Room
Winner of the 2011 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize regional prize; made into a major motion picture. More
Mary Karr
I read to save my life, to take communion, to enter a community of fellow sufferers and rejoicers. More
Bel Canto
Patchett’s critically acclaimed novel that won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction. More
The Stone Diaries
Winner of the 1993 Governor General’s Award (Canada) and the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. More
Jane Eyre
Brontë’s masterpiece of Gothic romance; a milestone title in the history of British feminist literature. More
The Golden Notebook
A feminist landmark and the best-known work by Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing. More
A Prayer for Owen Meany
Irving’s beloved coming-of-age tale that ranks among the most cherished of American classics. More
Lionel Shriver
Why I write: To find out what I think. More
The Shipping News
Highly acclaimed international bestseller; winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. More
Michael Chabon
The first writer that I really fell in love with was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in particular his Sherlock Holmes stories, and the first story that I ever wrote was a Sherlock Holmes story. More
Go Set a Watchman
This newly discovered novel from beloved author Harper Lee became the bestselling book of 2015. More
Blonde
A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. More
Heather O’Neill
A book that influenced me and why: A Season in the Life of Emmanuel by Marie-Claire Blais More
The Known World
The Pulitzer Prize–winning novel that examines the troubling complexities of slavery. More
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of fate, tragedy, and the meaning of the human condition. More
Pilgrim
A finalist for the Giller Prize and a Canadian bestseller that surpassed the author’s own impressive sales records. More
Shilpi Somaya Gowda
At every stage of life, since being a kid with a flashlight under the covers, reading has always been my favorite activity. More
The Thorn Birds
McCullough’s sweeping family saga of forbidden love in the Australian outback; became a bestselling phenomenon. More
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Pulitzer Prize winner; considered one of the classic works of creative nonfiction of the late twentieth century. More
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Kundera’s postmodern masterwork; named one of the best books of 1984 (New York Times Book Review). More
The Poisonwood Bible
Pulitzer Prize finalist and runaway bestseller. More
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Multimillion-copy global bestseller that won critical acclaim for its beautifully wrought depiction of innocence corrupted. More
Namita Gokhale
I read to share the world, to treasure words, to learn and intuit and recognise experiences to which I have no direct access. More
Tales of the City
First book in Maupin’s acclaimed and groundbreaking series documenting San Francisco’s underground and gay culture. More
The Corrections
Winner of the National Book Award in 2001 and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 2002. More
Middlemarch
Ranked number one in a 2015 BBC poll of the 100 greatest British novels. More
Dorothea Benton Frank
You’ve asked me to tell you why I write but I think the answer might be longer than the fifty or one hundred words you’ve allotted me. More
