E. Lockhart is the author ofWe Were Liars, which has been published in 33 countries. Her other works include Fly on the Wall; Dramarama; the Printz Award honor and Cybils Award winner The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks; and the Ruby Oliver quartet. Her novel How to Be Bad was co-written with Lauren Myracle and Sarah Mlynowski. Her next novel, Genuine Fraud, about a young woman whose diabolical smarts are her ticket into a charmed life, will be published by Delacorte in September.
On your nightstand now:
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. I'm late to that party, I know. It's so good.
Favorite book when you were a child:
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken. It's got orphans, train journeys, evildoers, a lavish country house. And wolves. It's a lot like Genuine Fraud, actually, but the wolves in my book are metaphorical.
Your top five authors:
Toni Morrison, Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, Patricia Highsmith and the writers employed by the Marvel comic book company.
Book you've faked reading:
Ulysses. I suspect I'm not alone in that answer.
Book you're an evangelist for:
Trevor Noah's Born a Crime, especially on audio. He's a wickedly good storyteller.
Book you've bought for the cover:
When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds. I collect book jackets I like on Pinterest. I'm a fan of Paul Sahre's book design, in particular. He does Chuck Klosterman's covers, and at least some of Rick Moody's.
Book you hid from your parents:
Wifey by Judy Blume. It was full of lackluster and disappointing sex, but it was still sex, so I was happy to be reading about it.
Book that changed your life:
Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi. I read it in 1991, on the beach. That huge honkin' book in hardcover. I couldn't put it down. It gave me a new way of looking at myself and my position in the world.
Favorite line from a book:
"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will, which I now exert to leave you." --Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Five books you'll never part with:
I am not a keeper of objects for sentimental reasons. Not even autographed copies. Not even gifts. I own a lot of books, but you may have them if you'd like to read them.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
When Fight Club first came out, I saw Chuck Palahniuk read at a literary event in SoHo that took place in an art gallery full of tattoo designs. I bought the novel without knowing much about it. I remember jumping around the room, halfway through. Plot twist!
Book that was a guilty pleasure:
I never feel guilty about reading.
