Pick three or more books to take to a desert island!

Okay so this is an interesting one for me. Being a Muslim a very obvious choice for me would be the Quran, this is a holy book Muslims are encouraged to read every Ramadan and I generally read it often and multiple times anyway so easy first choice. I could easily fill slots 2 and 3 with religious books but I'll head a different route!

The second book for me would be "Why has nobody told me this before by Dr Julie Smith" as I can imagine I would go crazy on an Island on my own, this book would teach me to take control of my mental health and thoughts and essentially stop me from going crazy!

The third one I would pick is Harry Potter and the philosphers stone as I NEVER read these books as a kid as I was overwhelemed by the 600/700+ pages and I am a slow reader so I Feel this book would keep me entertained for a long time

1. 'How to stay alive' by Bear Grylls. Like many here i think a survival and bushcraft book is pretty essential and who better to trust than Bear Grylls himself? With SAS knowledge and extensive experience in this area, you can be sure his guidance would be pivotal to your survival!

2. 'Silence of the Lambs' by Thomas Harris. A true classic that packs an amazing story telling punch and amazing character creation in the form of the chilling Hannibal Lecter himself. A book that's can be read multiple times and not lose any of its power.

3. '1000+ sudoku puzzles for adults' - no author listed. This one is because if you are on a desert island I think keeping your brain active and preventing insanity is pretty important. A mind workout would certainly help with that and thankfully this one has the answers for if you get stuck 😂

My first series of books I would choose would be the Harry Potter series because I read these as I was growing up and I loved them so much i used to read them pretty much non stop and they are books that I could read over and over again.

I would also take a fault in our stars by John Green again as this is another great story that I have read several times before and I would happily read it again if its all I had.

lastly How to stay alive by Bear Grylls would be a good choice for obvious survival reasons.

• The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion from Tolkien: I love this world and even though I've read the books many times, I still don't remember all the little details, so it would be great to revisit them. Plus I would make it a quest to learn his Elvish, even if I didn't have spare paper and pen, I would just get a stick and practice the writing in the sand.

• Asimov's complete works: in Hungarian we had an "Encyclopaedia Galactica" edition, all his works collected in hard-cover, really looking like your usual encyclopaedia would. Not sure if this exists in English, but finally I would have the time to read them all.

• The Thrawn Trilogy from Timothy Zahn: my favourite Star Wars books, I love to re-read them and maybe Thrawn's genius would also serve as an inspiration for what to make of my situation.

• My Japanese text books from uni: I love learning languages, and still makes me sad that I could never finish uni, so this would be a good time to learn the language. Just like with the Elvish calligraphy, it would be fun to practice the writing in the sand with a stick

Whilst I may not read anywhere near enough or as much as I'd like there's 3 books that immediately spring to mind.

Now, if I put any thought into this I should probably pick something longer like Lord of the Rings or War and Peace to keep me going but I'm sticking to my guns.

First up is Alice in Wonderland.

This book, the world it paints, the eccentric characters you encounter throughout and the lessons to learn from them are as incredible to me now as when I first read it and first saw the Disney version of the film all those years ago. It's an absolute trip, from start to finish, especially if you include Through the Looking Glass as well. If I'm ever in need of a book to whisk me away and get me thinking outside of my head then this is the book for me. I've used it so many times to kickstart my creative juices if I've been stalling on a project or feeling devoid of inspiration. Wonderland just has this knack of making me see things I might not have seen the first time and it always triggers some sort of creativity in me.

In keeping with the fantasy theme, The Neverending Story spoiler it does end.

But nothing good lasts forever, right? The Neverending Story is a cracking film from my childhood (the second one is fine the third one doesn't exist in my mind...) but the book is next level. There are so many bits omitted from the book that I would've loved to have seen bought to the big screen but I also adore the fact that the version of those moments only in the book and not the movie are my interpretation and no one can take those from me. A tale of heroism, facing your fears all in this backdrop of a fantasy land falling apart at the very seams. Even when faced with total destruction, the world finds a way of pulling through and being stuck on an island - I don't know about you but that's a message I want to keep close.

Finally, not in the fantasy genre at all is High Fidelity. A stalwart for me and my personality with the way it has top 5s littered throughout, soundtracking heartbreak, loss and success, it's perfect for me, keeping my mind nimble as I try and think of what my own Top 5s would be in each instance of the book. Remembering good times, bad times and all the times in between but finding a way to keep going - all with a soundtrack to keep me on track. Again, it might not seem like an obvious desert island book and it's not as practical as some of the choices I've seen but for me, it gets me thinking and I'm going to want to keep my mind fresh on an island.