her fighting spirit . `` As long as we can tell stories about our ability to survive , the more we will hope , not self-destruct . '' Oprah.com : 8 books to read with a broken heart Just Kids By Patti Smith The sex , drugs , and rock 'n' roll of the 1970s `` always scared me , '' says 31-year-old Christina Ricci , who had n't yet been born when rocker Patti Smith and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe were making music and art together , as chronicled in this 2010 memoir . `` Their story sort of restored my faith in people . They went through so much but could still forgive and love each other . '' Oprah.com : Your favorite women writers The Fountainhead By Ayn Rand `` When I was struggling with a sense of identity , this book helped me feel empowered about being a little different , '' says Christina Ricci . A teenager when she read the popular 1943 novel , she knew nothing about the book 's polarizing ideology , nor was she drawn to its iconoclastic protagonist , Howard Roark . `` I did n't like that guy , ''
-LRB- Oprah.com -RRB- -- Look for the actress in ABC 's new drama Pan Am -- as well as on the couch reading books rich in imagination . The Chronicles of Narnia By C.S. Lewis `` I would reread them every summer , '' says Christina Ricci of the children 's series featuring a deity named Aslan , a benevolent lion . `` I actually prayed to him , convinced that he would come into my room and take me to Narnia . '' By 19 , Ricci no longer prayed to Aslan , but she found another expression of her devotion : She had Aslan 's image , her first tattoo , inked on her shoulder . Oprah.com : See the complete list of Oprah 's book club selections She 's Come Undone By Wally Lamb `` I have given this book to so many people and reread it , I think , a million times , '' says Christina Ricci . `` I love it because it 's about surviving . '' The novel 's unforgettable protagonist , Dolores Price , endures sexual abuse , parental neglect , and years in a mental institution -- but never loses