Jenna Bush Hager
I read because it’s in my DNA. More
A Woman of Substance
With her unforgettable heroine Emma Harte, Bradford popularized the rags-to-riches family saga. More
The Hours
Winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner Award; made into an Oscar-winning film. More
Ursula K. Le Guin
Dear HarperCollins: You ask me, “Why do you read? Why do you write?” Well, I mean, duh. More
Jen Hatmaker
By the time I was ten, I’d probably read The Secret Garden thirty times. More
1932: Laura Ingalls Wilder publishes Little House in the Big Woods…
Virginia Kirkus, inaugural department editor of Harper’s Department of Books for Boys and Girls, launches Laura Ingalls Wilder with the publication of Little House in the Big Woods. More
Lauren Oliver
I read so that I can learn and I write so that I can explore. More
1943: Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is published…
Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, a story about growing up poor in turn-of-the-century Brooklyn, shines a light on first- and second-generation Americans living in poverty. More
Cally Taylor
When I get an idea for a novel the fizz of excitement I feel is electrifying. More
Susan Mallery
When I write, I have a specific reader in mind. More
Victoria Aveyard
Reading, writing, and story have always been my gateway. More
B. A. Paris
I write because it’s something I love doing. More
Katherine Applegate
I write to see where I’ve already been. More
Middlemarch
Ranked number one in a 2015 BBC poll of the 100 greatest British novels. More
The Golden Notebook
A feminist landmark and the best-known work by Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing. More
Half of a Yellow Sun
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s masterpiece, and winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction. More
Social Change: Sex in the 20th Century
In between the two world wars, Harper authors tackled the then taboo subject of sex. More
Jacqueline Winspear
I read because I love language, the way the joining of words and the rhythm of a story can make me laugh, cry, or take me out of my world or immerse me in the lives of others. More
The Devil Wears Prada
Sensational behind-the-scenes debut novel about the fashion world and the boss from hell. More
Cathy Marie Buchanan
I write because I’m compelled to create and writing is the act that best satisfies the itch. More
The Perfect Neighbor
First category romance novel to ever hit the New York Times bestseller list. More
Cathy Glass
I have always been a writer. More
Just Kids
Legendary artist Patti Smith’s critically acclaimed memoir; winner of the National Book Award. More
Ursula Nordstrom
When Anne Carroll Moore, the powerful and opinionated superintendent of children’s work at the New York Public Library, asked Harper & Brothers editor Ursula Nordstrom why she felt qualified to produce children’s books, Nordstrom said only this: “Well, I am a former child, and I haven’t forgotten a thing.” More
Katherine Paterson
I read because I want more than one life, and books give me a limitless number of lives—lives that are different from the one I was born into. More
Divergent
First book in the Divergent trilogy, which has sold more than 32 million copies worldwide. More
Robin Preiss Glasser
