On your nightstand now:
As usual, my nightstand is a hoarder's type book refuge. It is stacked with research books and novels. Because I'm in the beginning stages of a book, it's especially overflowing with nonfiction. If I turn my head, what I see on top right now is a book on mental illnesses. Next to that is a friend's manuscript to be edited, and calling out to me from the bottom of the heap is Erin Morgenstern's debut novel, Night Circus.
Favorite book when you were a child:
I have answered this question often and always say Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Lord of the Rings. Both were incredibly meaningful reads for me. However, just to shake it up a little, I'll add the Oz books. I was a huge fan and collector of these books. As an aside, I saw Wicked on Broadway this year and it brought my love for these characters rushing back.
Your top five authors:
As you can imagine, I have a lot of favorite authors, and like most people, I find that list changing and morphing all the time as I discover new writers whose words make a profound impact on me. I guess the way I would judge a "favorite" right now is someone whose new book I buy without caring at all what it is about. Obviously this excludes people like Harper Lee, who is probably my single favorite author but who is no longer publishing. On that very special list, I would place: Pat Conroy, whose lyricism and insight into human nature never fails to astound me; Stephen King, who feels like a good friend with whom I have spent many wonderful--although often scary--hours; J.K. Rowling, for her magnificent vision and remarkable follow-through and characters whom I adore; Megan Chance, for her powerful, uncompromising vision; and Alice Hoffman, for her range and imagination and language.
Book you've faked reading:
I read so many books that I don't have to fake reading any. That being said, there are a few books that I have tried often to read and have never quite finished. Moby Dick comes to mind...
Book you're an evangelist for:
I am absolutely crazy for the Harry Potter series. Every adult I meet who hasn't read the books is going to get an earful. I truly believe that J.K. has written a story that will pass the test of time and become THE story for our generation--mine and my son's. Also, I speak to a lot of book clubs--sometimes several a week. I absolutely love talking to these women about my books and their reactions to my stories. I am often asked for recommendations during the course of these meetings, and the book I am most passionate about lately is Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I think it is a stunningly beautiful read.
Book you've bought for the cover:
In the past few months, the cover that leaped out and smacked me was Night Circus. Wow. What a gorgeous, unusual cover that book has. It perfectly captures the tone and mood of the book, which is no easy feat.
Book that changed your life:
The list of books that changed my life is as big and overflowing as the stack on my nightstand. That's what books--great books--do, after all. They change us. There are so many books that have shaped who I am and what I believe. Then there are those that have impacted me as a writer, shown me something that I hadn't yet discovered on my own. For now, I think I'll offer a book that taught me something important about writing, and that would be Anne Rice's Witching Hour. That book was a beautiful, deep, complex combination of character, plot, story and message, and I drank up every word and glimpsed how much a writer could pack into a single narrative.
Favorite line from a book:
Again, so many. How about: "Mr. Frodo, I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you and it as well." The Lord of the Rings is one of my go-to books, and this line, deceptively simple, makes me cry every time. Ah, the majesty of the it, the honor, the love, the friendship... I just love it.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
This is a fabulous question. There is nothing more profoundly moving than the first discovery of an author's voice. It can hit you so hard and push all your buttons and surprise you. But you soon begin to take it for granted. Who would I most like to start over with? I guess I'd have to say J.R.R. Tolkien. Who wouldn't want to meet those characters all over again and be swept away, to Mordor and back again, on the tide of their epic, emotional journey?
Do you have a favorite of your own books?
Surprisingly, I am not one of those authors who falls head over heels in love with her own books. They are not like "children" to me and I do not ever have trouble letting them go. Quite the opposite, in fact. When I am finally finished with the lengthy--sometimes seemingly never ending--edits on a novel, I am thrilled to be done and move on. But two of my novels have had a surprising impact on me--they made me cry. And that is not an easy thing to do, not with my own work, anyway. I loved Winter Garden for the magnificent, exquisite hardships placed on my characters in World War II Leningrad, and I love Home Front. Perhaps I like Home Front most of all. In it, I have created a woman torn between love and honor, a woman on an epic journey, both to understand her own heart and to come home from war. I've never written a character as complex as Jolene, and I was surprised by how much I liked her and her story.