A Woman of Substance With her unforgettable heroine Emma Harte, Bradford popularized the rags-to-riches family saga. More
The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly Memoir offering a haunting, harrowing look inside the cruel prison of locked-in syndrome. 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 Michael Chabon
Our Town Pulitzer Prize–winning drama; hailed by Edward Albee as “The finest play ever written by an American.” More
The Stone Diaries Winner of the 1993 Governor General’s Award (Canada) and the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. More
Lauren Weisberger A book that influenced me and why . . . Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume was incredibly influential to me as a child. More Lauren Weisberger
The Thorn Birds McCullough’s sweeping family saga of forbidden love in the Australian outback; became a bestselling phenomenon. More
The Corrections Winner of the National Book Award in 2001 and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 2002. More
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith This 1972 Booker Prize–nominated novel was also made into a 1978 Australian film. More
Barbara Taylor Bradford When I say I have the need to write, I do mean need. More Barbara Taylor Bradford
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 Hilary Mantel
Just Kids Legendary artist Patti Smith’s critically acclaimed memoir; winner of the National Book Award. More
One Hundred Years of Solitude This landmark of magical realism sparked a wave of interest in Central and South American literature. More
The Bridge of San Luis Rey The Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of fate, tragedy, and the meaning of the human condition. More
Their Eyes Were Watching God One of the most widely read and acclaimed novels in the canon of African-American literature. More
Half of a Yellow Sun Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s masterpiece, and winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction. More
Mary Karr I read to save my life, to take communion, to enter a community of fellow sufferers and rejoicers. More Mary Karr