As an immensely powerful portrait of a immigrant who goes missing and the son who's left behind, Lisa Ko's novel The Leavers was one of fiction's biggest highlights in 2017, earning a spot in POPSUGAR's best books of the year [1] and, more importantly, as a finalist for a National Book Award [2].

Ko made an appearance on a recent episode of reading subscription service Scribd [3]'s signature podcast, ScribdChat — which seeks to give listeners "a deep-dive look into unique insights from new and prominent books that they can apply to their own lives" — and revealed a reading list of the books she loves the most [4], the ones in which cities are as much of a character as a person. We've partnered with Scribd to give you a rundown of what she recommends exclusively — and below, you'll find the three books that Ko says you just can't miss.

Lost in the City [5] by Edward P. Jones

"Set in African-American neighborhoods of Washington DC, this short story collection is a masterpiece and one of my favorites."

Corona [6] by Bushra Rehman

"A coming-of-age (and coming-home) story of a Pakistani American woman from Queens, New York. Hilarious and moving."

Southland [7] by Nina Revoyr

"When a Japanese-American woman discovers that four black teenagers were killed in her grandfather's store during the 1965 Watts Riots, a city's history becomes a family's history."

For more details on Ko's list, check out her curated list here [8] and be sure to listen to the full episode of ScribdChat with Lisa Ko. [9]