For me, picking a single favorite book is a little bit like picking my favorite child—the question seems terribly unfair, and the answer changes by the hour. But naming my nine favorite books is easy; I came up with this list in the time it took to brew a pot of coffee. These are the ones that found me at the exact right moment, whose characters still whisper in my ear. I’ve listed them in the order in which they appeared.
9 All-Time Favorite Novels from a Bestselling Author’s Bookshelf
Harriet the Spy
I think of Harriet as an ornery alternative to Nancy Drew. She’s misanthropic, misunderstood, and sometimes a little bit mean, but she’ll teach you everything you need to know about becoming a writer. Worth rereading as an adult.
Harriet the Spy
I think of Harriet as an ornery alternative to Nancy Drew. She’s misanthropic, misunderstood, and sometimes a little bit mean, but she’ll teach you everything you need to know about becoming a writer. Worth rereading as an adult.
Close
The Patron Saint of Liars
This book takes place in Habit, Kentucky, at St. Elizabeth’s home for unwed mothers. I can picture it as clearly as my own grandmother’s house, even though I’ve never set foot in Kentucky.
The Patron Saint of Liars
St. Elizabeth’s is a home for unwed mothers in Habit, Kentucky, that usually harbors its residents for just a short time. But when beautiful, mysterious Rose Clinton comes to the home pregnant but not unwed, she decides to stay.
Close
Dubliners
I read this book in college, in Dublin, while wearing my first pair of Doc Martens. It was the one time in my life when I felt like a member of the literati. I still revisit these stories, if only to feel mortified by the notes I jotted in their margins.
Dubliners
You may have heard of James Joyce's short story/novella "The Dead." It's included in this collection.
Close
Ladder of Years
In the middle of a tense family vacation, a woman takes a walk on the beach…and just keeps walking. Call it aspirational fiction, fantasy, or self-help, but there’s a moment every summer when Delia Grinstead is my hero.
Ladder of Years
In the middle of a tense family vacation, a woman takes a walk on the beach…and just keeps walking. Call it aspirational fiction, fantasy, or self-help, but there’s a moment every summer when Delia Grinstead is my hero.
Close
Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?
This is tied with CAT’S EYE by Margaret Atwood for my favorite book about a friendship between girls. This is not a cheerful or heartwarming story, but it captures a particular moment of adolescence so perfectly, it’s still my gold standard.
Who Will Run the Frog Hospital?
This is tied with CAT’S EYE by Margaret Atwood for my favorite book about a friendship between girls. This is not a cheerful or heartwarming story, but it captures a particular moment of adolescence so perfectly, it’s still my gold standard.
Close
Home Cooking
Laurie Colwin kept me company during lonely spaghetti dinners in my first apartment. Her recipes taught me how to cook up a life in New York City, and she still makes me forget that my sauce is from a jar.
Home Cooking
Laurie Colwin kept me company during lonely spaghetti dinners in my first apartment. Her recipes taught me how to cook up a life in New York City, and she still makes me forget that my sauce is from a jar.
Close
What Alice Forgot
Welcome to a lighthearted, funny page-turner wrapped around a bigger question: Are you the kind of parent you thought you’d be before you had kids? If the answer is a resounding no, you must meet Alice.
What Alice Forgot
Welcome to a lighthearted, funny page-turner wrapped around a bigger question: Are you the kind of parent you thought you’d be before you had kids? If the answer is a resounding no, you must meet Alice.
Close
Maine
I’m a sucker for a sweeping family saga, especially one involving dysfunction, resentment, and gorgeous real estate. MAINE is as close as I’ll come to having an ancestral family home, and the view is breathtaking.
Maine
For the Kellehers, Maine is a place where showers are taken outdoors and old Irish songs are sung around a piano. As three generations of Kelleher women descend on their beachfront property, each brings her own hopes and fears. By turns wickedly funny and achingly sad, Maine unveils the sibling rivalry, social climbing, and Catholic guilt at the center of one family, along with the abiding, often irrational love that keeps them coming back, every summer, to Maine and to each other.
Close
A Little Life
I’m not exaggerating at all when I say I cried for 700 pages of this 832-page masterpiece. I have never loved a character more deeply than I love Jude, the main character in this ode to male friendship, who is scarred and broken from an unspeakable trauma. Reading about Jude’s ever-changing relationships with his three best friends from college was one of the best experiences I’ve had as a reader—and certainly as a crier.
A Little Life
I’m not exaggerating at all when I say I cried for 700 pages of this 832-page masterpiece. I have never loved a character more deeply than I love Jude, the main character in this ode to male friendship, who is scarred and broken from an unspeakable trauma. Reading about Jude’s ever-changing relationships with his three best friends from college was one of the best experiences I’ve had as a reader—and certainly as a crier.
MENTIONED IN:
Close