Novelist, poet, and editor Kathleen Rooney (“Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk”) captures the glamour, grit and just maybe a little bit of fairy magic of Colleen Moore’s empowering story in “From Dust to Stardust,” a novel inspired by Moore which also offers a documentarian-like view of the silent film era.
My picks in the poll were “Charlotte’s Web,” “Catch-22” and Toni Morrison’s “Beloved,” books which affected me profoundly at the time I read them, and which have shaped my perception of the world since.