Louise Penny: By the Book The author of mystery novels, most recently “Glass Houses,” recommends reading her fellow Canadian writer Margaret Atwood: “And I don’t just say that because the government compels me to.”
Karl Ove Knausgaard: By the Book The author of the six-volume autobiographical novel “My Struggle” and, most recently, “Autumn” steers clear of crime fiction: “I only read crime novels when I’m depressed, so I try to avoid them.”
Philippa Gregory: By the Book The author of “The Last Tudor” is no fan of “sloppy genre novels”: “The typing alone is so exhausting — surely if you’re going to undertake 150,000 words, you might as well have something interesting to say?”
Carla Hayden: By the Book The librarian of Congress, who wrote the foreword to “The Card Catalog: Books, Cards, and Literary Treasures,” likes to read about the nature of things, most recently, books on mahogany and the history of redheads.
Jane Green: By the Book The author of “The Sunshine Sisters” is drawn to books by their covers: “There is still nothing like browsing in a bookstore with all the time in the world, allowing myself to be drawn to whatever catches my eye.”
Calvin Trillin: By the Book The humorist, memoirist and journalist likes the way H.L. Mencken expressed himself, for instance in his definition of Puritanism: “The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”
Allegra Goodman: By the Book The author of “The Chalk Artist” admires Mary Garth in “Middlemarch”: “She is not only brave and witty, but totally sane. That’s hard to write. Madness is easy. A character with good sense is a tour de force.”
A. Scott Berg: By the Book The biographer and consulting producer of Amazon’s “The Last Tycoon” might have been a doctor — “if only that didn’t require courses in biology, physics and organic chemistry. Oh…and med school.”
Don Winslow: By the Book The author of “The Force” lists Ross Macdonald, James Crumley, Charles Willeford, Chester Himes and Robert B. Parker among his favorite classics: “Those guys turned crime writing into music.”
Emma Straub: By the Book The author of “Modern Lovers” keeps her youth on a shelf: “There are books I loved in my teens and 20s that I would not love now, but it’s still nice to see them there, as a reminder of a person I used to be.”
Joseph Kanon: By the Book The author of “Defectors” says that he likes to cook, but likes to read cookbooks even more. “And the best cookbooks have really distinctive voices. I never met Marcella Hazan, but I feel I have.”
Elin Hilderbrand: By the Book The author of “The Identicals” says that for a literary dinner party, she would invite J.D. Salinger, John Cheever and Flannery O’Connor: “I’m serving very cold Veuve Clicquot and a bowl of mixed nuts.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: By the Book The basketball star and author of “Coach Wooden and Me” says he looks forward to anything written by Walter Mosley: “I’d be very happy if he wrote a novel every week.”
Al Franken: By the Book The author of “Al Franken: Giant of the Senate” has at least one Congressional Research Service report on his night stand. “But it’s under Carl Reiner’s book on ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show.’”
Jeffrey Tambor: By the Book The actor and author of “Are You Anybody?” loves to watch younger people browse in his bookstore: “The millennials, Xers and Yers are off their equipment and opting for paper, I’m here to tell you!”
Jo Nesbo: By the Book The author of “The Thirst” would invite Charles Bukowski, Jim Thompson and Ernest Hemingway to his literary dinner party: “Partly because I can’t cook and for this party, I probably wouldn’t have to.”
Gabourey Sidibe: By the Book The actress and author of “This Is Just My Face” found herself rereading Ruthie Mae Bolton’s “Gal,” “each time understanding more and more, the blessing and the burden of being a black woman.”
David Grann: By the Book The author of “The Lost City of Z” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” thinks the president should read “The Road,” by Cormac McCarthy, because “it gives a sense of the fragility of the world.”
John Waters: By the Book The film director and author of “Make Trouble” says that when a publisher asked him for a blurb for “Transit,” he sent back, “Rachel Cusk is too smart for her own good.”
Lesley Stahl: By the Book The journalist and author of “Becoming Grandma” says Ann Patchett’s “Bel Canto” reminded her of Gabriel García Márquez, a high compliment: “My all-time favorite book . . . is ‘Love in the Time of Cholera.’”
