"A Damsel in Distress", by PG Wodehouse

Novel, 1919

A typical Wodehouse tale with all the stock characters and many set piece situations which appear all over the great man's work mean a thoroughly enjoyable, funny and reassuring read. This is a book relying a little more on chance than some of the others and one which also has a feel of a well-planned three act play, though in truth, little is lost as a result. Entertaining and twisting to the end, with characters more or less getting what they deserve except, possibly, a generous pay off for the main leads.

"I Capture the Castle", by Dodie Smith

Novel, 1949

A book tackling young love, a gloriously eccentric family and the very act and art of writing, which sets off at a furious pace, setting hints and hares running before settling into something more prosaic, but still pretty compulsive. The story itself is thin, but the settings, the family and the narrative are all sparkling and have a good deal of charm and originality. There's also an air of melancholy and a hint of the Empire dissolving into a new world, although the nostalgia is by no means overdone and the book not maudlin.

"Collected Ghost Stories", by MR James

Fiction, 1931

Supernatural tales, most of which stick close to established formulae (mysterious books and texts, eerie buildings) and can merge and blend a little into each other, but pepped up here and there with either humorous touches or the appearance and meta-fictional disruption of a narrator barrelling into proceedings. These are therefore stories to be enjoyed over a long period of time. More often than not, the stories are satisfying and, if a little old fashioned, can nonetheless conjure quite an atmosphere. There are, however, a few less powerful.