"Growing up in a Southern Baptist home, I was hesitant to read a fictional account of Jesus’ adult life, his own family relations, and the introduction of a romantic relationship. I know the ending to this story, so what could I possibly learn? However, my curiosity got the best of me, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved how the author humanized Jesus in a way I hadn’t seen him described before. I knew about his adoration for his mother, his intense sense of responsibility and his steadfast purpose, but I had never considered the down to earth humanity within those qualities: the love of laughter, warm interpersonal connections with siblings, and day-to-day decision-making. The other fascinating character was, of course, his love interest Ana. You see Jesus through this strong, feisty woman’s eyes and cannot help but weep with her when she loses her greatest love. As this historical moment that I had faithfully studied for all of my life unfolded, I was so involved in the story that I forgot everything aside from the passion, love and sacrifice these two figures shared. Sue Monk Kidd provides the ultimate gift that any writer has to offer their reader: the ability to climb inside the hearts and minds of her characters, feel their pain and celebrate their love. What an experience."

"An incredible record that sounds as modern today as it did when it first emerged. I was really struck just by this minimalist production and the atmosphere they captured on this record. It's just been one of these records that I go back to over and over again and it's been a real touchstone in my career. I just think it's so beautiful and so tastefully constructed. Again, it's also so unique. There's nobody else who has ever touched them. 

 They've made this insanely perfect record – and I rarely say that, that it is a perfect record – and I associate it with the emergence of myself as an adult where it just felt like a whole different universe than what I had experienced before. It sounded like a whole different planet. 

 I don't even know how to articulate why I love it so much, other than it is a perfect recording. I guess the aesthetic of Colossal Youth is that it is so disciplined. You don't really hear that very often, that real confidence just to let things be really simple and unembellished: it takes a lot of balls to do that [laughs]. I feel too that any new generation that was exposed to that record would find it as thrilling as I did back in the 1980s; you can't really say that about too many records."

"This is one of my favorite books of 2016 and I will continue talking it up at all my future events. The majority of thrillers I read are on the adult side, and I'll tell you now that although MY SISTER ROSA is so different content-wise from GONE GIRL/THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, it's equally addicting. When the premise of a book is a 17-year-old is trying to protect from the world from his 10-year-old psychopathic sister, you just know there's no happily ever after to expect. I knew it was going to be dark, but I didn't anticipate how haunting it is. It fits the book 100% and I loved it. And no spoilers, but the twist completely stunned me. I pride myself on figuring out the major twist of GONE GIRL before reading a single chapter, but the twist in MY SISTER ROSA completely GUTTED me. And it's an excellent twist because once all was revealed, EVERYTHING made sense. It didn't come out of left field, it didn't have me feeling cheated to the point where I would've felt obligated to reread it all to appreciate the twist. Everything is there. Maybe you'll figure it out beforehand. Maybe you won't. But the experience of reading about Rosa--the most terrifying 10-year-old in the universe--remains completely absorbing."