These are books that have been gifts between family and friends (and mostly subsequently enjoyed) OR recommendations to me by those same people. A dozen or so happen to fulfil both of these criteria.
BTW, the most vigorously recommended works are 'Animal Liberation', 'Born a Crime', 'A Clockwork Orange', 'Cloudstreet', 'Disgrace', 'Fight Club', 'Gödel, Escher, Bach', 'Loving Sabotage', 'The Mezzanine', 'The Power of One', 'Ready Player One' and 'When the Lion Feeds'.
