Banville, John: The Sea. I have read several of Banville’s books, and it seems his protagonist is always an unlikable old man (is it possible he patterns the after himself?). Despite this unattractive drawback, he is one of Ireland’s greatest writers, and The Sea (winner of the 2005 Booker Prize) is my favorite of his books that I have read. In this novel, Banville tells the story of a grieving widower, giving us a beautiful elegy on life and love.

Barnes, Julian: The Sense of an Ending. I very much like the intelligence and energy of Barnes’ writing. He’s an English author, has several notable books to his credit, including this novella that won the 2011 Booker Prize. The plot centers on a middle-aged man who thinks he has handled life well until he is forced to remember the truth of his past. It’s a short read, but do not speed through–it is packed with small intricacies.

Barry, Sebastian: On Canaan’s Side. Barry is another Irish writer, with many awarded novels, including this poetic tale that was on the 2011 Longlist for the Booker Prize. It is an immigrant story, and a mournful one that opens with the haunting, “Bill is gone,” then continues to tell us the story of 89-year-old Lily Bere as she grieves the suicide of her grandson and recalls her life. The book is about love and struggle and loss, and beautiful in its lyricism.

Baume, Sara: Spill Simmer Falter Wither. I rarely read the first novel of a new author; however good it might be; later novels are usually improved. But it would be hard to improve on the lyrical writing of this Irish writer, who tells us of the seasons of life of an outcast and his equally damaged dog. The descriptions are vivid of this solitary man “shabbily dressed and sketchily bearded,” with “clodhopper feet and mismeasured legs.”

Faulkner, William: As I Lay Dying. Faulkner is one of America’s greatest writers; a Nobel laureate for his body of work, novels of the 30s and 40s set in Mississippi. His writing is often described as Southern Gothic, and I have always found him difficult to read. As I Lay Dying centers on the death and burial of Addie Bundren, matriarch of a wretched, impoverished family, and is told through 15 points of view. The clairvoyant Darl stands out in memory.

Galvin, James: The Meadow and Fencing the Sky. Originally a poet, Galvin writes with lyrical simplicity. The Meadow covers the 100 year history of a meadow at the base of the Neversummer Mountains at the Colorado/Wyoming Border. This novel reads like an epic, and centers on a the successive owners of a ranch. Fencing the Sky is also set in the meadow but is more modern, more violent, with land ownership at the core of the plot’s conflict.

Harding, Paul: Tinkers. This was Harding’s first novel, and so good that it earned the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The work reads more like poetry than prose, following the lives of antique clock repairman George Washington Crosby and his father Howard, a tinker by trade. The book insists on taking us deeply into George’s emotions and thoughts, and is a moving study of the human heart.

Hemon, Aleksandar: The Lazarus Project. Hemon is a Bosnian American novelist and essayist whose style is unique and intelligent. The Lazarus Project was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award and National Critic’s Book Award. The book is based on the true story of immigrant Lazarus Averbuch, killed by the Chief of Police in Chicago in 1908. Research by Hemon’s reporter/protagonist takes us to Russia and Bosnia in this complex tale of intrigue.

McCann, Colum: Let the Great World Spin. Born in Ireland, lives in New York, McCann won the 2009 National Book Award and the 2011 International Dublin Literary Award for this novel, weaving together the 1974 twin towers high-wire walk of Philippe Petit and the lives of 11 fictional New York characters on that date. I also love McCann’s short stories of Ireland, particularly the title story in his collection, Everything in this Country Must.

McCarthy, Cormac: The Border Trilogy. McCarthy earned his Pulitzer for his post-apocalyptic novel The Road, but I much prefer his westerns, particularly since it is difficult to find literary works in that genre. His writing is spare, like the Texas he reveals in his books. He won the 1992 National Book Award and the National Book Critic’s Circle Award for All the Pretty Horses, then wrote The Crossing and Cities of the Plain to complete his trilogy.

Nabokov, Vladimir: Pale Fire. Nabokov has had an international reach with his novels in Russian and English, and is considered one of the great influences on literature in the 20th Century. He is best known for Lolita, but I much prefer his 1962 Pale Fire which is presented as a 999-line poem, with comments from the fictional poet and his editor. It represents a complex use of prose and poetry, and the famous critic Harold Bloom called it genius.

Robinson, Marilynne: Gilead. Robinson writes about faith and rural life, and earned the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Gilead. The book is written in epistolary form, and creates a memoir of the life of Congregationalist Minister John Ames of Iowa. The emotional core of the book is about family and faith as Ames struggles with conflicts in this theological beliefs. This isn’t really a book about religion; it is about a man’s struggle to understand life.

Roy, Arundhati: The God of Small Things. Roy was born in India, and although she has some writing credits, the major thrust of her life has been as an activist regarding politics and culture. The God of Small Things is partially autobiographical and won the 1977 Booker Prize. Protagonists are young twins who witness a tragic death as a response to social mores. As Roy writes, “Death does not come to children. . .it’s just the end of living.”