Michael Bond
I was brought up in a house where books were an essential part of the furnishings. More
Seven Years in Tibet
A landmark in travel writing, it has been translated into fifty-three languages. More
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Thompson’s highly subjective blend of fact and fiction that popularized what has become known as gonzo journalism. More
Master and Commander
First book in O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series, widely regarded as the greatest series of historical novels ever written. More
Veronica Roth
I read because reading changes you. More
1954: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien is published…
Publisher George Allen & Unwin, later purchased by HarperCollins, publishes the 9,250-page manuscript of The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien. More
Papillon
A bestselling phenomenon and classic memoir of prison breaks and adventure. 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
A Christmas Carol
Dickens’s beloved classic of the meaning of Christmas that has inspired countless adaptations. 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
Bridge to Terabithia
Newbery Medal–winning novel; a true modern classic and touchstone of children’s literature. More
The Man from Snowy River
Iconic Australian classic and one of the most famous poems in Australian literature. More
Moby-Dick
Often called the greatest American novel of all time. More
A Bear Called Paddington
In 1958, an editor at Collins named Barbara Ker Wilson received a manuscript submission about a talking bear, which she opened with “initial suspicion” —as the publisher had received many other proposals featuring humanized animals that “are invariably either whimsy-whamsy, written down, or filled with adult innuendoes.” More
The Shipping News
Highly acclaimed international bestseller; winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. More
Longitude
Story of an epic scientific quest, which won British Book of the Year in 1997. More
The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly
Memoir offering a haunting, harrowing look inside the cruel prison of locked-in syndrome. 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
Barbara Taylor Bradford
When I say I have the need to write, I do mean need. More
From Clerk to Chairman of the Board
One summer day in 1884, Horatio Harper, grandson of founder John Harper, began talking with a bright young boy during his regular steamboat commute from Long Island to Manhattan. More
The Birth of Perry Mason
Head of William Morrow and Company (later acquired by HarperCollins) since the death of its founder in 1931, Thayer Hobson searched widely for promising new authors, often traveling to Europe in pursuit of his next big title. More
Ben-Hur
Lew Wallace, a Union general in the Civil War, wrote the biblical novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ in 1880. More
1924: “Queen of Crime” Agatha Christie joins the house of Collins…
“Queen of Crime” Agatha Christie joins the house of Collins, and two years later publishes her seminal Hercule Poirot novel, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. More
The War of the Worlds
The much-adapted classic from “the father of science fiction.” More
Inventing the Western
Zane Grey and A. B. Guthrie Jr. were considered two of the foremost writers on the American West. More
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
This 1972 Booker Prize–nominated novel was also made into a 1978 Australian film. More
Katherine Paterson
I read because I want more than one life, and books give me a limitless number of lives—lives that are different from the one I was born into. More
