I first read this book in late high school, as I was preparing to attend the Honors College at the University of Michigan. When I initially picked it up, I had no idea it would end with Francie moving to Ann Arbor and starting a new life as a wife and university student there, but needless to say I was delighted and it forged an immediate connection. I also credit the novel with my love for HBO's 'Boardwalk Empire,' which. while focused on Prohibition-era gangs, somehow manages to explore many of the same themes, and through the same historical context, i.e., Irish immigrants trying to make it in America during the first half of the twentieth century.

A lot of folks write it off as a young adult novel, and it's definitely something I would put into the hands of any cool adolescent girl I knew, but I've really enjoyed revisiting it as an adult. There is lyrical evidence that Jay-Z is a fan of the novel, so another ringing endorsement.

The Bookhive List is a weekly recommendation of my all-time favorite, must-read books

I've said it before -- I prefer Zadie Smith's essays and non-fiction to her novels. The fact that anyone even needs to make the distinction is pretty significant. In other words, she is such an incredibly talented writer that she produces both fiction and non-fiction that is very much worth your time. And if I had to recommend only one Zadie Smith book to someone, it would still be White Teeth, a novel everyone should read.

Part of what attracts me to her non-fiction though, is that Zadie Smith is one of the coolest women in the literary world today. She's friends with Lena Dunham and profiles celebrities like Jay-Z, and her non-fiction reflects the reality of being a mother and an English professor in New York City so much more than her fiction does. It seems like her fiction is largely preoccupied with the world of her younger self. Zadie Smith as an adult today would never be the type of character to appear in a Zadie Smith novel, so in a way I guess I'm responding positively to her more than to her work. Either way, I'm really enjoying ambling through this book of her essays.