The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (Penguin, $16). Steinbeck’s masterpiece was an inspiration as I set out to uncover the history of the Great Migration of Southern blacks to the American North and West. Some 6 million African-Americans left the South during the Great Migration, compared with the 300,000 people involved in the Dust Bowl migration. And yet there was no intimate examination of this larger relocation. I wanted to understand the migrant heart, the fears and longings of people who, like Steinbeck’s Joads, left the only place they had known for a place they had never seen. This novel, written by a journalist—as I am—was a kind of sacred text to me.
Blindness by José Saramago (Mariner, $15). This great novelist was perhaps the best psychologist who ever lived. He understood the dark and best sides of the human psyche. He captured the closely observed, everyday manifestations of human fear, paranoia, and goodness, and told a truth larger than fiction.
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The Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty (Vintage, $13). The genius of Welty was the subtlety of her depiction of the 20th-century South, a multilayered feudal world that she illuminated here through characters who collide when a revered father and husband dies and those who love him must come to terms with it.
Atonement by Ian McEwan (Anchor, $15). You realize that you are in the hands of a master from the opening paragraphs. And beyond the tightly wound plot and deep inner lives of the characters, it is a reminder of the uncountable forms of loss that come from war.
Beloved by Toni Morrison (Vintage, $9). Perhaps the most disturbing and unforgettable depiction of the pain of slavery in America ever written. So hard you want to turn away, but so gorgeous that the pages will not permit you to.
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The Icelandic women’s strike 50 years onIn The Spotlight The nation is ‘still no paradise’ for women, say campaigners
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Mall World: why are people dreaming about a shopping centre?Under The Radar Thousands of strangers are dreaming about the same thing and no one sure why
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Why scientists are attempting nuclear fusionThe Explainer Harnessing the reaction that powers the stars could offer a potentially unlimited source of carbon-free energy, and the race is hotting up
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Gilbert King’s 6 favorite books about the search for justiceFeature The journalist recommends works by Bryan Stevenson, David Grann, and more
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Nathan Harris’ 6 favorite books that turn adventures into revelationsFeature The author recommends works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McGuire, and more
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Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
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Lou Berney’s 6 favorite books with powerful storytellingFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Dorothy B. Hughes, James McBride, and more
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Elizabeth Gilbert’s favorite books about women overcoming difficultiesFeature The author recommends works by Tove Jansson, Lauren Groff, and more
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Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
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Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is moreFeature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
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Keith McNally's 6 favorite books that have ambitious charactersFeature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
