Nikole Hannah-Jones knows a thing or two about what it takes to create a memorable book. The Iowa native has been a journalist for more than two decades and was named one of TIME magazine’s most influential people in the world. As the mastermind behind The 1619 Project, the influential wordsmith who now calls Brooklyn, NY home received numerous accolades across publishing and television for her epic literary creation most notably a Pulitzer Prize and an Emmy Award. It debuted at number one on The New York Times Nonfiction bestseller list and has forever reshaped discourse surrounding the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

As a curator for this year’s ESSENCE Festival of Culture, Hannah-Jones also helped shape soul-shifting programming celebrating Black literature, authors and storytelling within the Book Festival. In between one of her many thought-provoking panel discussions, we got the inaugural Knight Chair in Race and Journalism at Howard University to spill the beans on her all-time favorite book, the first book she read that moved her (and still does) and how she’s preparing for her next big career move—hint: it involves more amazing books that amplify our culture.

My Favorite Book of All-Time: The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

The Book I’m Currently Reading: Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara because I am opening a bookstore, literary salon, café and bar in Brooklyn. This book teaches you about treating hospitality as a calling. I want to make sure my customers get treated right.

The Last Book I Read: The Nation That Never Was: Reconstructing America’s Story by Kermit Roosevelt III–it’s a great read around the 250^th anniversary (of America).

The Author I’m Looking Forward to Reconnecting with This Weekend at EFOC: Mara Brock Akil. I know Mara very well, but I don’t know Mara as a novelist. So, it is exciting to see her here now in this capacity (as Mara promotes her debut novel, The Revelation of Dionne Daphne).

Her Favorite Genre of Books for Pleasure: Girl, I don’t read for pleasure. (laughs) Nah, I’m playing: historical fiction.

The First Book I Read That Stayed with Me: Well, it’s not my first book but I would say the first book I selected for myself that had a Black girl on the cover was Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor. I’ve never forgotten that book and I’ll never forget going into the library, seeing a Black girl on the cover and wanting to read that book.

Audio Books or Traditional Print Books: I’m a printed book person but for fiction I prefer audiobooks because I can listen to them while I’m doing other things.

My Favorite Place to Read: My favorite place to read is in the bed. I started this habit as a young girl. I love reading as the last thing I do before I go to sleep.

The Book That I Always Assign My Students to Read: Black Reconstruction by W. E. B. Du Bois. It is one of the most important books ever written about the American experience. I also think it provides some breadcrumbs for what we need to do at this moment.

Author: Bridgette Bartlett

Read the original article on Essence.