"The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz; "Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood; "The Temple of My Familiar" by Alice Walker; "The Professor and the Madman" by Simon Winchester; "Cherry" by Mary Karr; "Botany of Desire" by Michael Pollan; "Gilead: A Novel" by Marilynne Robinson; "The Passion" by Jeanette Winterson; "The Lover" by Marguerite Duras; "The Bone People" by Kerry Hulme
