Author Jeanette Settembre shares her favorite books
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.
New York Post journalist Jeanette Settembre is drawn to books with themes of “love, loss, longing, coming of age, rage and time.”
“I wrote my debut novel, ‘Little Red Flags,’ rooted in those very themes fictionalized from my personal story dealing with a messy, complicated relationship,” Settembre, whose new book is out now, told Page Six.
She added, “I’m also drawn to a compelling celebrity memoir. I’m currently reading and loving Lena Dunham’s ‘Famesick’ — I’m a real ‘Girls’ girl.”
The author’s love of books came from her mom, who would take her to bookstores and libraries on the weekends.
“I’d relish the fiction section of Barnes & Noble in my town, and in high school,” she explained. “I always dreamed of being an author.”
See below for Settembre’s six must-read book recommendations.
“Longing, co-dependency, addiction and the all-consuming rollercoaster of first love and loss, written with great emotional intelligence. I felt every page of this novel because of Hanna Halperin’s gorgeous prose. Readers will recall their own experiences with grief, heartache and loneliness in this intimate account of what it means to fall hard for someone suffering with addiction. As protagonist Leah finds herself more and more involved with Charlie, she becomes more deceived by him believing that he can be good.”
“Sex. Crime. Obsession. My debut bestselling novel, ‘Little Red Flags,’ has it all. Food writer Mia De Luce falls hard and fast for an attractive and charismatic stranger, Ben Cohen, one weekend away in the Hamptons. A single event shatters their all-consuming chemistry, forcing Mia to live a double life. One as a food writer, savoring caviar bumps and Champagne at the world’s best restaurants … and one in secret, filled with shame and deception. Can Mia confront the truth about herself, Ben, and their relationship? Or, will she lose herself forever to Ben’s world and his toxic manipulation, destroying the enviable life she built for herself in New York City?”
“This poetry collection, with its raw confessional voice, is a relatable take on forbidden love, loss, obsession and longing. The narration is both cool and devastating and will leave readers wanting, and feeling nostalgic. My favorite poem is ‘I Had A Dream About You.’”
“I love the first line of this novel: ‘When I think of my wife, I always think of her head.’ With gripping urgency, and multiple unreliable narrators, this novel had me all in from page one. An excellent psychological thriller with believable characters, rage and suspense.”
“Coming of age in New York’s hottest food scene? Yes, chef. I savored every word of Danler’s debut novel following 22-year-old Tess trying to make it in New York’s tough-as-nails restaurant – and dating – scene. Reading it in my 20’s as a food writer, I found it all too relatable. Favorite line? ‘I became a verb.’ Beautiful, messy, sexy, delicious. Devoured this and left no crumbs.”
“This uplifting book is based on Pausch’s viral lecture on achieving childhood dreams given after his terminal cancer diagnosis. The book is a heartfelt reminder to make the most of what you have now, to live with purpose and to keep moving forward.”
