We are so excited to dedicate this week’s Inspired By to author of Pieces by Maria Kostaki. Here, she shares five books that inspired her to be an author.

Song of Solomon by Toni Morisson

Morisson is my hero, my idol, every word she¹s ever written makes me want to be a better writer, a more careful reader, she awes me.

Veronica by Mary Gaitskill

A book that got little attention, but is one of the best stories I’ve ever read. Caitskil takes an unlikable character and makes her the protagonist of the story, a feat hard to pull off in an age where readers need heroes.

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

My quintessential New York story. A city that inspires me to write, read and live.

Nightwood by Djuna Barnes

A masterpiece of prose, postmodern structure and unlinear character development, Barnes broke ties with the past and dared to write in ways that were revolutionary in her time.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

A childhood favorite, still with me in adulthood, and proof that strong women characters and women writers belong in a literary cannon, so dominated by men.