Jenna Bush Hager's Mother and Oprah Winfrey Helped Foster Her Love of Reading: 'A Way to Connect With People'

Jenna Bush Hager updates us on the important readers in her life. The TODAY co-host, 42, spoke with author Ann Patchett, 60, on the Oct. 31 episode of her podcast, Open the book with Jenna. The two discussed important “reading partners” in their lives, and Bush Hager said one of them was her mother, former first lady Laura Bush, who has a master’s degree in library science. “When I was little and in my teenage years, my mom, who … would also say things like, ‘This might be too complicated for your life right now,'” Bush Hager explained. “And she would be right.” Bush Hager added that she shares a love of reading with her twin sister, Barbara. “We share books and I love books, but what I think I really love is recommending books.”

Jenna Bush Hager in April 2024.

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Bush Hager said there are other authors in her life that she connects with, including novelist Emma Straub, who owns the Brooklyn bookstore Books Are Magic. “I love her very much,” Bush Hager said. “I think the owners of independent bookstores in our country … have to prepare books that their entire community wants to read. So they know what’s out there and what’s being published.”

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Bush Hager, who chose Straub’s novel, All the adults here, for her 2020 Read with Jenna book club, she was also influenced by another famous book club host growing up: Oprah Winfrey. “When I was in high school taking AP English, I would go into Barnes and Noble or BookPeople in Austin, which was our local store, and look for her little sticker,” Bush Hager said.

Ann Patchett (left) and Jenna Bush Hager.

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“I wanted to see what they would recommend next,” she added. “And I think book recommendations are a way to connect with people.”

Patchett also shared the titles of important books in her life, including Charlotte’s Web by EB White. The Pulitzer Prize winner said the novel was the first book she loved as a child.

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“I read it over and over and I got a pig for my ninth birthday,” Patchett said. “Because we lived on a farm, so I begged my family to give me a pig.” Patchett even gifted a copy of the novel to bestselling author Kate DiCamillo. “With great effort I found an autographed copy Charlotte’s Web for Kate DiCamillo for her 60th birthday, it was the worn-out, school version without the paper jacket,” Patchett said. “Just holding the book that EB White held was amazing.”

Ann Patchett 2019

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Patchett, who published her children’s book, The Verts: A story about introverts and extrovertsin September, she also discussed her unconventional writing process, including writing her acclaimed novel 2023 in its entirety. Tom Lakewhile walking on a treadmill.

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“I don’t like a standing desk,” said the author. “When you’re walking, and it’s not like I’m going fast or anything, you’re just in the perfect position. You have no tension in the upper half of your body. Like, your feet hurt at the end of the day, but that’s a lot better than having a sore neck.”

Never miss a story — subscribe to PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. “It was like walking into a novel,” Patchett added. “It was the best concentration I’ve ever had in my life.”

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Source: HIS Education