What books does Sarah Jessica Parker recommend?
As a publisher and prize judge as much as an actress, Sarah Jessica Parker has become one of the sharpest curators of contemporary literary fiction, and her book recommendations show it. The editorial director of SJP Lit and a 2025 Booker Prize judge has gathered 20 titles here, sourced from her SJP Lit imprint, her work with the ALA's Book Club Central, her Goop reading lists, and her Instagram. Fiction and literature dominate, threaded with psychology, society and politics, history, and memoir. Elysha Chang's A Quitter's Paradise is a top pick she calls "a glorious, pondering, heartbreaking, extremely funny, very special book," and she praises Kim Coleman Foote's Coleman Hill as both "a history lesson" and "a deeply moving, funny, epic story of America." From debut novelists to classics like The Catcher in the Rye, her list favours ambitious, character-driven storytelling.
Last updated February 2026 · Every recommendation cited to its original source.
A Quitter's Paradise
A Novel
byElysha Chang
2023304 Pages“A glorious, pondering, heartbreaking, extremely funny, very special book.”
— Sarah Jessica Parker
Source: SJP Lit Official
Coleman Hill
A Novel
byKim Coleman Foote
2023320 Pages“Incredible because it's a history lesson about the Northern Migration but also a deeply moving, funny, epic story of America.”
— Sarah Jessica Parker
Source: SJP Lit Official
Women and Children First
A Novel
byAlina Grabowski
2024336 Pages“A gripping literary puzzle that unwinds the private lives of ten women as they confront tragedy in a small Massachusetts town.”
— Sarah Jessica Parker
Source: SJP Lit Official
They Dream in Gold
A Novel
byMai Sennaar
2024432 Pages“A luminous literary debut following two dreamers, one intercultural family, and the diasporic pursuit of home.”
— Sarah Jessica Parker
Source: SJP Lit Official
byLucy Caldwell
2022288 Pages(4,149)
“These Days is an intimate celebration of sisterhood and a moving tribute to childhoods cut short by war.”
— Sarah Jessica Parker
Source: SJP Lit Official
A Place for Us
A Novel
byFatima Farheen Mirza
2018400 Pages“To be taken hostage by Fatima Farheen Mirza's heartrending and timely story is a gutting pleasure.”
— Sarah Jessica Parker
Source: SJP for Hogarth
No One Is Coming to Save Us
A Novel
byStephanie Powell Watts
2017384 Pages“JJ, Ava and Sylvia are easy characters to fall in love with, and Stephanie Powell Watts brings them to life with warmth and generosity.”
— Sarah Jessica Parker
Source: ALA Book Club Central
Exit West
A Novel
byMohsin Hamid
2017240 Pages“This novel dazzles with beauty and transcendent, transformative humanity. I treasured every moment I spent in the pages of this book.”
— Sarah Jessica Parker
Source: ALA Book Club Central
byAyobami Adebayo
2017288 Pages“A wise and deeply humane debut novel that unpeels the layers of politics in a marriage from the inside.”
— Sarah Jessica Parker
Source: ALA Book Club Central
byAnthony Marra
2013384 Pages“You don't have to know a whole lot about the history of Chechnya to truly love this extraordinary book, or to find yourself recommending it to everyone you know.”
— Sarah Jessica Parker
Source: Goop Reading List
byGeorge Gissing
2012608 Pages“This story about publishing and love is one of the great, turn-of-the-century sweeping tales. It's one of my all-time favorites.”
— Sarah Jessica Parker
Source: Goop Reading List
byPaul Murray
2023656 PagesSource: Instagram (@sarahjessicaparker)
Crying in H Mart
A Memoir
byMichelle Zauner
2021256 Pages“Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a singer, songwriter and guitarist.”
— Sarah Jessica Parker
Source: Instagram (@sarahjessicaparker)
Crossroads
A Novel
byJonathan Franzen
2021592 Pages“Franzen's pages, his Crossroads is where you will find my head. Buried... It deserves devotion and proper attention.”
— Sarah Jessica Parker
Source: Instagram (@sarahjessicaparker)
Read by John Green, Kurt Cobain, Sarah Jessica Parker and 1 others
byJ.D. Salinger
1951277 Pages(3,600,000)
“I do think it deserves the classic label and has a lot to offer.”
— Sarah Jessica Parker
Source: NYT By the Book
byDonna Tartt
2013771 Pages“A fantastic read that is an adventure unlike anything else you will ever read.”
— Sarah Jessica Parker
Source: Goop Reading List
byLaurie Colwin
2010224 Pages“A modern classic... as much a sophisticated romantic comedy about the love between two partners as it is a novel about the powerful bonds shared by family members.”
— Sarah Jessica Parker
Source: Instagram (@sarahjessicaparker)
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Frequently asked questions
What books does Sarah Jessica Parker recommend?
Her 20 recommendations include A Quitter's Paradise, Coleman Hill, Women and Children First, Exit West, and The Goldfinch, weighted heavily toward literary and debut fiction she has championed as a publisher and judge.
What is Sarah Jessica Parker's favourite book?
Elysha Chang's A Quitter's Paradise is a top pick. Parker calls it "a glorious, pondering, heartbreaking, extremely funny, very special book," reflecting her taste for character-driven literary fiction.
Where do Sarah Jessica Parker's book recommendations come from?
They are drawn from her SJP Lit imprint, her tenure with the ALA's Book Club Central, her Goop reading lists, her Hogarth selections, and her Instagram account, where she shares favourite novels.
What genres does Sarah Jessica Parker read most?
Her picks are overwhelmingly fiction and literature, with threads of psychology, society and politics, history, and memoir. She has a particular eye for literary debuts and international voices.
Does Sarah Jessica Parker recommend any classics?
Yes. Alongside contemporary fiction she praises George Gissing's New Grub Street as "one of my all-time favorites" and defends The Catcher in the Rye, saying it "deserves the classic label and has a lot to offer."
All 20 Books Sarah Jessica Parker Has Recommended
- A Quitter's Paradise · Elysha Chang
- Coleman Hill · Kim Coleman Foote
- Women and Children First · Alina Grabowski
- They Dream in Gold · Mai Sennaar
- These Days · Lucy Caldwell
- A Place for Us · Fatima Farheen Mirza
- No One Is Coming to Save Us · Stephanie Powell Watts
- Exit West · Mohsin Hamid
- Stay with Me · Ayobami Adebayo
- A Constellation of Vital Phenomena · Anthony Marra
- New Grub Street · George Gissing
- The Fraud · Zadie Smith
- Martyr! · Kaveh Akbar
- The Bee Sting · Paul Murray
- Crying in H Mart · Michelle Zauner
- Crossroads · Jonathan Franzen
- The Catcher in the Rye · J.D. Salinger
- The Goldfinch · Donna Tartt
- Happy All the Time · Laurie Colwin
- Trespasses · Louise Kennedy