United Kingdom: Wales

The Collected Stories, by Dylan Thomas (1984). This keepsake anthology gathers all of Welsh literary heavyweight Dylan Thomas's prose in one volume, including "A Child's Christmas in Wales" (set in his hometown of Swansea in South Wales, "at the rim of the carol-singing sea") and "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog."

The Matter of Wales: Epic Views of a Small Country (1984) and A Writer's House in Wales (2002), by Jan Morris. These ideal introductions to Wales showcase Morris's skill at weaving telling details with sweeping historical themes. Each page illuminates her big-hearted affection for her home country.

On the Black Hill, by Bruce Chatwin (1982). Capturing the details and rhythms of life in rural Wales, Chatwin examines the impact of a modernizing world on a pair of insular Welsh twins living on a family farm along the English border.

Sixpence House: Lost in a Town of Books, by Paul Collins (2003). The author, his wife, and young son move from San Francisco to Hay-on-Wye, Wales, a town of 1,500 residents and 30 secondhand bookshops. A McSweeney's contributor, Collins knows from books and he sets about trying to organize the American literature section in one of Hay's many bookshops, only to become consumed with renovations to his centuries-old house.

Wales Half Welsh, edited by John Williams (2004). This excellent anthology gathers 18 contemporary Welsh short stories by 11 of Wales's writers-to-watch, from Niall Griffiths to Trezza Azzopardi.

The Welsh Girl, by Peter Ho Davies (2007). In the last months of World War II, a quiet village in northern Wales is changed by the arrival of German prisoners of war to a camp set up by the British. In this compelling novel, Welsh antagonism to the English guards adds to the mix as a bittersweet romance develops between the daughter of a sheep farmer and a young German POW.