SANDIE DOCKER

It was her Mandarin lecturer who first suggested that she might have a talent for writing. It was while living in London that she started and her first novel, The Kookaburra Creek Cafe, is published by Michael Joseph.

PAWN OF PROPHECY

David Eddings

This is the novel that turned a child who hated reading into a devourer of books. My dad gave me this book when I was about 15, hoping it would appeal to his reluctant reader and, boy, was he right. This was the moment I realised that books had the power to transport you mind, body and soul. I can still, nearly 30 years later, recall with such clarity and vividness, scenes and characters from this wonderful story.