Books can be dangerous.

The best ones should be labeled "This could change your life."

For me, Looking for Alibrandi (Marlina Marchetta) was a book that retains such special significance.

Snow Falling on Cedars (David Gutterson) was a book that, at the time in my life when I first read it, astounded me. I also think that the film depiction of the novel was one of the best I've seen.

Shantaram (Gregory Roberts) gripped me from start to finish. I read it while travelling through India with two girlfriends. All three of us read it in India, looking up from the pages out into the country we were backpacking through. Would it have made such an impression had I read it in Australia? Without a doubt. It is also a book that I have given to male friends of mine (who generally don't read fiction) who have read it and enjoyed it.