I used to work in a bookshop - there are 7 books people bought all the time

My first job was in a local independent bookshop. At the time, 16-year-old me wasn't elated to be spending Saturday mornings tidying away books and serving customers, but I soon grew to love it. Looking back, it's one of the best jobs I've ever had. It allowed me to explore book genres and styles I never would have reached for, and nurtured my passion for reading. While I was there, I saw people buying various genres including historical fiction, crime thrillers, romance, autobiography, non-fiction and memoirs.

However, certain books would pop up again and again over the years, despite some of them being published decades before. From children's classics to best-selling mystery thrillers, these are the seven books that people buy all the time.

1. Each Peach Pear Plum by Allan Ahlberg and Janet Ahlberg, 1978

Despite being published in 1978, Each Peach Pear Plum is still a popular book among parents and children thanks to its beautiful illustrations and fantastic rhymes.

It contains a plethora of fairytale and nursery rhyme characters that children will recognise and is written in simple rhyming couplets that children find easy to follow.

Children are also encouraged to play 'I Spy' on each page to find the characters.

Allan Ahlberg, who wrote more than 150 children's books and collaborated with illustrators Raymond Briggs and Bruce Ingman, died earlier this year at the age of 87.

Each Peach Pear Plum is available to buy from Amazon for £5.51 and Waterstones for £7.99

2. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, 2003

This mystery thriller by Dan Brown is one of the best-selling American novels of all time and has remained popular since its publication in the early 2000s.

The book was made into a film in 2006, which starred Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Ian McKellen.

The novel is centred on Professor Robert Langdon, a symbologist, and cryptologist Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in the Louvre in Paris. They then uncover a conspiracy that alludes to the possibility of Jesus and Mary Magdalene having had a child together. The novel explores an alternative religious history, whose central plot point is that the Merovingian kings of France were originally descended from Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene.

The character Robert Langdon appears in Brown's first book Angels & Demons (2000) as well as The Da Vinci Code. He then appears again in The Lost Symbol (2009), Inferno (2013), Origin (2017) and The Secret of Secrets (2025).

I've never read any of Brown's books, but people seem to love them. The fast-paced, thrilling yet suspenseful formula that weaves fiction with historical facts, art history and religious symbolism is clearly a winning combination.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown is £6 from Amazon and £9.99 from Waterstones

3. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, 1969

The Very Hungry Caterpillar has remained a classic since the 1960s - and for good reason. The board book follows a very hungry caterpillar that consumes different foods before eventually becoming a butterfly.

The book was written, designed and illustrated by Eric Carle and incorporates key elements such as counting, days of the week and food that make it appealing to children and parents.

I remember this book distinctly as a child, and was pleased to see that it remained just as popular decades later when I worked at the bookshop.

It's the perfect gift for new parents and toddlers, and toys, teethers, and other items related to the book are now also available.

Unsurprisingly, the book has sold more than 50 million copies and been translated into more than 60 languages, becoming "one of the greatest childhood classics of all time."

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is £4.72 from Amazon and £7.99 from Waterstones

4. Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel, 2009

You always know a book is popular when it's made into a TV series or film, and that was the case with Hillary Mantel's historical fiction book Wolf Hall.

The novel is set in the period from 1500 to 1535 and is a fictionalised biography documenting the rise to power of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII through to the death of Sir Thomas More.

The novel won the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was named one of "the 10 best historical novels" by The Observer.

I remember this book flying off the shelves over the years. It was often bought by historical fiction enthusiasts, as a gift or by those who wanted to snap out of their reading slump.

Wolf Hall is the first in the trilogy, with Bring Up the Bodies (2012) and The Mirror and the Light (2020) being just as popular.

Wolf Hall is £8.99 from Amazon and £10.99 from Waterstones

5. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, 1939

Agatha Christie's books continue to be popular despite her first book being published more than 100 years ago. Many of her books are popular, including Murder on the Orient Express (1934), The Mousetrap (1952), and Death on the Nile (1937), but And Then There Were None is probably her most well-known mystery novel.

The book is the world's best-selling mystery, with more than 100 million copies sold, making it one of the best-selling books of all time.

The mystery drama is about 10 strangers with hidden pasts who are lured to a remote island and killed off one by one. The strangers realise that their host is killing them based on a sinister nursery rhyme and that one of them is in fact the killer.

The book was so popular that it was adapted into a miniseries in 2015, featuring Charles Dance, Douglas Booth, and Anna Maxwell Martin.

Despite And Then There Were None being published more than 85 years ago, it remains popular today among crime thriller enthusiasts.

And Then There Were None is £7.99 from Amazon and £9.99 from Waterstones

6. Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson, 2001

Another children's classic that I've seen fly off the shelves every year is Julia Donaldson's Room on the Broom.

The picture book has comedic elements and rhyme, which makes it appealing to parents and children.

The story follows a witch who loses her hat, bow and wand but is then joined by a dog, a bird and a frog who help her find the lost items. Eventually, the broom breaks, which leads to an encounter with a scary dragon who tries to eat the witch. In the end, an even scarier creature scares off the dragon. The witch then thanks her friends as they all add items to her cauldron. The witch then casts a spell, and a new and improved broom with seats for each of the characters then appears.

The award-winning picture book includes beautiful illustrations by Axel Scheffler and has been translated into 22 languages, winning six awards in total.

The book has proven to be so popular that it was made into a short animated film in 2021, which included the voices of Martin Clunes, Rob Brydon, Sally Hawkins, David Walliams, Gillian Anderson and Timothy Spall.

Room on the Broom is £6.80 from Amazon and £7.99 from Waterstones

7. Jamie's 30-Minute Meals, 2010

Jamie's 30-Minute Meals aired on Channel 4 in 2010. The 40-episode series saw him cook a meal with three or four dishes in under 30 minutes.

On the day the last episode aired in December 2010, Jamie Oliver released his cookbook of the same name. It became the fastest-selling nonfiction work of all time, selling 735,000 copies in its first week on sale.

Although this book was published 15 years ago, it remains popular due to its clear layout and simple meals.

It was a particularly popular option at Christmas time, and for those looking for a gift for their foodie friends and family.

Jamie's 30-Minute Meals: A Revolutionary Approach to Cooking Good Food Fast is £17.49 on Amazon and £30 from Waterstones