I will supply you with a list of my favourite books... many are classics, others are fairly unheard-of.
My Family and Other Animals; Birds, Beasts and Relatives; The Garden of the Gods - Gerald Durrell (autobiographical, set in Corfu. It's nearly impossible to believe anyone had such a mad childhood: my favourite books ever since I first read them)
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Emma - Jane Austen
Green Dolphin Country - Elizabeth Goudge (set in colonial New Zealand and on an English-speaking island off France. This one kept me going for weeks, and is stunning)
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini (set in Afghanistan. Tragic - be armed with tissues at all times)
The Secret Countess - Eva Ibbotson (historical fiction. All her books are fantastic. Other good ones by her include A Song for Summer, The Star of Kazan, Journey to the River Sea)
Sabriel; Lirael; Abhorsen - Garth Nix (fantasy: brilliant)
Salt; Gool - Maurice Gee (fantasy)
A fantastic quote from My Family and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell:
[the author's brother on the family home] '"I assure you the house is a death-trap. Every conceivable nook and cranny is stuffed with malignant faunae waiting to pounce. How I have escaped being maimed for life is beyond me. A simple, innocuous action like lighting a cigarette is fraught with danger. Even the sanctity of my bedroom is not respected. First, I was attacked by a scorpion, a hideous beast that dripped venom and babies all over the place. Then my room was torn asunder by magpies. Now we have snakes in the bath and huge flocks of albatrosses flapping round the house, making noises like defective plumbing."
"Larry, dear, you do exaggerate," said Mother, smiling vaguely at the guests.
"My dear Mother, if anything I am understating the case. What about the night Quasimodo slept in my room?"
"That wasn't very dreadful, dear."
"Well," said Larry with dignity, "it may give you pleasure to be woken at half-past three in the morning by a pigeon who seems intent on pushing his rectum into your eye..."
"Yes, well, we've talked quite enough about animals," said Mother hurriedly. "I think lunch is ready, so shall we all sit down?"
"Well, anyway," said Larry as we moved down the veranda to the table, "that boy [Gerald] is a menace... he's got beasts in his belfry."
The guests were shown their places, there was a loud scraping as chairs were drawn out, and then everyone sat down and smiled at each other. The next moment two of the guests uttered yells of agony and soared out of their seats, like rockets.
"Oh, dear, now what's happened?" asked Mother in agitation.
"It's probably scorpions again," said Larry, vacating his seat hurriedly.
"Something bit me... bit me in the leg!"
"There you are!" exclaimed Larry, looking round triumphantly. "Exactly what I said! You'll probably find a brace of bears under there."
The only one not frozen with horror at the thought of some hidden menace lurking round his feet was Theodore, and he gravely bent down, lifted the cloth and poked his head under the table.
"Ah ha!" he said interestedly, his voice muffled.
"What is it?" asked Mother.
Theodore reappeared from under the cloth.
"It seems to be some sort of a... er... some sort of a bird. A large black and white one."
"It's that albatross!" said Larry excitedly.
"No, no," corrected Theodore; "it's some species of gull, I think."
"Don't move... keep quite still, unless you want your legs taken off at the knee!" Larry informed the company.
As a statement calculated to quell alarm it left a lot to be desired. Everybody rose as one and vacated the table.'
Sorry about the lengthiness. I just think that excerpt is one of the best things ever written in English!