( Oprah.com ) -- 1 . `` The Other Boleyn Girl '' `` Gregory is one of my favorite authors , '' says Lawrence . `` I 've always loved history , and she makes it ... salacious . '' Narrated by Anne Boleyn 's sister Mary -- who managed to keep her head -- Gregory 's best-seller takes a new look at the oft-told story of the loves of Henry VIII and the political and religious intrigues and rivalries that roiled not just life in the English court but the whole of Europe . Oprah.com : 17 must read books for April 2012 . 2 . `` Raise High the Roof Beam , Carpenters '' When she was 14 , Lawrence traveled to New York City to start her career , so Salinger 's tales of the quintessential New York family -- the brilliant , sophisticated , doomed Glasses -- have a special place in her heart . `` I 'm so drawn to Salinger 's view of society back then , and to his sarcasm . I read `` Catcher in the Rye '' first , then this one . I do n't think there 's ever been anything like these characters in American literature . '' Oprah.com : What Jonathan Safran Foer knows for sure about amazement . 3 . `` We Need to Talk About Kevin '' Shriver 's haunting novel is not quite horror and not quite thriller , `` but it 's definitely dramatic , '' Lawrence says . A mother 's story of watching helplessly as her son grows from an angry child into a horrifically violent young man , the book won 2005 's Orange Prize for fiction and inspired the recent movie starring Tilda Swinton . `` I would n't read it if I had kids or if I were pregnant , '' she warns . Oprah.com : Find a ( sort of ) sequel to your favorite book . 4 . `` Anna Karenina '' Lawrence 's `` Hunger Games '' costar Donald Sutherland introduced her to the novel one day while the two of them were doing what actors do most on set -- waiting . `` We were talking about Walt Whitman and `` Leaves of Grass '' , and he mentioned this novel , which he gave me on his last day of shooting . '' The familiar story of Anna , who naively sacrifices her comfortable ( and stifling ) marriage for true love and finds herself cut off from everything she knows , was a surprise to Lawrence . `` I really was n't expecting to like it . I thought I would n't want to finish an 800-page book , but then I started slowing down and reading the same chapters over and over . You fall in love with the characters ; you grow up with them . '' Oprah.com : So many books , so little time : A passionate reader 's story . 5 . `` The Rum Diary '' `` You can tell in one sentence if what you 're reading is by Thompson , '' Lawrence says of the late journalist 's gonzo style . Published in 1998 , nearly 40 years after it was begun , this fictionalized memoir -- released as a film with Johnny Depp in 2011 -- contains all the Thompson trademarks : drunken excess ; surreal , violent episodes ; fascinating , often despicable characters . `` You read a Thompson book because of his voice . He 's always getting wrecked in San Juan and reporting on cockfights . He 's just hilarious . '' Oprah.com : 6 lovely little novels nobody 's heard of ( yet ) Subscribe to O , The Oprah Magazine for up to 75 % off the newsstand price . That 's like getting 18 issues FREE . Subscribe now ! TM & © 2011 Harpo Productions , Inc. All Rights Reserved .
` ` I ' m so used to Salinger 's view of society back then , and to his sarcasm , '' says Lawrence . ` ` Hunger Games '' director Donald Sutherland introduced Lawrence to ` ` Anna ' '' Lawrence finds author Hunter - Thompson who penned ` ` The Rum Diary '' hilarious .