Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben is the best-selling author of Gone for Good, No Second Chance, and the Myron Bolitar series. His new novel, Just One Look, arrives in stores this week.

Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth (Vintage, $13). Actually, any Philip Roth novel, but particularly any from the somewhat early years, the Portnoy/Keplesh/Zuckerman novels. Though I come from a later generation, Roth speaks to me in a way no contemporary has.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (Puffin, $6). I don’t know of another book where I cheered so for our underdog hero. I wanted Charlie to get that golden ticket so badly it made me squirm. I wanted him to find happiness at the end. Plus I love the wicked humor. A nod to all the other Dahls, too, especially Matilda, Witches, and James and the Giant Peach.

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Marathon Man by William Goldman (Ballantine, $14). Okay, I was maybe 14, 15 when I read this. It was one of my first adult thrillers. I was gripped from page one. I didn’t even know I wanted to be a writer back then, but somehow I knew that doing this—making your pulse pound, making you rip through pages, making you ignore the outside world—is what I wanted to do.

Ceremony by Robert B. Parker (Dell, $8). He is the Raymond Chandler of our time—maybe of all time; arguably the greatest private-eye writer of them all. This is the Spenser novel I remember best.

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (Anchor, $13). Purportedly a writer’s guide, Lamott manages to be poignant, funny, endearing—and she gives plenty of practical advice on how to write. I give this one out as a gift all the time.

Born to Run