No. 12 Lesotho

‘Chaka,’ by Thomas Mofolo

This fictionalized account of the titular character follows him from birth to his future as a Zulu warrior and king. Published in English in the 1930s, it is considered one of the earliest major works out of Africa.

No. 13 Colorado Springs

‘The Shining,’ by Stephen King

In Stephen King’s classic horror novel, the playwright Jack Torrance moves his family into the idyllic Overlook Hotel in Colorado, where he is hired as the caretaker and hopes to finish his play. But the hotel has a dark history, and his son, Danny — gifted with supernatural powers — seems to be the only one tuned in to the dark forces around them.

No. 14 krakow, Poland

‘Schindler’s List,’ by Thomas Keneally

This novel is based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, a factory owner who may have otherwise been forgotten if not for his heroic mission to save as many Jews as he could from the gas chambers during the Holocaust.

No. 15 jodhpur, India

‘Raj,’ by Gita Mehta

This novel, set in the late 1800s, follows Jaya, a princess who after spending most of her life in purdah must step into the role of Maharani when her husband dies. “Jaya is a fictional creation. But the strengths of the book all lie in the facts and details of social setting, incident and politics, which dominate the characters so that even the figures central to the story have little individuality.”