1. The Lovely Bones By Alice Sebold; 400 pages

1. 《可爱的骨头》，艾丽斯·西伯德著（400页）

Because Susie made us trust -- and cry for -- a ghost.

推荐理由：（女主人公）苏西让我们信任一缕孤魂，并为之哭泣。

In Sebold's first novel, The Lovely Bones, she has crafted a gripping tale of tragedy. Part detective story, part family drama, part meditation¹ on what lies beyond, The Lovely Bones is a page-turner in the most literary sense.

可爱的骨头》是西伯德的处女作，讲述了一个扣人心弦的悲剧故事。小说部分侦探向，又有点家庭剧的意味，它还对物质层面之外的事物展开些许沉思。从极为文学的角度而言，这部书写得极为精彩，引人入胜。

2. Gone Girl By Gillian Flynn; 422 pages

2. 《消失的爱人》，吉莉安·弗琳著（422页）

Because Flynn nails an age-old fear: Do we really know the people closest to us?

推荐理由：费琳在这本书中一针见血，点出人们由来已久的恐惧——我们真的了解同我们最亲密的人吗？

As the story unfolds in precise and riveting² prose, readers will find they are being manipulated by the unreliable narrator Nick. Still, even one notices this, searching for the missing pieces is half the thrill of this wickedly absorbing tale.

在精准而又引人入胜的文字描述下故事情节渐渐展开，读者们将意识到自己正被不可靠的叙述者尼克牵着鼻子走。然而即使人们意识到这点，在这则诡异莫测、扣人心弦的故事中找寻遗失的片段只占一半紧张的心绪。

3. Interpreter of Maladies By Jhumpa Lahiri; 198 pages

3. 《疾病解说者》，裘帕·拉希莉著（198页）

Because change is inevitable³...and nobody knows what the heck to do about it.

推荐理由：因为改变在所难免，而且没人知道要拿改变怎么办。

The author's details about the specific Indian culture were so precise and evocative, and yet her insights into family dynamics⁴, homesickness and the ways we grapple with shifting circumstances resonated with us all.

此书中作者对印度特有文化的细节描写非常精准并带有启发性。而她对家庭动态关系的洞见、作品中体现的念家之情以及人们在瞬息万变的环境中摸索的方式，让我们所有人产生了共鸣。

4. Life of Pi By Yann Martel; 326 pages

4. 《少年派的奇幻漂流》，扬·马特尔著（326页）

Because we can't resist a didn't-see-it-coming spiritual punch.

推荐理由：看不到未来的精神冲击让我们无法承受。

The novel asked us to think how we endure tragedy, who we become in its wake and how, within it, we may just find both the terrifying and the miraculous⁵.

这本小说让我们思考如何承受悲剧，在经历过悲剧后成为怎样的人，我们也许还会发现恐惧和奇迹共存。

5. The Fault in Our Stars By John Green; 336 pages

5. 《星运里的错》，约翰·格林著（336页）

Because we all need to feel first love again; even if we know the horrible sob-fest to come at the end.

推荐理由：我们都需要再次体验下初恋的感觉，即便知道最终自己会哭得泣不成声。

Sixteen-year-old Hazel faces terminal cancer with humor and pluck. But it isn't until she meets Augustus in a support group that she understands how to love or live fully.

16岁的海泽尔以幽默勇敢面对癌症晚期。但是直到她在青少年癌友互助会上遇见了奥古斯都，她方明白如何去爱，如何充实地活着。

注：书名来自莎士比亚戏剧《凯撒大帝》（Julius Caesar）第一幕第二场，凯撒说：“亲爱的布鲁特斯，错误并不在于命运，而在于我们自己。”（The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves.）

6. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China By Jung Chang; 538 pages

6. 《鸿：三代中国女人的故事》，张戎著（538页）

Because we got a literary visa to a long-hidden part of the world.

推荐理由：此书让我们借助文学，得以探知这个世界隐藏已久的一角。

Chang's memoir⁶ reads like a blockbuster multigenerational novel, but it's true. Through the portrait of her family, Chang paints a picture of mid-20th-century China, the suffering of its people and the resilience of women everywhere.

张戎的这本回忆录读起来像是一部讲述多代人故事的卖座大片，但它是写实的。她用自己家族的自画像勾勒出中国二十世纪中期的景象——遭受苦难的人与抗打击的女性随处可见。

7. Wild By Cheryl Strayed; 315 pages（315页）

7. 《涉足荒野》，谢莉尔·斯瑞德著（315页）

Because Strayed showed us how to leave our tough, destructive pasts 1,100 miles behind us.

推荐理由：斯瑞德向我们展示如何将那些苦涩又刺痛人心的过去远远甩在身后。

Cheryl Strayed, 26, admitted herself as a total mess. She righted herself by setting out to hike up the Pacific Crest⁷ Trail. How she did it, and what she learned about life, love, and survival of the emotional and physical sort, is the subject of her moving memoir, Wild.

26岁的谢莉尔·斯瑞德承认自己一团糟。她为了让生活恢复正常，便前往太平洋山脊国家步道远足。她实现这一想法的方式，对生活、爱情以及维续精神和身体存在的感悟，构成了《涉足荒野》这本回忆录的主题，感人肺腑。

8. White Teeth By Zadie Smith; 464 pages

8. 《白牙》，查蒂·史密斯著（464页）

Because wildly smart novels never go out of style.

