Alice Waters

"Berry puts that stake in the ground. He's a poet as well as a wonderful writer, and his message is simple: Nature is our teacher. We just need to listen and feel it, and try not to get in its way."

"Olney is one of the great recipe writers, because all of his recipes work. He was a painter, and channels that vivid language into make his recipes come to life on the page."

"I love Maira. She is always talking about this country and how we behave, and looking for the good news. This book is incredibly important to me because it's about Thomas Jefferson and our founding fathers, and how she kind of found them."

"A book that shocked me - that there are schools that flood in the winter, that kids have to put on their boots to cross the campus to use restrooms - and it's even worse now."

"This book is so hopeful that I gave it to Obama. It feels so naive that it almost reads like a children's book, but it's something I believe - that you can change the world by planting trees."

"I like to tell the good news. Schlosser tells the bad news. Sometimes it just needs to be said."

"I was very lucky that someone gave me this as my first cookbook. David doesn't give a lot in terms of the recipes - "take a handful and throw it in the pan with some garlic" - so you have to think for yourself. And then you figure it out."

"Worth it for the pictures alone - people celebrating the important moments of their lives. There's an Indian banquet where everyone is eating off of leaves, sitting on the floor. One of these days, I'm going to thrown an event like that."