"The philosophical concept introduced in the title speaks volumes and poses so many questions. Kundera’s novel opened up a whole new chapter of my life and ushered in a new understanding of perspective. Life is filled with wins and losses, both big and small, but all are temporary, fleeting, perhaps affecting, but impermanent."

"One of the first books I read when I moved to New York City, I like that James Baldwin imparts some of his own experience growing up in Harlem into this novel. It deals with issues of race and the church, and how both can be positive and negative factors in life."

"Another instance of pleasurable re-reading. William Gaddis’ first novel, mid-1950s, The Recognitions, and I remember walking into a bookstore in Manhattan and being intrigued by the striking cover design, from a 15th century Italian altarpiece. The first paragraph knocked me out and I’ve been reading and re-reading Gaddis ever since."

"As for dystopian, I’m not putting this on the list because we live in a time when those wielding power say things like, “Truth isn’t truth.” (Fun fact: it is!) I’m adding it because, when I was too young to grasp its cautionary aspects, this book showed me what a novel could do."

"This is an amazing work of art and history—a three-part graphic novel that dives deep into some of the struggle, strategy, beauty, and brutality that defined our country’s Civil Rights Movement. A vital tool for people, young and old, to learn about the past and be inspired about the future."

"New Zealand’s greatest novel and the one book that will transport me instantly home. Three disparate characters come together to form a fragile and unlikely family; their need to connect at odds with their fear of attachment. One of those books that wipes you out, no matter how many times you read it."

"The narrator of this novel works at a Tokyo convenience store and loves the routine of the job; she is also something of an anthropologist, noting her observations of human behavior in a distant and yet utterly open way. Watching her try to participate in the world is both moving and unsettling."