推荐理由：行文极为精明的小说永不过时。

In her daring debut⁸ novel, Zadie Smith takes us straight to 1970s multicultural⁹ London. Smith's wit and audacity¹⁰ is simply irresistible¹¹ -- as she had written entirely¹² in the language of charisma¹³.

查蒂·史密斯的这本处女作大胆地将20世纪70年代的多族裔伦敦直接展现在我们面前。整本书中的语言极具魅力，彰显出作者的聪慧果敢。

9. House of Sand and Fog By Andre Dubus III; 365 pages

9. 《尘雾家园》，安德鲁·杜鲁斯三世著（365页）

Because as much as it hurt, we couldn't look away.

推荐理由：它是如此的痛彻心扉，以至于我们无法移开目光。

Combining unadorned realism with profound empathy, House of Sand and Fog is a devastating¹⁴ exploration of the American Dream gone awry¹⁵.

尘雾家园》一书将赤裸裸的现实与人们心底的同情心一同展现出来，深度探索了已走偏的美国梦。

10. Eat, Pray, Love By Elizabeth Gilbert; 352 pages

10. 《美食、祈祷与恋爱》，伊丽莎白·吉尔伯特著（352页）

Because we'll probably never embark¹⁶ on a trip like this -- in fact, we're sitting in a cubicle¹⁷. But we adored going along for the ride.

推荐理由：我们将来也许绝不会踏上如书中所述的这种旅程，事实上，我们正坐在小隔间里。然而我们享受这本书给我们带来的旅行。

Culinary delights, rigorous spiritual searching and exhilarating romance (in that order) were all in store, and we devoured¹⁸ every detail. Afterward¹⁹, we couldn't stop talking about Gilbert's adventures in self-discovery -- and our own.

这本书中依次讲述了作者的烹调之乐、严肃的精神追寻以及愉悦的浪漫史。我们耽读每一个细节。之后我们情不自禁地会谈论起吉尔伯特的自我找寻之旅，再延伸到我们自己。

11. The Secret Life of Bees By Sue Monk²⁰ Kidd; 336 pages

11. 《蜜蜂的秘密生活》，苏·蒙克·基德著（336页）

Because three awesome²¹ beekeepers taught us about the value of mothering ourselves.

推荐理由：三个值得尊敬的养蜂人教会我们——养育自我的价值所在。

With its “hive” of great characters and its uplifting message of self-empowerment, Bees was the novel for mothers and daughters of all ages to share.

这本小说由诸多性格鲜明的人物构建而成，其中传递出自我充实的积极信息。它适合各个年龄段的母女一同阅读。

12. The Poisonwood Bible By Barbara Kingsolver; 560 pages

12. 《毒木圣经》，芭芭拉.金索佛著（560页）

Because Barbara Kingsolver has a sneaky way of making us more empathic.

推荐理由：芭芭拉·金索佛不经意间便能让我们更易表同情心。

This novel features five narrators, observing and commenting the clash of cultures, the struggle to overcome stifling²² conventions, and the preservation²³ of heritage.

这部小说有五名叙述者，他们观察并评论文化冲突，挣扎着打破清规戒律、坚决维护遗产。

13. The Help By Kathryn Stockett; 544 pages

13. 《相助》，凯瑟琳·斯多科特著（544页）

Because it served as a reminder²⁴ of a painful history, while showing us what a few courageous²⁵ individuals can accomplish.

推荐理由：这部小说告诉我们——铭记伤痛历史的同时，勇敢的个人所能做到什么。

This novel opened a national conversation about race. And yet, the story also gives readers insight into the strength, courage and dignity of the maids themselves -- qualities that have been too often overlooked.

相助》在全美掀起了一番关于种族的讨论。然而这部小说还让读者深刻意识到奴仆身上蕴含着的力量、勇气和尊严。它们都是些已被人习惯忽视的品质。

14. Water for Elephants By Sara Gruen; 350 pages

14. 《大象的眼泪》，莎拉·格鲁恩著（350页）

Because who doesn't love a pachyderm and a happy ending?

推荐理由：谁不喜欢厚皮类动物和美好的结局呢？

This depression-era tale of life with a third-rate traveling circus centers on orphaned²⁶ animal caretaker Jacob, the woman he loves and her cruel and abusive husband, who happens to be the boss.

这部小说以大萧条时期为背景，主角是一个三流巡回马戏团中的三名成员——孤儿出身的动物看守员雅各布，他爱上的女人（马戏团明星）和她残暴的丈夫（刚巧他又是雅各布的上司）。

15. The Remains²⁷ of the Day By Kazuo Ishiguro; 245 pages

15. 《长日留痕》，石黑一雄著（245页）

Because the anguish²⁸ of unrequited love makes for riveting reading.

推荐理由：单恋的苦楚让此书引人入胜。

This quiet, heart-piercing novel showed us the cost of misplaced loyalties²⁹ and missed opportunity, and reminded us of the happiness we must claim for ourselves.

这部安静而撕扯人心的小说向我们展示了错付忠心、错失良机付出的代价，也提醒着我们那份一定要为自己争取的幸福。

16. The Immortal³⁰ Life of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot; 381 pages

16. 《永生的海拉》，丽贝卡·思科鲁特著（381页）

Because we would have never known the truth without it.

推荐理由：多亏了这本小说，我们才知道这一事实。

Henrietta Lacks was a poor, Southern tobacco farmer, yet her cells -- taken without her knowledge -- became one of the most important tools in medicine.

海瑞塔·拉克斯是美国南方一位贫穷烟农。而在她不知情的情况下（其过世后），她的细胞被医生取走，成为了最为重要的医学工具之一。