A study in 2006 by British cultural historians Jardine and Watkins found that 80 per cent of men interviewed had most recently read a novel by a male author, and many male respondents had difficulty recalling the last book by a woman they'd read. Anecdotal evidence also auggests that some male book group members turn their noses up at books written by, or perceived to be aimed at, women. Here, then, is a list to satisgy those hunter-gatherers after more manly tomes.

Money by Martin Amis

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk (contains the short story 'Guts', at the author readings of which more than sixty people are rumoured to have fainted)

Man and Boy by Tony Parsons

Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

Filth by Irvine Welsh

The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe

Extract from The Book Club Bible, Michael O’Mara Books, £7.99

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