To Kill a Mockingbird

Much-loved Pulitzer Prize–winning classic, voted by librarians across America as the best novel of the twentieth century. More

To Kill a Mockingbird

When J. B. Lippincott (later acquired by HarperCollins) editor Therese (Tay) von Hohoff saw the first draft of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), she saw a promising story, but one in need of some reshaping and editing. More

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Multimillion-copy global bestseller that won critical acclaim for its beautifully wrought depiction of innocence corrupted. More

The Hobbit

In October 1936, Stanley Unwin, chairman of British publishers George Allen & Unwin (later acquired by HarperCollins), received a children’s book submission. More

Inventing the Western

Zane Grey and A. B. Guthrie Jr. were considered two of the foremost writers on the American West. More

The Thorn Birds

McCullough’s sweeping family saga of forbidden love in the Australian outback; became a bestselling phenomenon. 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

Room

Winner of the 2011 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize regional prize; made into a major motion picture. More

Freaky Friday

Classic comedic children’s novel that is so funny it has been adapted into film three times. More

Charlotte’s Web

Considered a classic of children’s literature; a novel of friendship, love, life, and death. More

Heaven Is for Real

The life-changing story of a boy who experiences Heaven, with 11 million copies sold. More

The Hours

Winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner Award; made into an Oscar-winning film. More

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943), a story about growing up poor in turn-of-the-century Brooklyn, was originally an entry for a Harper & Brothers memoir contest. More