All this and poetry too.

The Iliad of Homer

Translated by Richmond Lattimore

Robert Fagles's translations are often praised, but Lattimore is the translator I read for the full, mythic grandeur of ancient Greek myth. This epic poem is a favorite for its literary quality, violent action, and high drama: the perfect blockbuster.

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Purple Hibiscus

By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

It took a war novel (Half of a Yellow Sun) for Adichie to win the Orange Prize, but her debut novel will always rank first with me. It is, among other things, the story of 15-year-old Kambili's gradual discovery of herself in the privileged but oppressive household of her abusive father, a magnate who shows Christian charity by using fists at home and supporting schools and free speech in a politically turbulent Nigeria. Adichie's prose and poignant character portrayals will make you catch your breath.

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The Sun Also Rises

By Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway's descriptions of 1920s Pamplona, Spain, would tempt any reader to fall in love with the town and the country--sight unseen. The characters and the setting work together at a level unsurpassed in his later novels.

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The Last Worthless Evening

Four Novellas & Two Stories

By Andre Dubus

I consider Dubus one of the greatest 20th-century American writers. In a prose that, at first sight, seems so mundane, he describes in emotionally captivating detail the lives of the ordinary--waitresses, soldiers, teenagers--and in their lives, you recognize yourself.

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Jane Eyre

By Charlotte Bronte

There are few more appealing characters in English literature than the orphaned Jane Eyre. Bronte created her with the divine fire that makes such literary figures unforgettable. The dramatic prose is a bonus.

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Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

By Haruki Murakami

I'm a big Murakami fan, and this is my favorite novel. He takes you on crazy adventures in the Tokyo underground and through the subconscious and never loses you. In fact, he turns the journey into a genuine suspenseful mystery.

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Poems of the Sea

Edited by J. D. McClatchy

From anonymous sea shanties to urban dwellers' yearnings, shipwrecks, poets like Sara Teasdale, Noel Coward, and Constantine Cavafy, this collection explores the full scope of humanity's relation to the sea.

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Selected Poems

By lorna Goodison

Goodison is one of the best poets that Jamaica has to offer, and this collection features much of her best work. Her poetry explores all aspects of the female experience with an intelligence, humor, and creative power that make it accessible to anyone, regardless of gender or nationality.

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Dreamtigers

By Jorge Luis Borges

Borges is a universally respected writer who should be read more widely. His words take you on travels through art, history, literature, philosophy, mythology, and the rise and fall of nations. This collection of short stories and poems defies categorization--and is as good a place to start as any.

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Swann's Way

In Search of Lost Time, Volume 1

By Marcel Proust, translated by Lydia Davis

I haven't finished all in the In Search of Lost Time collection, but it's not because I regret reading Swann's Way, a philosophical novel that, among other things, is about a young Marcel's writerly beginnings. On the contrary, it's the kind of book that could, at the very least, have a significant impact on anyone's philosophy. And reading Proust's prose as translated by Davis is an ecstatic experience.

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Akilah I. White lives in Waterloo, Ontario.