Kristan Higgins knows just how to pull at readers' heartstrings.
But I would probably sayMandyby Julie Edwards, who is also known asJulie Andrews.
It’s so great that Mary Poppins wrote a book.
Declan Keenan; Penguin
A book I read in secret as a teenager
Shannaby Kathleen Woodiwiss.
I was about 12 years old.
In a rare moment, she yelled at me.
HarperCollins
She said, “You are not old enough to read that.”
I said, “It’s too late Gram, I know everything now.”
So, I appreciate that Kathleen Woodiwiss filled in all those gaps.
Avon Books
And this idea of freedom and love are worth anything.
And the price to that philosophy.
The imagination, the world building, the coziness of the Shire, Bilbo’s pantry filled with cakes.
HarperCollins
It was that idea that an ordinary person could be the hero and save the day.
She is the modern day Jane Austen as far as I’m concerned.
She’s funny, she’s so smart, and this book is filled with humor and sisterly bonds.
Anchor
Love, loss, reinvention.
A book I’ve pretended to have read
Anything by Ernest Hemingway.
And I just found it really boring and repetitive.
Universal Studios/Courtesy of Getty Images
A book people would be surprised to learn I love
The Shiningby Stephen King.
It is one of the most heart-wrenching father-son stories I’ve ever read.
A book I consider grossly overrated
I hate to trash another author, butTwilight.
Doubleday
I just didn’t get it.
I gave it a shot.
I read it with an open mind and heart; I didn’t know anything about it.
And I don’t think I made it three pages in.
One of my favorite books is Kristin Hannah’sThe Nightingale,and I love that book with all my heart.
And sometimes I get fan mail for that book because our names are similar.
I love her books.
I love that magical realism, and this is literally a book about a boy raised by wolves.
My book boyfriend
Atticus Finch [fromTo Kill a Mockingbird], hands down.
I don’t even think there’s another choice.
The sexiest book I’ve ever read
Long Shotby Kennedy Ryan.
They’re not just sexy; you fall so in love and just want to be in that moment.
She’s the queen.
I’ve always been sort of a maudlin person.
I’m Hungarian, and that’s what my people do we like to think about death and cry.
So I would say,When Breath Becomes Airby Paul Kalanithi.
It’s a memoir; it’s so heartfelt and beautiful and he contemplates all the great questions.
At the same time his wife is having a baby.
It’s just such a beautiful important story; I think everyone should read it.
It’s like all her life has been leading up to seeing herself in this way.
And so, when it happens, it’s just gorgeous.
It’s so hilarious.
The last book that made me cry
Where the Crawdads Sing.
That’s also a book about grief and loneliness, and it’s so intense and beautifully written.
My favorite movie adaptation of a book
I love the movieJaws.
I’m a Cape Cod-der.
I read it as a kid, and then, I also saw the movie.
It’s like an annual thing to rewatchJaws, and it really holds up.
Unlike the book, it’s got funny moments, and they streamline the plot in the screenplay.
I don’t believe that you ever recover from a loss.
You either become slammed into the earth by it and stuck or you learn how to carry it.
And you get stronger and stronger; not that the burden gets lighter but that you get stronger.
In this book Josh loses Lauren.
