Some Thomas Hardy? The Mayor of Casterbridge is one of my favourites.

Some quite blokeish suggestions above.

Just get her a nice edition of one of the classics. Something by one of the Brontes (Jane Eyre is a cracking read, or Wuthering Heights) or Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice is the obvious choice, Persuasion also good). They contain sme fairly good life lessons for young women too (always check the attic before you move in with your boyfriend). The Everyman hardback editions are quality but plenty of publishers do special covers etc.

An ex of mine who studied English and Creative Writing at UEA would coldly murder you for suggesting those books.

Also….

They contain sme fairly good life lessons for young women too

I Lol’d

I hated lots of the books on here. Jane Eyre – pointless rubbish with an idiot main character. Zen and motorcycle maintenance – cod philosophy rubbish. 100 years of solitude, most boring book I ever read.

Not that they’re bad mind, I just didn’t get on with them. I don’t think there are any guaranteed book suggestions that’s all. Best you can do is pick a book that you found significant and get her that and tell her why you like it. If you can’t think of one, then it’s probably a stupid idea for a present.

I much prefer Jane Austen if you’re talking old books, actually strong funny characters you give a damn about.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Handmaid’s_Tale

50 Shades of Grey

An ex of mine who studied English and Creative Writing at UEA would coldly murder you for suggesting those books.

It’s amazing what they teach there. 😉

Technically, those books are brilliantly constructed. Plus they’re a window into another age. And she can watch the TV adaptations if she finds them a bit slow.

The OP could do worse than giving one of these: http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/pubsetpages/clothboundclassics/index.html
NB. all the titles are orc-free.

Does she like science? My dad bought me the dictionary of science. Firstly thought it was a bit lame but it is actually the best book I’ve picked up. It’s fun to flick through and you learn a lot. I still use it and I’m 22. I imagine it would good fun to refer to in the future. I’ll be keeping mine close.

Or perhaps a classic like On the origin of species.

They contain some fairly good life lessons for young women too (always check the attic before you move in with your boyfriend).

I didn’t see “The Picture of Dorian Gray” in your recommendations… 😉

If she likes such things, I’ve got the complete works of, uh, Bronte, and someone similar. I bought them as a present for my OH and it was a misfire, they’re absolutely beautiful things but they’re huge; like, A4 hardback and two inches thick apiece. You can have them for the price of postage if you want.

Dibs. Or maybe not. Are we talking the weight of the Encyclopedia Britannica here? I’ll give you a tyen-spot, innit.

It’s amazing what they teach there.

Technically, those books are brilliantly constructed. Plus they’re a window into another age. And she can watch the TV adaptations if she finds them a bit slow.

The OP could do worse than giving one of these: http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/pubsetpages/clothboundclassics/index.html
NB. all the titles are orc-free.

It’s not the books, it’s suggesting them because she’s a girl and also because they have some pretty old fashioned role models for women.

I’ll use a quote that just about get’s my feelings across as I can’t be arsed to write it myself.

As many feminist scholars and columnists have questioned (most notably Cherry Potter), although it is understandable that such a man as Darcy held sway over women two centuries ago when society was deeply patriarchal, why should such a figure hold sway over educated feminist women in the 21st century?

Mr Darcy is a gateway drug to 50 Shades of Grey.

U-R – I’ll weigh ’em (somehow) if you’re genuinely interested and price it up.

househusband – Member
‘The Reader’ by Bernhard Schlink

saleem – Member
To kill a Mockingbird, catcher in the rye or The Celestine Prophecy.

Garry_Lager – Member
Another suggestion – Marquez’s 100 years of Solitude.
Ticks a lot of boxes here – it’s a literary masterpiece but a very moving one, the type of book if you read it at a younger age it stays with you in a ‘the best book I ever read’ sort of way. Complex structure but a lot of it is submerged, it’s not a difficult read at first.
You also have Magical Realism in full effect, which is sort of a girl’s version of science fiction. Been done to death now, but it’s an amazing style the first time you read it (and Marquez is the master).

^^ These and…

Journey by Moonlight – Antal Szerb
South of the Border, West of the Sun. Haruki Murakami
The Time of Light. Gunnar Kopperud

A DIY Manual!…

As many feminist scholars and columnists have questioned (most notably Cherry Potter), although it is understandable that such a man as Darcy held sway over women two centuries ago when society was deeply patriarchal, why should such a figure hold sway over educated feminist women in the 21st century?

Being a feminist (especially in the academic sense of the word) is hardly a given for ‘educated women’.

Cougar – I am genuinely interested, but despite your kind offer, I’d better say no thanks. Our house is tiny and stuffed full of books already.

I really enjoyed The Color Purple when I was that age, and Pride and Prejudice. Also, Still Life With Woodpecker, The House of the Spirits, Eva Luna. Got really into a Canadian author called Robertson Davies for some reason at that age. You could try Wild Swans for a non-fiction choice.

P.S some genuine roll on the floor laughing at some suggestions. I appreciate that most of you have never been an 18 year old girl, but some of you appear never to have interacted socially with one either !

What about a dictionary?

i’d go with the female empowerment thing too, so something on the Pankhurst, Jean of Arc or a really nice old copy of Pride and Prejudice, though given the anniversary, prices of the latter will be sky high at the moment…

My daughters favourite book is a book of poems she got from her teacher when she was ten. She is now a teacher and uses that book to read to her pupils 😆
The teacher who gave her the book is someone she aspires to emulate as a teacher herself, someone she says was the best teacher she had in all her school years. Something we cannot argue with…
That teacher died not long after leaving the school a year or so later 😥
She also has a huge collection of art history books from her uni years 🙄