"What’s the best book you’ve ever received as a gift?
When my second child was born with neuroblastoma and had to undergo eight rounds of chemotherapy, my sisters sent me books, a new one for every round. Every night after my daughter fell asleep, I would sit in a corner of her hospital room with some candy from the vending machine, a book light and a completely absorbing novel and escape for an hour or two. My daughter is 16 years old now, happy and healthy, but every time I see those books — “The Book Thief,” a few Harry Potters, “The History of Love” — I still feel a rush of gratitude."
“My family has too many,” says the author, whose latest narrative history is “River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile.”