As an author, I recognise that wide reading is important for me. Other writers’ books inspire me and set me thinking about the craft and the effect of the narrative on readers. I love to take a few days off writing, and read all sorts of books in all sorts of genres.

I’m always a little worried about recommending books to my readers, though. One person’s absorbing read isn’t another’s, and it’s more about the reader’s personal taste than the writer’s skills.All three books below are, without doubt, exceptionally brilliant. But they aren’t for everyone. They weren’t all for me…

I recently read Taiwan Travelogue, by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated by Lin King, and I loved it. It’s a bittersweet story of a developing romance between a fictional Japanese novelist and her Taiwanese interpreter in 1930s Taiwan. Chizuko, the novelist, wants to sample all the sumptuous local food, and Chizuru, the translator, arranges Chizuko’s travels so that she can. She is also an exceptional cook, and it’s through these travels and their developing relationship that we sample witty banter and such dishes as braised pork rice, plum juice, and winter melon tea.And one I’d maybe like to try. A soup made from peanuts, swet ear fungus and longan.

Chizuko becomes infatuated with her companion, but something makes Chizuru keep her distance. It’s only after a heartbreaking separation that Chizuko realises what it is. Amid fascinating food and sparkling dialogue is a clever story of power, privilege, identity and inequality.

It’s a great book and I devoured every page.

I read Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, another prizewinning novel. It’s about Piranesi, who writes his thoughts in his notebooks: on Tuesdays and Fridays, he sees his friend, the Other. Sometimes he brings tributes of food to the Dead. But mostly, he is alone. And the world he thought he knew isn’t so safe.

It’s a gentle book, comic in places, beguiling in others. It has been called a novel of exceptional beauty. It’s a fantastical story with a clever plot and it creates a wonderful, strange new world.

I urge you to read it. Then tell me if you enjoyed it. But I struggled. I had to conclude that it’s an excellent book for lovers of the genre, but you’d have to stick with it to reap the rewards if it isn’t your usual cup of tea. It’s imaginative and exciting. But I think I, as the reader, fell short of appreciating the best of it.

The Melancholy of Resistance, however, was a good read for me. By László Krasznahorkai, it’s a novel set in a small Hungarian town. A circus arrives, promising to display the stuffed body of the largest whale in the world. People flock to the spectacle.

The characters are great: there’s the Machiavellian, larger-than-life Mrs. Eszter, plotting her takeover of the town; her weak husband; and Valuska, our tender but hapless hero. I found it funny and absorbing.

The novel’s meandering prose may prove a challenge to some readers. It’s not for everybody, particularly people who like a punchy pace to their read. It’s mind-blowing though. I was amazed – on the first page, the author wrote only two sentences, and they’re long! But stick with it – it’s stylish and clever and filled with fun.

László Krasznahorkai has been compared to Gogol, Dostoevsky and Joyce, and I love all of those writers.

I think perhaps you’ll either feel buoyed by the narrative or you’ll drown in it. I was swept up in the euphoria of the storytelling and the characters all the way through. Yes, I loved this book. What a ride of a tale! Give it a go and let me know what you think.