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Ever wonder what your favorite celebrities are reading — whether it’s a timeless classic or the buzzy bestseller they can’t put down? Welcome to Page-Turners, where stars reveal the books that keep them hooked, inspired and up all night. Warning: your TBR pile is about to get a lot longer.
Julie Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton have been inspired by books and reading since they were children.
As the “Mary Poppins” actress and Hamilton celebrate their new book, “The Great American Mousical” — which is out now — they’re looking back on the stories that have stuck with them over the years.
“I’ll read almost anything that catches my fancy,” Andrews tells Page Six, adding that she can enjoy a reading session anywhere, “From my garden to my bed, an airplane, or an armchair.”
“Books are in every room of my house,” Hamilton tells us. “They are my friends, my advisors, my constant companions.”
From Andrews’ favorite autobiography to the memoir that Hamilton returns to over and over again, see below for the six books that shaped their lives.
“My father bought me this lovely book when I was about 9 years old. It is a beautifully written nature study focusing on the last four gnomes living in Britain. This book has influenced my own writing ever since I first read it, and I was proud to help republish it in the States several years ago.” — Julie Andrews
“‘The Golden Compass’ by Philip Pullman is possibly my favorite book of all time. It’s magnificently written, and manages to be both a gripping adventure and a meditation on the nature of the soul at the same time.” — Emma Walton Hamilton
“‘The Once and Future King’ is a huge book — four novels in all — under one cover. It is a retelling of the Arthurian legends originally written by Thomas Malory in 1485. Terence Hanbury White transcribed those books for modern readers, and it eventually became the basis for the lovely musical ‘Camelot’ by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, which I was so fortunate to be part of in my youth.” — Julie Andrews
“‘The Phantom Tollbooth’ by Norton Juster was the book that made me fall in love with reading as a child. The idea of a word market, where words have flavor and scent and texture, so captured my imagination that I think it’s why I’m a writer today.” — Emma Walton Hamilton
“‘Act One’ is the wonderful autobiography of the famous writer/director Moss Hart. It is about his early life as he struggled through extreme poverty to eventually become the beloved, prominent man that he was. In my view, it captures an era and the world of musical theater in an unparalleled way.” — Julie Andrews
“‘Big Magic’ by Elizabeth Gilbert is a book I turn to again and again in my adult writing life. It reminds me of and re-roots me in the mystery and wonder that is the creative process.” — Emma Walton Hamilton