The Corrections
Winner of the National Book Award in 2001 and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 2002. More
Room
Winner of the 2011 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize regional prize; made into a major motion picture. More
Lionel Shriver
Why I write: To find out what I think. More
One Hundred Years of Solitude
This landmark of magical realism sparked a wave of interest in Central and South American literature. More
Pilgrim
A finalist for the Giller Prize and a Canadian bestseller that surpassed the author’s own impressive sales records. More
People of the Book
Winner of the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year 2008. More
Frances Itani
I write because I am happiest when I am in what Tillie Olsen once described to me as “that bless’ed state.” More
Matt Haig
It sounds ridiculous, but reading saved my life. More
Cally Taylor
When I get an idea for a novel the fizz of excitement I feel is electrifying. More
The God of Small Things
Winner of the 1997 Man Booker Prize, making Roy the first Indian woman to receive the award. More
Bel Canto
Patchett’s critically acclaimed novel that won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction. More
Barometer Rising
The first novel by MacLennan, one of Canada’s most significant novelists of the mid-twentieth century. More
Karthika Nair
Books that influenced me: Haroun and the Sea of Stories. More
Shilpi Somaya Gowda
At every stage of life, since being a kid with a flashlight under the covers, reading has always been my favorite activity. More
Meg Cabot
I write because of readers like Diana Moreno, who handed me a letter recently telling me that, as the firstborn daughter of immigrants, she felt lonely and shy when she arrived here in 2004 . . . until she found my books. 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
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
Cecelia Ahern
I write because I feel compelled to. 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
Blonde
A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. More
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Multimillion-copy global bestseller that won critical acclaim for its beautifully wrought depiction of innocence corrupted. More
The Poisonwood Bible
Pulitzer Prize finalist and runaway bestseller. More