She

Written by: H. Rider Haggard

First line: There are some events of which each circumstance and surrounding detail seem to be graven on the memory in such fashion that we cannot forget them.

Why you should read this book: Another classic of colonialist literature, this magical novel follows an unusual pair of Englishmen on their search for a legend they found written on a broken piece of pottery. Landing rudely in an uncharted region of eastern Africa, Horace Holly and his ward, Leo Vincey, have a few near death experiences before being taken under the wing of Ayesha, a seemingly ageless and preternaturally beautiful sorceress living in a massive crypt and ruling over a primitive people under the moniker She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed. Ayesha, convinced that Leo is the reincarnation of the lover she slaughtered 2000 years earlier in a fit of jealousy, will stop at nothing to write her own happy ending.

Why you shouldn't read this book: When you look back on the things you've done for love, murder makes the list more than once.