Laura Dave's Reading List

By email, she described the challenge in writing “The First Time I Saw Him” (which has already been adapted for TV) — and the Taylor Swift song that helped her do it. SCOTT HELLER

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By the Book: Laura Dave (2026)

NYT By the Book column (2026-01-15).

Source: www.nytimes.com

High Tide in Tucson

Barbara Kingsolver · Buy on Amazon

"Barbara Kingsolver's "High Tide in Tucson" is also on my night stand (where it always is)."

In the Land of Men

Antonya Nelson · Buy on Amazon

"When I was 22, I quit my (admittedly terrible) film production job to fly to Taos, N.M., and take a writing class with Nelson because of how I felt about that book. It was an insane thing to do. But that's the kind of writer she is."

London Falling

Patrick Radden Keefe · Buy on Amazon

"Patrick Radden Keefe's "London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth," out this spring."

Heartburn

Nora Ephron · Buy on Amazon

"I love "Heartburn," by Nora Ephron, in a way that makes me blush... It's my comfort book and I reread it every year. More often than that, to be honest."

The Real Thing

Tom Stoppard · Buy on Amazon

"It is my favorite thing I've ever read and may very well be my favorite thing I'll ever read. I'll never forget sitting in the audience with my mother, the first time I saw it performed. I felt like I stepped outside of my skin."

Forever

Judy Blume · Buy on Amazon

""Forever," by Judy Blume."

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