

Wilkie Collins

On 8 January we will celebrate 200 years since the birth of Wilkie Collins, best known for his book The Woman in White and The Moonstone – which is regarded as the first modern British detective novel.

Time to read one of these author’s books?