Authors’ reading picks

Nine books from each author’s published reading lists and interviews. Editorial selections, with sources for every book.

• 1. Oryx and CrakeMargaret Atwood
  2. 2666Roberto Bolaño
  3. The Yiddish Policemen's UnionMichael Chabon
  4. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar WaoJunot Díaz
  5. American GodsNeil Gaiman
  6. Tree of SmokeDenis Johnson
  7. No Country for Old MenCormac McCarthy
  8. American PastoralPhilip Roth
  9. Midnight's ChildrenSalman Rushdie

  Stephen King

  Nine sourced reading picks

• 1. Donovan's BrainCurt Siodmak
  2. Consider Her Ways and OthersJohn Wyndham
  3. Riddley WalkerRussell Hoban
  4. The Left Hand of DarknessUrsula K. Le Guin
  5. Wildwood WisdomEllsworth Jaeger
  6. Nineteen Eighty-FourGeorge Orwell
  7. The Lord of the RingsJ. R. R. Tolkien
  8. Red MemoryTania Branigan
  9. Wild Animals I Have KnownErnest Thompson Seton

  Margaret Atwood

  Nine sourced reading picks

• 1. BlindnessJosé Saramago
  2. The CaveJosé Saramago
  3. Bleak HouseCharles Dickens
  4. Wuthering HeightsEmily Brontë
  5. The Nature of ThingsLucretius
  6. The Immortal Life of Henrietta LacksRebecca Skloot
  7. The Voyage of the BeagleCharles Darwin
  8. Little Big ManThomas Berger
  9. MiddlemarchGeorge Eliot

  Ursula K. Le Guin

  Nine sourced reading picks

• 1. The Lord of the RingsJ. R. R. Tolkien
  2. The Once and Future KingT. H. White
  3. Watership DownRichard Adams
  4. Best Served ColdJoe Abercrombie
  5. The HeroesJoe Abercrombie
  6. IvanhoeWalter Scott
  7. The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
  8. The Black RoseThomas B. Costain
  9. The Iron KingMaurice Druon

  George R. R. Martin

  Nine sourced reading picks