Mindy Kaling's Rom-Com and Romance Reading List

Curtis Sittenfeld · 2008

For readers who like a heroine with some darkness in her. Kaling loves the lead and wondered aloud why it hasn't been filmed.

Edith Wharton · 1905

Her first true favourite, read at school. She identified with Lily Bart, and she said so again in an EW book quiz.

Jhumpa Lahiri · 1999

Kaling says it completely changed her life. She reads each new Lahiri book as soon as it comes out, which is a fair endorsement.

Jeffrey Eugenides · 2011

Named in her TODAY interview, with no comment on why.

Stephen King · 2011

The outlier: a Stephen King time-travel thriller on a list otherwise rich in romance and literary fiction. She chose it in her TODAY interview, with no comment on why.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie · 2012

Short and direct. Kaling says it would make readers less nervous about calling themselves feminists.

Louise Fitzhugh · 1964

Kaling's childhood favourite, read to her by her father. She values its emphasis on brains over looks.