Jenna Bush Hager’s Book Recommendations

Welcome to Shelf Life, ELLE.com’s books column, in which authors share their most memorable reads. Whether you’re on the hunt for a book to console you, move you profoundly, or make you laugh, consider a recommendation from the writers in our series, who, like you (since you’re here), love books. Perhaps one of their favorite titles will become one of yours, too.

The Superpower Sisterhood by Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush

<i>The Superpower Sisterhood</i> by Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush

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Her grandmother was a reader (and a First Lady), her mother was a librarian (and a First Lady), so it’s not a shocker that Jenna Bush Hager, who has worked as a reading coordinator, is a literary force. Among her Read with Jenna picks are 44 NYT bestsellers and 32 titles optioned for TV/film, including several under her Thousand Voices production banner, which has a first look deal at Universal. She’s also a NYT bestselling author herself (Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope, and Sisters First and The Superpower Sisterhood, both co-written with her fraternal twin, Barbara Pierce Bush.) She recently celebrated the 5th anniversary of her book club by donating select titles to a library in all 50 states and with a party at Bibliotheque in NYC.

The Dallas-born, Austin-raised, CT-based Emmy-winning co-host of NBC’s TODAY with Hoda & Jenna interned at UNICEF in Latin America; is mother of 3, Swiftie, and former grade school teacher; has a tabby cat named Hollywood (her dad is her cat sitter; her daughter Poppy has a kitten named Mango); met her husband on her dad’s 2004 re-election campaign (she proposed to him after 3 months of dating); wanted to be a child star; and receives a Bible verse via text from her dad every morning.

Fan of: breathwork; queso with beans and tortillas; Trader Joe’s Gone Bananas! and pork and ginger soup dumplings.

Not so much: Perfection (she finds it boring), hard-to-assemble-toys (self-explanatory), water parks.

Good at: Candor, cleaning (loves her Dyson). Polish off her book recs below.

The book that…

…kept me up way too late:

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker was genre-bending, and the mystery was super propulsive.

…made me weep uncontrollably:

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara still haunts me with its emotion.

…I recommend over and over again:

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison was the first book that taught me about the power of literature to change lives.

...I read in one sitting, it was that good:

I was on vacation and read Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson in one day.

…currently sits on my nightstand:

I can't tell you that because the books won't be out for a year and a half!

…I’d pass on to my kid:

The Baby-Sitters Club is a series I passed on to my eldest daughter, Mila, as well as everything written by Judy Blume.

…I’d like turned into a TV show:

The 12 books we've optioned for Thousand Voices, including Summer Sisters by Judy Blume.

...has the greatest ending:

I always say that the first book we chose for Read With Jenna, which was The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin, ends with the most beautiful paragraph I've ever read.

…features a character I love to hate:

The Secret History by Donna Tartt is one of my favorite books of all time, and the character Henry and his coldness are pretty ghastly.

…describes a house I’d want to live in or a place I’d want to visit:

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett has one of the best houses as a character. Also, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is one that I'd love to visit.