Middlemarch
Ranked number one in a 2015 BBC poll of the 100 greatest British novels. More
Bel Canto
Patchett’s critically acclaimed novel that won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction. More
Cathy Glass
I have always been a writer. More
The Year of Magical Thinking
Winner of the 2005 National Book Award for Nonfiction and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. More
Jane Eyre
Brontë’s masterpiece of Gothic romance; a milestone title in the history of British feminist literature. 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
A Woman of Substance
With her unforgettable heroine Emma Harte, Bradford popularized the rags-to-riches family saga. More
Wolf Hall
Winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. More
The Poisonwood Bible
Pulitzer Prize finalist and runaway bestseller. More
One Hundred Years of Solitude
This landmark of magical realism sparked a wave of interest in Central and South American literature. More
The Hours
Winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner Award; made into an Oscar-winning film. More
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Kundera’s postmodern masterwork; named one of the best books of 1984 (New York Times Book Review). More
Barbara Taylor Bradford
When I say I have the need to write, I do mean need. More
The Thorn Birds
McCullough’s sweeping family saga of forbidden love in the Australian outback; became a bestselling phenomenon. More
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of fate, tragedy, and the meaning of the human condition. More
The Known World
The Pulitzer Prize–winning novel that examines the troubling complexities of slavery. More
The Corrections
Winner of the National Book Award in 2001 and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 2002. More
Mary Karr
I read to save my life, to take communion, to enter a community of fellow sufferers and rejoicers. More
Angela’s Ashes
The phenomenal worldwide bestseller and Pulitzer Prize winner. More
The Wapshot Chronicle
Winner of the 1958 National Book Award, it established Cheever as a major American novelist. More
The Shipping News
Highly acclaimed international bestseller; winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. More
The White Tiger
Winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize. More
Matt Haig
It sounds ridiculous, but reading saved my life. More
The Stone Diaries
Winner of the 1993 Governor General’s Award (Canada) and the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. More
Just Kids
Legendary artist Patti Smith’s critically acclaimed memoir; winner of the National Book Award. More
The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly
Memoir offering a haunting, harrowing look inside the cruel prison of locked-in syndrome. More
Their Eyes Were Watching God
One of the most widely read and acclaimed novels in the canon of African-American literature. More