Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The philosophical classic that inspired millions struggling to find meaning in the modern world. More
Bring Up the Bodies
Winner of the Man Booker Prize and the first to win as a sequel. More
Bel Canto
Patchett’s critically acclaimed novel that won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction. More
Tales of the City
First book in Maupin’s acclaimed and groundbreaking series documenting San Francisco’s underground and gay culture. More
The Shipping News
Highly acclaimed international bestseller; winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. More
The God of Small Things
Winner of the 1997 Man Booker Prize, making Roy the first Indian woman to receive the award. More
The White Tiger
Winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize. More
Heather O’Neill
A book that influenced me and why: A Season in the Life of Emmanuel by Marie-Claire Blais 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
The Alchemist
An inspirational phenomenon; one of the bestselling books in history. More
Blonde
A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. More
Their Eyes Were Watching God
One of the most widely read and acclaimed novels in the canon of African-American literature. More
One Hundred Years of Solitude
This landmark of magical realism sparked a wave of interest in Central and South American literature. More
T. C. Boyle
I read in the way that I breathe, as a necessity of life. 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
The Golden Notebook
A feminist landmark and the best-known work by Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing. More
The Year of Magical Thinking
Winner of the 2005 National Book Award for Nonfiction and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. More
The Thorn Birds
McCullough’s sweeping family saga of forbidden love in the Australian outback; became a bestselling phenomenon. More
The Hours
Winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner Award; made into an Oscar-winning film. 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
Half of a Yellow Sun
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s masterpiece, and winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction. 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
Matt Haig
It sounds ridiculous, but reading saved my life. More
The Corrections
Winner of the National Book Award in 2001 and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 2002. More
Room
Winner of the 2011 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize regional prize; made into a major motion picture. More
The Poisonwood Bible
Pulitzer Prize finalist and runaway bestseller. More
Lionel Shriver
Why I write: To find out what I think. More
