One Hundred Years of Solitude
This landmark of magical realism sparked a wave of interest in Central and South American literature. More
Jacqueline Winspear
I read because I love language, the way the joining of words and the rhythm of a story can make me laugh, cry, or take me out of my world or immerse me in the lives of others. More
The Stone Diaries
Winner of the 1993 Governor General’s Award (Canada) and the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. 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
Heather O’Neill
A book that influenced me and why: A Season in the Life of Emmanuel by Marie-Claire Blais More
The Sheltering Sky
Bowles’s landmark literary novel, a classic work of psychological terror. More
Jane Eyre
Brontë’s masterpiece of Gothic romance; a milestone title in the history of British feminist literature. More
Room
Winner of the 2011 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize regional prize; made into a major motion picture. More
The Corrections
Winner of the National Book Award in 2001 and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 2002. More
Half of a Yellow Sun
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s masterpiece, and winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction. More
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Pulitzer Prize winner; considered one of the classic works of creative nonfiction of the late twentieth century. More
Wolf Hall
Winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. More
Cecelia Ahern
I write because I feel compelled to. More
Anthony Doerr
We are all mapmakers: We embed our memories everywhere, inscribing a private and intensely complicated latticework across the landscape. More
The Bell Jar
A haunting classic that chronicles the breakdown of a brilliant, talented, successful young woman. More
The Golden Notebook
A feminist landmark and the best-known work by Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing. More
Middlemarch
Ranked number one in a 2015 BBC poll of the 100 greatest British novels. 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 Thorn Birds
McCullough’s sweeping family saga of forbidden love in the Australian outback; became a bestselling phenomenon. More
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 Alchemist
An inspirational phenomenon; one of the bestselling books in history. More
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
The Hours
Winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner Award; made into an Oscar-winning film. 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 Poisonwood Bible
Pulitzer Prize finalist and runaway bestseller. More
People of the Book
Winner of the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year 2008. More