Jenna Bush Hager on ‘reading partners’, ‘authors’, Oprah Winfrey’s book ‘recommendations’

Jenna Bush Hager seems to have been reading all her life, and she has a lot to share about her love for books.

On the Oct. 31 episode of her podcast Open Book with Jenna, the 42-year-old TODAY co-host sat down with author Ann Patchett, 60, for a conversation about the meaningful “reading partners” in their lives.

Bush Hager shared that one of her own is her mother, former First Lady Laura Bush, who holds a master’s degree in library science.

“When I was little, and in my teens, it was my mom, who … would also say things like, ‘This might be too complicated for where you are in life right now,” Bush Hager explained. “And she’d be right.”

Bush Hager also revealed that she and her twin sister, Barbara share their love of reading.

“We share books, and I love books, but what I think I really love is a book recommendation.”

Bush Hager also gushed over other authors in her life who she related to, with one name of novelist Emma Straub, who owns the Brooklyn bookstore Books Are Magic.

“I love her so much,” Bush Hager said. “I think indie bookstore owners in our country … have to curate books that their whole community wants to read. So they know what’s out there and what’s publishing.”

The American journalist shared one other, famous book club host she considered “recommendations” from, Oprah Winfrey.

“When I was in high school and taking AP English, I would walk into a Barnes and Noble or the BookPeople in Austin, which was our local store, and look for her little sticker,” Bush Hager recalled.

“I wanted to see what she was gonna recommend next,” she added. “And I think book recommendations are a way to connect with people.”