Ann Patchett Reveals Her Most Treasured Rereads—and the Childhood Book She Can’t Revisit (EXCL)

We all have those dog-eared books that we view as old friends. Ann Patchett understands this in her bones. The bestselling author has an uncanny ability to know exactly what book to recommend for any moment. As a devoted gift giver, she’s always buying just-right books for friends who are suffering a loss or hitting rocky times in a marriage or longing for adventure. But what about the books Ann Patchett turns to herself, time and again, during challenges? The Whistler novelist and These Precious Days essayist spoke candidly with Woman’s World in an exclusive interview about the old books she reads when she’s feeling tender and wants to return to her childhood self. Keep reading for Ann Patchett’s most cherished book recommendations, including the timeless children’s stories she read aloud to her grandmother at the end of her life, and the one book from her childhood that’s too powerful to revisit.

4 books that turn back the clock for Ann Patchett

Patchett, a once-in-a-generation literary talent who is preparing to receive the 2026 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction, reveals the four meaningful books that feel timeless to her as a reader…

The book Patchett reads once a year: ‘Our Town’

If you enjoyed Patchett’s novel Tom Lake, about a woman reflecting back on her time as an actress in a summer theater company, then her love for this play is no surprise. Patchett says, “A play that I always, always go back to—at least once a year—I’ll go back and reread Our Town.” The 1938 Thornton Wilder play follows the childhood and courtship of characters Emily and George.

Patchett, 62, who runs Parnassus Books in Nashville, says she gets something new out of the old story every time she circles back to it, based on wherever she is in her life. The tradition allows her to pause time. “I read the play for the first time, probably when I was 14. It only takes an hour and a half, it’s not a big deal. It really is such a touchstone.“

She shared at a National Writers Series event, “It really is almost a Buddhist text for me, because it’s about realizing that your life is only made up of a series of small moments, and that either you can be present for them or you can wish them away by looking ahead or wanting other things, and that’s why I keep going back to it.”

The beloved book Patchett can’t revisit: ‘Charlotte’s Web’

Are there any stories that seem untouchable? “You know, Charlotte’s Web was my book. That was my defining life-altering book as a child,” says Patchett, who has revealed that the E.B. White novel from 1952 inspired her to get a pig for a birthday present one year. “And I can’t read it again.” She explains why: “I’ve picked it up, and it, it’s like certain Joni Mitchell albums. I just think, ‘Oh, I can’t, I can’t go back there.’ It takes me back to childhood so completely!”

Even Patchett, a master of the English language, struggles to put her powerful feelings into words. She once again references the Thornton Wilder play, which features a ghost, to try to explain it. “Going back to Our Town: For me, trying to read Charlotte’s Web is like Emily coming back from the grave to go to her 10th birthday. It’s that evocative and visceral for me!” So this is one story Patchett will leave enshrined in the past.

The book series Patchett reread as an act of love: ‘Little House’

Sometimes, Patchett revisits a childhood favorite not just for herself, but to create a new loving memory with someone else. “Years ago, when my grandmother was dying—she died in ’05—I read the entire Little House on the Prairie series to her in the last year of her life.” The first story in the nine-book set by Laura Ingalls Wilder came out in 1932 and has charmed audiences ever since. Patchett adds, “And boy, when you read them as an adult and you can see the psychology—you know, Pa has a lot of problems—but the books are, they are riveting!”

And what a beautiful gesture: sharing precious time and books with her grandmother. Patchett shares, “She read to me. We were both big readers. She had a lot of problems with her eyes…and so I would just go over and read.” Patchett’s advice for anyone looking for a meaningful way to connect with a friend or loved one: “It’s a wonderful thing to just go and read aloud to someone.”

The book that reframes the past for Patchett: ‘Slouching Towards Bethlehem’

Sometimes books don’t transport Patchett back to childhood, but immerse her in another era. “I just reread Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem.” The collection of essays explores California’s counterculture in the 1960s. Patchett says, “I went back and reread that first book, and it’s so important. It’s so astonishingly well written and wise, but she’s writing in the middle ’60s and saying, ‘The world is so terrible. I don’t know how I can keep writing. Writing has no point anymore. How can I keep doing this meaningless thing?’” The parallel to our current times isn’t lost on Patchett. She says, “The important thing to remember is that’s always how everybody feels.”

Remembering the struggles of past generations was actually life-affirming to Patchett. “You don’t want to waste your one life feeling horrible all the time when they’ve been feeling horrible since the dark ages.” It gave her hope, despite the upheaval in our current times. She explains, “It’s also such a historical marker. It’s why we have to read history. We have to look back and say, ‘Oh, wait, this thing that’s happening—it’s not only right now.’”

How books can make people ageless

All this discussion of rereading begs the question: If books can transport us back to our younger selves, do they make us timeless? After all, Patchett’s latest book, Whistler, was an attempt to immortalize her friend Jim Fox, who the book is dedicated to, after his passing. Plus, Patchett has written enough memorable books to cement her literary legacy well into the future. So how does she feel about her stories making her immortal since they will live forever in the eyes of future readers?

Patchett recalls her father’s lessons about the fleetingness of life. “My dad, who really did not want to die, he always used to say, ‘Three days later, they roll up the dead fish in the newspaper that contains your obituary and throw it away.’” There was pride there, too. “And he said, ‘But you beat the system. You’ll be immortal.’”

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But thinking about that old compliment now, Patchett just laughs. “I won’t be immortal. Nor does it matter.” She explains, “What matters is that I get to do this work that I love right now. It’s amazing that people are reading it. I’m so grateful. The older I get, the more I am just so grateful that anybody wants to read these books with everything they have going on in the world. But am I angling for immortality on top of that? No, I am not.”

In closing: While Patchett may not be chasing forever fame, she’s given us all a precious gift: an invitation to return to the old books that shaped our lives. We don’t need a time machine. We can be transported back to our younger selves—finding comfort, rest or reassurance—with a backlist book whenever we want.