Tales of the City First book in Maupin’s acclaimed and groundbreaking series documenting San Francisco’s underground and gay culture. More
Girl with a Pearl Earring Multimillion-copy global bestseller that won critical acclaim for its beautifully wrought depiction of innocence corrupted. More
The Golden Notebook A feminist landmark and the best-known work by Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing. More
Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s masterpiece, and winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction. More
Jane Eyre Brontë’s masterpiece of Gothic romance; a milestone title in the history of British feminist literature. 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 Namita Gokhale
The Corrections Winner of the National Book Award in 2001 and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 2002. More
To Kill a Mockingbird Much-loved Pulitzer Prize–winning classic, voted by librarians across America as the best novel of the twentieth century. More
Bel Canto Patchett’s critically acclaimed novel that won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction. More
The Shipping News Highly acclaimed international bestseller; winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. More
The Stone Diaries Winner of the 1993 Governor General’s Award (Canada) and the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. More
Heather O’Neill A book that influenced me and why: A Season in the Life of Emmanuel by Marie-Claire Blais More Heather O’Neill
Caroline Overington I read to observe the world as it is seen by others; to walk the planet as strangers do; to breathe a story that is not my own. More Caroline Overington
Tracy Chevalier I read because I want to know what it’s like to look at the world through someone else’s eyes, and reading is a remarkably efficient and vigorous way of doing that. More Tracy Chevalier
Pilgrim A finalist for the Giller Prize and a Canadian bestseller that surpassed the author’s own impressive sales records. More
Go Set a Watchman This newly discovered novel from beloved author Harper Lee became the bestselling book of 2015. More
The Known World The Pulitzer Prize–winning novel that examines the troubling complexities of slavery. More
Hilary Mantel I read out of hope and avid curiosity, and in an attempt to live in other times, and inhabit bodies that are not my own. More Hilary Mantel