EVERYONE knows Bill Naughton, who grew up in Bolton, wrote the play Alfie which became a hit film and propelled Michael Caine to international fame.

But did you know he also wrote the novel, Alfie Darling as a sequel?

Published in 1970, it details sex-mad Alfie's further exploits and adventures and follows his affair with a strange girl he meets at a wedding party.

MONICA Ali also grew up in Bolton and was a pupil at Bolton School.

Her smash hit novel was published in 2003 and was later made into a film.

The novel follows the life of Nazneen, a Bangladeshi woman who moves to London at the age of 18, to marry an older man, Chanu.

It explores her life and adaptations in her new London home.

WALT Whitman in Bolton, by Paul Salveson, explores the extraordinary connection between great American poet Walt Whitman and a group of 19th century Boltonians who became his 'disciples'.

It's a great time to read the book as Whitman features in Bolton Museum and Library's latest exhibition. There's also a play about him being performed in the library this Thursday.

WORKTOWN: The Astonishing Story of the Project that launched Mass Observation, by David Hall, gives a fascinating insight into Bolton of the 1930s. It's an account recorded by 90 researchers who spent three years observing in painstaking detail the everyday lives of ordinary working people at work and play - in the pub, dance hall, factory and on holiday.

THE Madonna of Bolton by Bolton's Matt Cain is a funny, moving account of central character Charlie Matthew's struggles growing up as a gay teenager in 1980s Bolton.Released only last year, it received rave reviews.

Charlie's obsession with Madonna forms the central strand of the novel and the film rights have already been solod so read it now before the film gets made.