You know those books that just get under your skin, that wrap you up in another world, those magical books that you never, ever forget, that are so much a part of you that they feel like a real memory rather than fiction? They don't come along very often, do they? - maybe once in every twenty/thirty books and finding them is always a bit hit and miss. It's never the books you expect. Here are my six favourite books of all time - books that made me break with routine because I didn't want to stop reading - for anything. A couple of them are quite obscure (although more than accessible and totally available) and this is, I suppose, a bit of a personal crusade to expose them to a few more people. So, if you're looking for a good read that isn't necessarily piled high, shouting 'read me read me read me!' in your nearest bookshop, then have a look at these:

Shouting at the Shipmen - Tim Geary
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This is the story of Portia, a beautiful Canadian girl who is invited to live in London by Luke, a beautiful Englishman. The story starts off as an engaging and really very funny study of the British Upper Middle Classes from a foreigner's point of view but soon unfolds into a dark, dramatic and utterly compelling tale of a young woman coming to terms with herself and her past. Portia is a vain, flirtatious, nick-your-boyfriend kind of girl, the sort of girl it would be hard to like in real life, but Geary gets you so deeply into her head that your become entirely empathetic with her. You really do understand her and this is the strength of the book - all the more impressive when you remind yourself (as you have to from time to time) that it was written by a man. As far as I'm concerned this a perfect novel. Do yourself (and Tim Geary!) a favour - buy it.

The Colour of Memory - Geoff Dyer
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Not so much a story as a series of vignettes, conversations and moments that build together to create a breathtakingly colourful (hence the title) depiction of a year in the lives of a group of young Londoners in 80's Brixton. The concept of the book - if it has one - is that memory is not so much a recollection of events, as a sense of another time in your life, the way that time actually felt, the colour of it, which is something I've always thought. Geoff Dyer accomplishes this ambitious mission most impressively. If you're after a page-turner, this isn't it, but if you want a book to immerse you so deeply in another world that you can almost smell it and never forget it then I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Learning to Swim - Clare Chambers
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I bought this book on the recommendation of a friend, which I'm very happy about, as I would never have picked it up otherwise. The cover is truly grim. Far from the tacky romance they've tried to package it as, this book is actually a compelling and beautifully written story of childhood friendships. It follows the story of Abigail, a suburban teenager, as she becomes increasingly involved with the urbane, bohemian and decidedly eccentric Radcliffe family. It is full of unexpected twists and turns and lots of really touching depictions of adolescent lusts, insecurities and desires. It won the Romantic Novel of the Year award last year, but don't let that put you off. It's no romance - it's just a wonderful, warm magical novel.

She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
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This was an Oprah Book Club recommendation in the States a couple of years ago, and, naturally became a mega bestseller. It didn't do quite so well over here which is a shame because it's completely brilliant. Another book written by a man from the perspective of a woman, it follows the life from school, to college and through marriage of Dolores, a clinically obese young woman. This might sound a depressing premise for a novel, but it is actually a dazzling tale. Dolores is her own worst enemy - she wastes opportunities and allows herself to be victimised time after time - but she's completely unforgettable and you never lose hope for her. It's funny in parts and sad in others but basically it's just a bloody great, unputdownable read.

The Secret History - Donna Tartt
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An unoriginal choice, I know - I think this book is probably in everyone's personal top ten. But just in case there's someone left out there who hasn't read this incredible Shallow-Grave-but-a-million-times-better psychological thriller, I beseech you - order it now. I'll say no more.

The Country Life - Rachel Cusk
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Not a book I thought I would enjoy, particularly at the beginning when I was tempted to jack it in. But after a few chapters I was addicted. Again - it's not a story in the sense of lots of things happening, all the time. It's slow, atmospheric and very heavy on the detail, but it's also extremely funny. It follows the fortunes of Stella, a city girl with a secret, trying to make a go of life in the countryside. She's been hired as a carer by the parents of a caustic, sarcastic, wheelchair bound teenage boy. It's the middle of a heatwave and everyone's a bit weird. There's lots of descriptions of sunburn and sweat and nettle stings and there's also a very funny running joke involving the fact that Stella can't drive but that's what she's been hired to do and most of the novel is spent tensely waiting for her to be caught out in her lie. Hugely original and incredibly entertaining.

After You'd Gone - Maggie O'Farrell
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Alice gets on a train one morning to see her two sisters in Edinburgh. In the toilets at Waverley station she sees something so shocking in a mirror that she returns to London immediately. Hours later she is knocked down by a car and is put in a coma. The rest of this moving, gripping and beautifully written novel traces Alice's personal history and that of her mother and grandmother, subtley describing the series of events that lead up to her accident. I was deeply moved by this book, particularly as the flashbacks unfold to reveal something so heart-breaking that it reached into the very depths of my soul - but I can't tell you what without giving the whole thing away. Maggie O'Farrell has written the truest and most affecting novel about love that I've read in a very long time.