In honour of Emirates Literature Festival 2015, which starts today (March 3), we celebrate the joys of the written word by taking a look at ten celebrities and their favourite books.
With the Emirates Literature Festival running from March 3-7 we decided to turn to our favourite celebrities and discover what books changed their life. From thought-provoking novels to emotional prose, this is what we discovered…
Book: Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
“I love this book, it’s funny, moving, and almost spiritual.”
Book: Cloud Atlas By David Mitchell
“One of the most beautiful, entertaining, challenging books — something that takes all your attention.”
Book: Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour by J.D. Salinger
“I’m so drawn to Salinger’s view of society back then, and to his sarcasm. I read Catcher in the Rye first, then this one. I don’t think there’s ever been anything like these characters in American literature.”
Rachel McAdams
Book: When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris
“It’s not often that a writer makes me laugh out loud, but Sedaris does. He brings me to tears. It’s to the point where I can’t read his writing in public because people think I’m having some kind of meltdown.”
Keira Knightley
Book: The Passion by Jeanette Winterson
“I love everything by Jeanette Winterson – The Passion is my favourite.”
Shailene Woodley
Book: Henry and June by Anäis Nin
“Anäis is like the ultimate goddess. I feel really connected to her femininity.”
Kate Winslet
Book: Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola
“[My boyfriend at the time bought me the book]. I remember thinking: ‘You’ve got to be kidding me’. But he said: ‘This is one of the most extraordinary love stories ever written.’ And that book, which is one of the five that changed my life, has never left me.”
Lena Dunham
Book: The Most of Nora Ephron By Nora Ephron
“I devoured her prose, her other film offerings, and became a fangirl right along with my mother, aunt, grandmother, and every other intelligent woman in the tristate area.”
Taylor Swift
Book: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
“It makes you feel like it makes your world more vast. And you think about things and greater concepts after you read something like that.”
Barack Obama
Book: Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
“At the moment that we persuade a child, any child, to cross that threshold, that magic threshold into a library, we change their lives forever, for the better.”
Main image: flickr.com
