Aisha Muharrar is an Emmy Award-winning writer and co-executive producer of HBO\u2019s \u201cHacks,\u201d and she\u00a0wrote for the series\u00a0\u201cParks and Recreation\u201d and \u201cThe Good Place.\u201d She\u2019s\u00a0a\u00a0resident of Los Angeles, and \u201cLoved One\u201d is her debut novel.<\/p>\n
Q. Do you remember the first book that made an impact on you?<\/b><\/p>\n
Yes! It was probably around the time I was eight years old. \u201cThe Fairy Rebel\u201d by Lynne Reid Banks. When I was a kid, I checked it out of the library. I loved the mix of magic and the ordinary.\u00a0And I don\u2019t remember which book made me feel this way, but I remember standing in the young readers section and thinking, \u201cBooks make me feel less alone. I want to do that. I want to be a writer.\u201d Maybe it was \u201cThe Fairy Rebel\u201d because literature felt like magic to me. There was some unknown alchemy to writing a book and bringing a reader into an imagined world that felt real. I wanted to learn how to do that.<\/p>\n
SEE ALSO<\/strong>:\u00a0Like books? Get our free Book Pages newsletter about bestsellers, authors and more<\/a><\/p>\n Q. What\u2019s a memorable book experience \u2013 good or bad \u2013 you\u2019re willing to share?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n In college, I rushed to the bookstore minutes before it closed to get a copy of \u201cLondon Is the Best City in America\u201d by Laura Dave. I\u2019d just had a breakup, and when I read about the book, I thought: This will heal me.<\/p>\n I might as well have been yelling, \u201cMake way! It\u2019s a literary emergency!\u201d It didn\u2019t completely heal me, only time was able to do that, but honestly, it helped.<\/p>\n Q. Is there a book or books you always recommend to other readers?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cHigh Fidelity\u201d by Nick Hornby; \u201cGirl, Woman, Other\u201d by Bernardine Evaristo; \u201cHim Her Him Again The End of Him\u201d by Patricia Marx<\/p>\n Q. Do you have a favorite bookstore or bookstore experience?<\/b><\/p>\n