Bestselling author Sue Monk Kidd ’70 joined the TCU Alumni Association and TCU Magazine on April 6 to discuss her writing process and her latest novel, The Book of Longings. Watch the full video below.

Kidd shared inspiring gems such as “The role of the writer is to rewrite the world” and “Writing is a little everyday act of bravery.”

After describing how she “came upon” her legendary characters, Kidd was kind enough to share a list of some of her favorite books and most impactful reads:

Fiction—
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
The Poison Wood Bible and The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
Lying Awake by Mark Salzman
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Snowflower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Thirteen Stories by Eudora Welty

Non-Fiction—

Holy Misogyny by April Deconick
Time and the Soul by Jacob Needleman
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Rilke
An Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum
Memories Dreams and Reflections by C.G. Jung
Cassandra Speaks by Elizabeth Lesser
The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg
New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton

Favorite Poets—
David White
Mary Oliver
Derek Walcott
May Sarton
Rumi
Rainer Rilke