Tana French's Reading List

"It's furious, it's moving, it's darkly funny, it punches you right in the gut, the writing is effortlessly wonderful, and every one of the wide variety of voices rings utterly true."

"My all-time favorites include some literary fiction (Barbara Kingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible")."

"some magic realism (Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's "The Mistress of Spices")."

"It's the literary equivalent of a really good ice cream: all the comfort factor of junk food, but way tastier and more satisfying. It's a quirky, lovely, extravagant, funny romance."

"I love T. H. White's King Arthur in "The Once and Future King" … White makes him utterly human, and makes his greatness and heroism lie within that flawed humanity."

"Favorite antihero has to be Francie Brady in Pat McCabe's "The Butcher Boy." … you watch his mind gradually warp into madness … and yet you can't help aching for him."

"It's a damn good read that I believe should be read by everyone in politics."

"I love his "Einstein's Dreams"; it's one of my all-time favorites."

"He's one of those writers who somehow make both beautiful, deeply sensory writing and startlingly original ideas look effortless."

"Tom Ripley, broke and living by his wits, is sent to Italy to convince rich boy Dickie Greenleaf to come home. Instead, he kills Dickie and steals his identity. The book positions us with the murderer, not the investigator. We see the whole train of events through Tom Ripley’s eyes, and we’re seduced into being on his side. Usually the great payoff moment of a mystery book, the one you look forward to, is the moment when the killer is revealed. Highsmith turns that upside down: when Ripley is..."