My very first favorite book, and still a defining one.

Read this when I was 16 and became an immediate John Irving completist. This one has bears, Vienna, prostitutes, Exeter, AND wrestling, which means it's the platonic ideal of Irving Tropes.

My favorite 20th century poem -- studied this in college, can still recite whole sections from memory.

If I had to pick ONE favorite book from sheer sentimentality, it would be Smiley's People -- and particularly, the copy my father gave me, betting me $50 that I'd love it. He was right.

The best epistolary book ever, made all the sweeter for being a true story. A book lover's book.

The second, more modern contender for True Favorite, Cloud Atlas is an exquisite epic on a grand scale and also searingly memorable in specific parts (Frobisher particularly. Frobisher forever.)

No one does the small, portentous moments like McEwan. This book stands for me as the best-written single day in literature -- nothing holds a candle to the tension and subtlety of the first third of the novel.

I resisted reading this for years, but when I finally did it was worth it. Such incredibly memorable characters, such a deep dive into his obsessions.

So delightfully absurd, so deadpan, so subtly eviscerating of post-Soviet life -- Kurkov is one of the funniest writers I've ever read.