Emily Ratajkowski’s Favorite Books About Relationships Every Reader Should Pick Up

When people think about Emily Ratajkowski, they often think of her successful modeling career, her acting roles, or her bestselling memoir My Body. However, longtime fans know that she is also an avid reader who frequently shares the books that have shaped her worldview.

Ratajkowski has built a reputation for being thoughtful and outspoken, and her reading choices reflect that side of her personality. She is drawn to books that explore complicated emotions, personal identity, friendship, beauty, desire, and the ways relationships shape our lives. Whether she is discussing a classic novel or a modern memoir, her recommendations tend to spark conversations long after the final page.

One reason I enjoy looking at celebrity reading lists is because they often reveal a different side of a public figure. Anyone can recommend a bestseller, but when someone explains why a particular book mattered to them, that is where things become interesting. Emily Ratajkowski’s favorite books about relationships are a perfect example of this. Each title examines human connection from a different perspective, yet all three share a willingness to ask difficult questions about love, friendship, and self-worth.

Interestingly, Ratajkowski has also mentioned that Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird was one of the first novels that truly impacted her as a young reader. Like many lifelong book lovers, she can trace her passion for literature back to a specific reading experience.

As she told Esquire, she remembers associating different books with different periods of her life, and To Kill a Mockingbird was the novel that first made a lasting impression on her. Reading a powerful book at a young age can change how you see stories forever, and that experience seems to have influenced the eclectic reading tastes she has today.

In an interview with Vogue, Ratajkowski discussed some of her favorite books and explained that narrowing her list down was nearly impossible. That makes the three relationship-focused books she highlighted even more meaningful.

Let’s take a closer look at Emily Ratajkowski’s favorite books about relationships and why they continue to resonate with readers.

Emily Ratajkowski’s Favorite Books About Relationships

• Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett
• Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
• All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks

Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett

If there is one book on this list that perfectly captures the complexity of friendship, it is Truth & Beauty: A Friendship by Ann Patchett.

This memoir chronicles Patchett’s decades-long friendship with fellow writer Lucy Grealy. Their relationship began when they were both young women trying to find their place in the world. Over the years, they supported each other through personal struggles, professional ambitions, insecurities, and heartbreak.

What makes this memoir particularly powerful is the honesty with which Patchett tells the story. Lucy Grealy endured numerous surgeries after childhood cancer left her facially disfigured, and much of the book explores how beauty standards affected her life and relationships.

Ratajkowski first read the memoir while she was in college and immediately connected with its exploration of female friendship.

She has spoken about how the book examines much more than friendship alone. It dives into questions surrounding beauty, sexuality, identity, and society’s expectations of women. These themes align closely with many of the topics Ratajkowski later explored in My Body.

One aspect of the memoir that continues to generate discussion is its controversial publication. Some of Grealy’s friends and family criticized the book’s portrayal of her after her death. That debate raises fascinating questions about memoir writing and who gets to tell someone else’s story.

What stands out most to me is how deeply human the book feels. Friendship is often idealized in literature, but Truth & Beauty presents it as something messy, complicated, and incredibly meaningful.

Many books discuss romantic love, but relatively few capture the intensity of platonic relationships with the same emotional depth. That is one reason this memoir remains such an important read more than two decades after its publication.

For readers interested in books about friendship, identity, and the complicated realities of female relationships, Truth & Beauty is an unforgettable experience.

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

The oldest book on this list is also arguably the most surprising.

First published in 1856, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert remains one of the most influential novels ever written. Despite being more than 150 years old, its themes continue to feel remarkably modern.

Ratajkowski discovered the novel during her senior year of high school. Although she had heard people discussing it for years, it had never been assigned reading in one of her classes. Once she finally picked it up, she became completely immersed in the story.

She has recalled reading it in just a few days and becoming so emotionally invested that she cried when she finished it.

That reaction is understandable.

The novel follows Emma Bovary, a woman whose expectations about romance and happiness are shaped by the stories she consumes. Dissatisfied with her marriage and ordinary life, she spends much of the novel chasing an idealized vision of love that reality can never match.

