The majority of the most popular books are from the 1900s, but three 21st century works made the top 40. John Boyne’s Holocaust novel, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, published in 2006, was the highest rated work from this millennium. Animal Farm is the favourite amongst men, but A Christmas Carol tops the list for women, followed by Charlotte Brontë’s gothic romance novel Jane Eyre. Greg Smith, Head of Operations at Oxford Home Schooling, said: “The books we read at school can affect our general interest in reading in later life, so it’s really important that people enjoy the novels given to them.