Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Why do I read? Seriously? I’m supposed to provide an intelligent answer? More
The Stone Diaries
Winner of the 1993 Governor General’s Award (Canada) and the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. More
The Shipping News
Highly acclaimed international bestseller; winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and 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 God of Small Things
Winner of the 1997 Man Booker Prize, making Roy the first Indian woman to receive the award. More
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The philosophical classic that inspired millions struggling to find meaning in the modern world. More
Bel Canto
Patchett’s critically acclaimed novel that won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction. More
Angela’s Ashes
The phenomenal worldwide bestseller and Pulitzer Prize winner. More
Namita Gokhale
I read to share the world, to treasure words, to learn and intuit and recognise experiences to which I have no direct access. More
The Golden Notebook
A feminist landmark and the best-known work by Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing. More
Seven Years in Tibet
A landmark in travel writing, it has been translated into fifty-three languages. More
The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly
Memoir offering a haunting, harrowing look inside the cruel prison of locked-in syndrome. More
Mary Karr
I read to save my life, to take communion, to enter a community of fellow sufferers and rejoicers. More
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Kundera’s postmodern masterwork; named one of the best books of 1984 (New York Times Book Review). More
Flow
The psychology classic that explored creativity and happiness. More
Barbara Taylor Bradford
When I say I have the need to write, I do mean need. More
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Pulitzer Prize winner; considered one of the classic works of creative nonfiction of the late twentieth century. More
Love and War in the Apennines
The early life story of a man who would become one of Britain’s best-loved literary adventurers. More
Heather O’Neill
A book that influenced me and why: A Season in the Life of Emmanuel by Marie-Claire Blais More
The Year of Magical Thinking
Winner of the 2005 National Book Award for Nonfiction and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. More
Our Town
Pulitzer Prize–winning drama; hailed by Edward Albee as “The finest play ever written by an American.” More