Truro-based charity ShelterBox has partnered with an impressive list of celebrities to champion their new book club.

The ShelterBox Book Club invites members to vote on unusual and intriguing titles which reflect the diverse range of people and places around the world that the charity works with.

Joanna Lumley, Imelda Staunton, Dame Judi Dench, Jim Carter and author Nina Stibbe have spoken about the books that have changed their lives as part of a campaign to bring attention to the new club.

Joanna Lumley said: “I return to Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier again and again. From the first sentence I was hooked and find, even now, even when I know every twist and turn, that I cannot put it down.

"Always wanting to write myself, I have tried to analyse the way she has constructed it: the skill with which she makes us all feel we know what it is like to drive in the South of France, to walk through the azaleas to the windswept beach, to wander through Manderley like a stranger, to feel the sick fear as Mrs Danvers appears silently in a shadowy corridor.

"Although it has been dramatised many times and with much success, nothing quite compares with the book. The final chapter still has my heart thumping, with the final twist coming out of the blue. A masterpiece.”

Imelda Staunton said: “Well, the book that is changing my life at present is by the gardener Beth Chatto. It is helping me on a daily basis to understand how to provide the best conditions for each different plant... a bit like life really, we all need to be given the perfect place and equipment to thrive.”

Dame Judi Dench said: “I remember having tonsillitis very badly as a child and my brothers had the entire set of Richmal Crompton Just William books, which they gave me to read. I laughed so much at the stories, which was not too good for the tonsils, but they made me an avid reader.”

Jim Carter said: “I’m not sure that ‘Well Done Secret Seven’ actually changed my life but learning to read and being given the ability to enter the imaginative world of books certainly did. And my early reading was dominated by the healthy adventures of Enid Blyton’s gang. I haven’t stopped reading since.”

Nina Stibbe said: “The book that changed my life was The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend. When it first came out everybody I knew was reading it and declaring it hilarious, satirical and miraculous. So I borrowed a copy and it was immediate joy and relief.

"Here was this very ordinary boy from Leicester telling us about his hopes and dreams, and his dysfunctional family. What thrilled me was that he made it seem normal – and very funny – to worry. I’d just turned 20 and felt I’d been worrying my entire life. 'Saturday January 10th: I think I’m turning into an intellectual. It must be all the worry.' I’d had that exact thought many times, starting when I was about 10, and had thought it ridiculous.

"Now worrying seemed quite reasonable and even endearing. Adrian’s main concerns were similar to my own. He might be put into a children’s home because his mother is too busy reading Germaine Greer and being menace to serve up decent meals. Laughing with him I felt elated, relieved, and normal.”

Robyn Cummins, ShelterBox director of fundraising and communications, said: “It’s wonderful to have the support of such star-studded book lovers. We’re really excited by our new book club. As you turn the pages of a great book, you’ll be helping real families rebuild their lives. The more people who join, the more disaster hit families we can help.”

Membership costs just £10 a month. Every six weeks, a copy of the book chosen by the members' vote will be posted to each member.

Visit shelterbox.org/bookclub for more information.