Enthusiasms

LAURA BUSH First Lady

READING "I read mainly fiction and biography. I've also read millions of mysteries. My mother-in-law, Lynne Cheney and I share books. A lot of my friends in Texas are also in a book club with me. I always read every night for 30 or 40 minutes at the least. Sometimes [the President] asks me to turn out the light, and sometimes I have to ask him. It depends on who's sleepiest."

BOOK Pearl S. Buck: A Cultural Biography by Peter J. Conn "I read The Good Earth, like everybody else did, probably in high school, but there are a lot of things about her that I didn't know. For instance, she started Welcome House, which was one of the first adoption agencies that allowed Americans to adopt interracial children from all over the world."

BOOK Henry and Clara by Thomas Mallon "A historical fiction about the couple who were in the box at Ford's Theatre with Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd. It's a sad story."

MOVIE Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon "It was such a beautiful movie to watch. Even the martial arts were like ballet."

MOVIE Shrek "I thought it was very great. I loved the Eddie Murphy donkey."

To read more of the First Lady's recommendations, log on to time.com