Bel Canto Patchett’s critically acclaimed novel that won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction. More
Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s masterpiece, and winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction. More
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance The philosophical classic that inspired millions struggling to find meaning in the modern world. More
2008: HarperCollins India publishes The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga… HarperCollins India publishes The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, which wins the 2008 Man Booker Prize. More
Tales of the City First book in Maupin’s acclaimed and groundbreaking series documenting San Francisco’s underground and gay culture. More
Pilgrim A finalist for the Giller Prize and a Canadian bestseller that surpassed the author’s own impressive sales records. 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
The Golden Notebook A feminist landmark and the best-known work by Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing. More
The Hours Winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner Award; made into an Oscar-winning film. More
The Corrections Winner of the National Book Award in 2001 and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 2002. 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
One Hundred Years of Solitude This landmark of magical realism sparked a wave of interest in Central and South American 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
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 Michael Chabon
The God of Small Things Winner of the 1997 Man Booker Prize, making Roy the first Indian woman to receive the award. More
Anthony Doerr We are all mapmakers: We embed our memories everywhere, inscribing a private and intensely complicated latticework across the landscape. More Anthony Doerr
Their Eyes Were Watching God One of the most widely read and acclaimed novels in the canon of African-American literature. More
Room Winner of the 2011 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize regional prize; made into a major motion picture. More
Dan Harris I used to read to lead a lot of fiction, mostly for the escape—to be transported to other places and times. More Dan Harris