what about the Lord of the Rings trilogy? She always refers to hobbits ("do you guys really not know what hobbits are?" and when the audience member said LOTR she said "thank you") I'm sure she's the type to have read the books and not just seen the movies. I can't remember what the proceeding book is called, the one about Bilbo Baggins (I think, I've never read it), but that one should be on there too!
Field Guide to getting Lost by Rebecca solnit
Jack Kuerac diaries