While Emma can be frustrating at times, she is also one of literature’s most fascinating characters. Readers often find themselves alternating between sympathy and exasperation as they watch her decisions unfold.

Ratajkowski has argued that Madame Bovary should almost be required reading for young women because the questions Emma faces remain relevant today.

What does love actually mean?

Can another person provide fulfillment?

How much of our identity should be tied to romantic relationships?

Why do cultural narratives about romance hold such power over us?

These are questions that readers continue to wrestle with in the modern world.

One reason Madame Bovary has endured for so long is because it refuses to offer easy answers. Instead, it presents a deeply flawed protagonist whose struggles feel surprisingly contemporary.

Even in an era dominated by social media, dating apps, and carefully curated online identities, Emma’s longing for something more feels recognizable.

The novel serves as both a cautionary tale and a profound exploration of desire. It challenges readers to examine how expectations influence relationships and whether perfection is ever truly attainable.

That level of psychological insight is what elevates Madame Bovary from a classic novel to a timeless one.

All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks

If Madame Bovary examines the illusions surrounding love, All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks explores what love actually means.

Originally published in 2000, this influential nonfiction work has experienced a major resurgence in recent years, finding new audiences through social media, book clubs, and online discussions.

Unlike many books about relationships, hooks approaches love from both an intellectual and spiritual perspective. She challenges readers to rethink assumptions about romance, family, community, and self-love.

Ratajkowski has praised hooks for her direct and accessible writing style. Rather than relying on complicated academic language, hooks communicates profound ideas in a way that feels approachable and personal.

That accessibility is one of the book’s greatest strengths.

Throughout All About Love, hooks argues that many people misunderstand love because they confuse it with control, attachment, or possession. True love, she suggests, requires care, commitment, trust, responsibility, respect, and knowledge.

These ideas may sound simple, but they have the power to completely change how readers think about relationships.

One reason this book continues to resonate is its hopeful tone.

Many modern discussions about relationships focus on dysfunction, heartbreak, or conflict. While hooks acknowledges those realities, she ultimately presents love as a transformative force capable of improving individual lives and society as a whole.

That optimism feels refreshing.

The book encourages readers to become more intentional in their relationships and to view love as an active practice rather than merely an emotion.

It is easy to see why Ratajkowski appreciates this perspective. The themes explored in All About Love overlap with many of the conversations she has publicly engaged in regarding identity, gender, power, and emotional connection.

Whether you are interested in philosophy, psychology, or personal growth, this is one of those books that has the potential to change how you approach relationships.

Why These Books Work So Well Together

What makes Emily Ratajkowski’s recommendations particularly interesting is how different these books are from one another.

Truth & Beauty explores friendship.

Madame Bovary examines romantic longing and dissatisfaction.

All About Love investigates the meaning of love itself.

Taken together, they create a fascinating reading journey through some of the most important relationships we experience in life.

Each book asks readers to think critically about connection, vulnerability, and personal identity. They challenge conventional narratives while offering insights that remain relevant regardless of age or background.

More importantly, none of these books provide simplistic answers.

Instead, they encourage reflection, discussion, and self-examination, qualities that often separate memorable books from forgettable ones.

Final Thoughts

Emily Ratajkowski’s favorite books about relationships reveal a reader who is interested in complexity rather than easy answers. From the powerful friendship portrayed in Truth & Beauty to the enduring questions raised by Madame Bovaryand the hopeful wisdom found in All About Love, these books offer meaningful explorations of what it means to connect with others.

I always enjoy learning why someone considers a book a favorite because the stories behind those choices often tell us just as much about the reader as the books themselves. In Ratajkowski’s case, her selections highlight themes of beauty, identity, friendship, desire, and emotional growth.

If you are looking for books that go beyond surface-level discussions of relationships and instead explore the deeper forces that shape our lives, these three titles deserve a place on your reading list.

The real question is: how many of these books have you already read, and which one are you adding to your TBR next?

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