The Queen of Country Is Real Book Lover! Inside Dolly Parton’s Secret Life as a Reader

You know Dolly Parton as the Queen of Country—but did you know she also goes by another title that’s even closer to her heart? That’s right, friends. Dolly, 80, is proudly known as the Book Lady!

The nickname comes from her lifelong passion for reading and her beloved nonprofit program, the Imagination Library. And when she sat down with Jenna Bush Hager on the Open Book With Jenna podcast and was asked which nickname she prefers, Dolly’s answer was pure gold. “I mean, I love the music and I’ll already be naturally known for that,” Dolly said with a smile. “But I have loved doing [The Imagination Library] for the kids—there’s nothing more important than making an impression on them when they’re young.”

But here’s the part that might surprise even the most devoted Dolly fans: this woman is a serious reader. “I mean, I must read at least about 50 books a year,” she told Jenna. Fifty! A year!

Dolly’s reading habits are absolutely delightful

When people ask how she possibly finds time to read that much, Dolly has a perfectly Dolly answer. “People always say, ‘but when do you have time to read?'” she said. “When I wake up in the middle of the night, I’ll read. I’ll read myself to sleep. I don’t watch TV that much—I prefer to read! I read everything, but I love historical fiction.”

She also shared that she reads everything from Reese Witherspoon’s book club. “And whatever’s on the New York Times bestseller list, I love to read that.”

And if you’re wondering whether Dolly has gone digital with her reading — not a chance! “I’m always going to pick a paper book. I love the feel of books and the smell of books—I just love to physically touch a book!”

Her go-to genres? Historical fiction is a clear favorite, but she loves a little bit of everything. “I even love those drugstore books, too. I loved the romance, but I like the mysteries too. But I just love all kinds of books,” she said.

She even swaps recommendations with her sisters! “When I want to know about books, I contact my sisters. I ask ‘Have you read any good books lately?’ They say they’ve been saving me some and I say the same,” she said. “So, friends and family, we swap books back and forth! The books that are word of mouth…those are the best.”

The desert island question

During their podcast interview, Jenna Bush Hager asked Dolly the ultimate bookworm question: If you were stranded on a desert island, which book would you take? Her answer was as classic as it gets. “I better take the Bible cause if I’m stranded on an island, I figure I may not get off of there and I might wanna do some crammin’,” Dolly replied with a smile, laughing. Only Dolly could make that answer both hilarious and heartfelt!

The author who goes ‘plum deep’ into Dolly’s soul

When it comes to Dolly’s favorite books, one author stands above them all: Southern writer Lee Smith. “I have a favorite Southern writer named Lee Smith,” Dolly told Jenna. “She writes all these great stories about country people, mountain people. So I’m really drawn to Southern writers as well.”

In an interview with Marie Claire, Dolly declared Smith her “favorite Southern writer” and raved about Smith’s novel Oral History. “This book really hits home for me because it’s really about Southern people,” Parton explained. “It’s a wonderful story about families, and love and romance and just the hard times that people go through. Lee Smith just tells a story in such a way that it just goes plum deep into my soul and heart. And if you have not read Lee Smith, you better get after it!”

A Nashville lunch that dreams are made of

Now here’s a story you’re going to love. Dolly and Lee Smith, 81, first met in person more than two decades ago — and the way it happened is pure magic. About 25 years ago, Smith was invited to give the main talk at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville. She was nervous.

“I was completely terrified because I was so much younger and undereducated compared to all of these people who were wonderful scholars,” Smith said in an interview with Chapter16. “I remember being in a complete panic…and just as I was packing up and getting ready to leave, the phone rang—and this voice said he was Dolly Parton’s manager.”

The manager had seen in the paper that Smith was coming to speak—and Dolly wondered if they could take her out to lunch! Smith was overjoyed. “And I said, ‘Why, yes!’ When I told my husband, Hal, who hadn’t planned to go and had all sorts of other things to do, he immediately jumped up and said, ‘Oh, I’ll be going.’ They picked us up from our hotel and took us to a restaurant in an old antebellum house,” Smith told the outlet.

And the best part? “When we walked in—me and Hal and Dolly’s manager and Dolly—everybody in the restaurant stood up and burst into applause. And I turned around and looked at my husband and he’s waving, he’s in the back and he’s waving and waving. But anyway, that was a surprise and I was real glad to meet Dolly. So that was a very memorable festival, although I have no idea what I said in my talk!”

From her heart to children everywhere

Dolly’s love of books inspired one of her most meaningful legacies—the Imagination Library, which she launched in 1995. The program has expanded across 21 states and several countries, mailing free books to children from birth to age 5. Today, over 3 million books are sent out each month.

The idea was born from a deeply personal place: her own father’s inability to read. “Before he passed away, my Daddy told me the Imagination Library was probably the most important thing I had ever done,” Dolly said. “I can’t tell you how much that meant to me because I created the Imagination Library as a tribute to my Daddy. He was the smartest man I have ever known but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams.”

She has a new memoir!

Here’s something to get excited about! Dolly released a new book, Star of the Show: My Life on Stage, which shares its name with her hit 1979 single. According to Dolly, this book is “a celebration of my journey as a performer, filled with personal stories, cherished memories, and never-before-seen photos from more than seven decades on stage.”

Star of the Show: My Life on Stage serves as the third book in her acclaimed photo-memoir trilogy. The first—Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics—was released in 2020, followed by Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones in 2023. Both were bestsellers. The new book was released on November 11, 2025 from Ten Speed Press.

From reading 50 books a year to sending millions of free books to children around the world, Dolly Parton proves that the Book Lady title fits her just as perfectly as any rhinestone-covered outfit. And honestly? We love her even more for it!