Louise Penny: By the Book The author of mystery novels, most recently “Glass Houses,” recommends reading her fellow Canadian writer Margaret Atwood: “And I don’t just say that because the government compels me to.”
Karl Ove Knausgaard: By the Book The author of the six-volume autobiographical novel “My Struggle” and, most recently, “Autumn” steers clear of crime fiction: “I only read crime novels when I’m depressed, so I try to avoid them.”
Philippa Gregory: By the Book The author of “The Last Tudor” is no fan of “sloppy genre novels”: “The typing alone is so exhausting — surely if you’re going to undertake 150,000 words, you might as well have something interesting to say?”
Carla Hayden: By the Book The librarian of Congress, who wrote the foreword to “The Card Catalog: Books, Cards, and Literary Treasures,” likes to read about the nature of things, most recently, books on mahogany and the history of redheads.
Jane Green: By the Book The author of “The Sunshine Sisters” is drawn to books by their covers: “There is still nothing like browsing in a bookstore with all the time in the world, allowing myself to be drawn to whatever catches my eye.”
Calvin Trillin: By the Book The humorist, memoirist and journalist likes the way H.L. Mencken expressed himself, for instance in his definition of Puritanism: “The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”
Allegra Goodman: By the Book The author of “The Chalk Artist” admires Mary Garth in “Middlemarch”: “She is not only brave and witty, but totally sane. That’s hard to write. Madness is easy. A character with good sense is a tour de force.”
A. Scott Berg: By the Book The biographer and consulting producer of Amazon’s “The Last Tycoon” might have been a doctor — “if only that didn’t require courses in biology, physics and organic chemistry. Oh…and med school.”
Don Winslow: By the Book The author of “The Force” lists Ross Macdonald, James Crumley, Charles Willeford, Chester Himes and Robert B. Parker among his favorite classics: “Those guys turned crime writing into music.”
Emma Straub: By the Book The author of “Modern Lovers” keeps her youth on a shelf: “There are books I loved in my teens and 20s that I would not love now, but it’s still nice to see them there, as a reminder of a person I used to be.”
Joseph Kanon: By the Book The author of “Defectors” says that he likes to cook, but likes to read cookbooks even more. “And the best cookbooks have really distinctive voices. I never met Marcella Hazan, but I feel I have.”
Elin Hilderbrand: By the Book The author of “The Identicals” says that for a literary dinner party, she would invite J.D. Salinger, John Cheever and Flannery O’Connor: “I’m serving very cold Veuve Clicquot and a bowl of mixed nuts.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: By the Book The basketball star and author of “Coach Wooden and Me” says he looks forward to anything written by Walter Mosley: “I’d be very happy if he wrote a novel every week.”
Al Franken: By the Book The author of “Al Franken: Giant of the Senate” has at least one Congressional Research Service report on his night stand. “But it’s under Carl Reiner’s book on ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show.’”
Jeffrey Tambor: By the Book The actor and author of “Are You Anybody?” loves to watch younger people browse in his bookstore: “The millennials, Xers and Yers are off their equipment and opting for paper, I’m here to tell you!”
Jo Nesbo: By the Book The author of “The Thirst” would invite Charles Bukowski, Jim Thompson and Ernest Hemingway to his literary dinner party: “Partly because I can’t cook and for this party, I probably wouldn’t have to.”
Gabourey Sidibe: By the Book The actress and author of “This Is Just My Face” found herself rereading Ruthie Mae Bolton’s “Gal,” “each time understanding more and more, the blessing and the burden of being a black woman.”
David Grann: By the Book The author of “The Lost City of Z” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” thinks the president should read “The Road,” by Cormac McCarthy, because “it gives a sense of the fragility of the world.”
John Waters: By the Book The film director and author of “Make Trouble” says that when a publisher asked him for a blurb for “Transit,” he sent back, “Rachel Cusk is too smart for her own good.”
Lesley Stahl: By the Book The journalist and author of “Becoming Grandma” says Ann Patchett’s “Bel Canto” reminded her of Gabriel García Márquez, a high compliment: “My all-time favorite book . . . is ‘Love in the Time of Cholera.’”
