"I’d definitely need some Jane Austen on a desert island, so I choose her most complex book. Lots of people (including Austen’s mother) find the heroine Fanny “insipid,” but as a shy person I identify with her and love how she learns to speak up for herself."

"I love East of Eden, there’s so much passion. I was reading about how it was made, and how it was such a new thing for James Dean to be doing. One of those scenes was really improvisational between he and his father or mother, and he has this burst of emotion that came from nowhere, that he didn’t even understand. He had such virility in that movie — I love it."

"My Aunt Karen bought this book for my mother when it first came out. Martha’s first book formed the template and foundation for her iconic brand. I was entranced by this book as it brought me into the magic world of entertaining and cooking. I particularly love the gingerbread townhouse!"

"I don’t quite understand how this film does what it does—make you understand the powerful, quasi-incestuous relationship between mother and son, without making it seem the least bit abnormal or reprehensible—but that’s what I love about it. That and the jazz soundtrack and the semipsychotic older twin brothers."

"And then finally I love… [long pause] Can I think about the last one? [Breslin’s mother intervenes: “For sentimental reasons the one you always loved was Prancer,” she suggests, laughing.] Oh yeah, I loved Prancer. Oh my god. [Laughs] I actually, really— okay, yeah, I’ll put that. So that movie, for sentimental reasons, and just because I still love it. It still has to be watched every Christmas. [Mom laughs in the background. ]"