Aubrey Plaza on Joan Didion, ‘Women,’ and the Book She

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.

Aubrey Plaza follows up on last year’s The Legend of the Christmas Witch, on the long lost tale of Santa Claus’s twin sister, with The Return of the Christmas Witch (Viking Books for Young Readers), both co-written with Dan Murphy.

The Parks and Recreation actress, who starred in the second season of HBO’s The White Lotus, has dozens of acting and producing credits to her name, including Emily the Criminal, Happiest Season, and Ingrid Goes West. Future projects include Operation Fortune with Jason Statham and Hugh Grant and Marvel series Agatha: Coven of Chaos with Kathyrn Hahn at Disney+.

The Delaware-born, L.A.-based Plaza, who Time calls “the stealth-weapon actress of our era,” was named after a song by 70s California soft rock band Bread; did competitive Irish dancing (her mom is Irish, her dad Puerto Rican), interned at SNL after taking film production at NYU; did improv and comedy at Upright Citizens Brigade; has a production company called Evil Hag Productions; has two rescue dogs named Stevie and Frankie; can make fake credit cards; can read tarot cards and cast a moon spell in Megan Mullally’s backyard; fell asleep on fellow Delawarean President Biden’s couch when he was VP.

Likes: witches (she apprenticed with one in Tennessee), Halloween, movie theaters. Good at: softball. Bad at: naps. Curl up with one of her picks.

The book that…

…helped me through a breakup:

When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron.

…kept me up way too late:

The Stand by Stephen King.

…made me weep uncontrollably:

Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala.

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

Hello, Molly! by Molly Shannon.

…I’d pass on to a kid:

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

…I’d like turned into a Netflix show:

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez.

…I last bought:

Liarmouth by John Waters.

…has the best title:

Women by Charles Bukowski.

…I brought on a momentous trip:

Lost Children Archive by Valerie Luisielli. [It was] the book my character, Harper Spiller, read in White Lotus and I read in real life at the same time… in sync with shooting and tried to time out to finish as it was ending… long five months.

…I consider literary comfort food:

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway.

…I never returned to the library (mea culpa):

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann.

…sealed a friendship:

The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon.

…makes me feel seen:

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

…I’d want signed by the author:

The White Album by Joan Didion.

Bonus question: If I could live in any library or bookstore in the world, it would be:

George Lucas’s secret library in northern California.

Read Plaza’s Picks:

When Things Fall Apart

Now 15% Off

The Giving Tree

Now 40% Off

Olga Dies Dreaming

Now 48% Off

Lost Children Archive

Now 32% Off

A Moveable Feast

Now 14% Off

Valley of the Dolls

Now 13% Off

The Crying of Lot 49

Now 36% Off

The White Album

Now 26% Off

Riza Cruz is an editor and writer based in New York.

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