No matter how fast the outside world flies by, one timeless way to find some inner calm is to settle down with a good book. And one of the few book reading programs in the city Reading Tonight, organized by Channel Young of the Shanghai Media Group (SMG), has recently announced its annual Top 10 Books of the Year, among them poems, essays, novels, an autobiography and a travelogue.

Poems New and Selected, Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012)

After winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1996, Szymborska was quickly dubbed the "Mozart of Poetry" by the world's media. Her poems cover subjects as varied as beetles, sea cucumbers, stones, sleeping pills, movies, theaters and dreams. Szymborska has stated her poems encourage readers to re-examine the most ordinary and trivial things in life. The two translators have added another 15 classic poems by Szymborska to this new collection, based on the Taiwanese edition.

Wo Bushi Pan Jinlian (I am not Pan Jinlian), Liu Zhenyun

Pan Jinlian, the character from the Water Margin who poisoned her husband in tandem with her secret lover, is one of the most notorious harlots in Chinese literature. Set in modern day China, Liu follows the travails of a woman who is wrongly branded a "Pan Jinlian" leading her to attempt to clear her name by petitioning higher authorities. This is Liu's first novel after winning the Maodun Literature Prize.

Finnegans Wake, James Joyce (1882-1941)

Published in 1939, it's taken more than seven decades for a Chinese-language version of the Irish writer's masterpiece to appear. Famous for its experimental style and illogical combination of words, Joyce's last work has acquired a reputation as one of the most difficult in the English canon. Its translator, Dai Congrong, previously told the Global Times: "Probably only Joyce himself knew the book's real meaning, and later generations are just guessing. However, I believe this is the gift Joyce bestowed us with this book."

The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes

The British writer won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2010 for this tale of a middle-aged man who is living a peaceful life until a lawyer's letter from the mother of his high school sweetheart arrives. The Sense of an Ending is the story of one man coming to terms with a mutable past and is laced with the writer's trademark precision, dexterity and insight. A review in The Guardian described the book as "a highly wrought meditation on ageing, memory and regret."

The Complete Works of Mo Yan, Mo Yan

This selection is not one, but the entire oeuvre of the 57-year-old Shandong native who became a household name after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2012, inspiring a country-wide craze for his previous works. The Shanghai Art and Literature Publishing House launched a complete selection of Mo's novels last November, including the notable Red Sorghum, Frog and Big Breasts and Wide Hips.

Xiang Guan He Chu, Ye Fu

This is a book that is all about where the writer comes from. Hailing from rural Enshi in Hubei Province, Ye Fu (the pen name of Zheng Shiping) attributes this collection to his mother, grandmother, uncle, cousin and other relatives. The collection of essays relates tales that happened to people close to the writer back in his hometown. Readers can follow the extraordinary changes in society over the past few decades through the ordinary lives of these characters.

Kan Jian (Insight), Chai Jing

The host of investigative TV program Insight, Chai is famous for her acute news sense and graceful manner. This autobiography recounts a 10-year career with CCTV, including her coverage of the SARS epidemic, the Wenchuan earthquake and the Beijing Olympics. In the book, she describes how hard it is to be detached from such important events. "No one can ever be just an onlooker. The people I interviewed and the events I experienced made who I am today."

The Old Regime and the French Revolution (L'ancien Régime et la Revolution), Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59)

Written in 1856 by the French historian Alexis de Tocqueville, The Old Regime and the French Revolution is, by a long stretch, the oldest book in this year's list. De Tocqueville pointed out at the beginning of the book that he was attempting to analyze, not merely recount, the history of the French Revolution. And to accomplish this goal, he raises many questions in the book, some of which have still got readers thinking.

Ji'e de Shengshi (Hungry Prosperity), Zhang Hongjie

As its title suggests, this is a book of contradictions. The story throws light on the corruption and muddled bureaucracy that characterized the national government during the reign of the Emperor Qianlong (1735-95). This was an era that has long been regarded one of the most prosperous in Chinese history. In Zhang Hongjie's words, people living during that period of time were "selfish, indifferent and cold."

Voyage of Discovery, Tony Rice

This is a mesmerizing visual survey of the most significant discoveries in the history of natural science exploration. Highlights include: Sir Hans Sloane's 1687 voyage to Jamaica, where he collected and recorded plant specimens; Maria Sybilla Merian's journey to Surinam in 1699, where she recorded butterflies and exotic insects; and Charles Darwin's trip to the Galapagos Islands, on which he cataloged finches and fossils.