Book Brahmin: Alyson Nöel

Since Alyson Nöel published her first novel, Faking 19, seven years ago, her books have consistently hit the bestseller lists, including the Riley Bloom series (begun with Radiance) and the Immortals series. Nöel said the idea for the Soul Seekers series, which launches with Fated (reviewed in this issue), grew out of the research she did for the Immortals. "I read a lot of books on metaphysics and ancient lore and legend, and noticed how often themes of Shamanism cropped up," she explained. Born and raised in Orange County, Calif., Nöel has lived in both Mykonos and Manhattan, and is now back in Southern California, where she's working on her next book.

On your nightstand now:

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (have read), The Eagle's Gift by Carlos Castaneda (am reading), The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman (will read).

Favorite book when you were a child:

It's a tie between Harold and the Purple Crayon and Charlotte's Web.

Your top five authors:

I love too many authors, for too many reasons, to ever try to rank them. So here are five random authors that I really like: J.D. Salinger, Dennis Lehane, Emma Donoghue, Emily Brontë, David Sedaris.

Book you've faked reading:

My high school calculus textbook. Sadly, I will never know how it ended.

Book you're an evangelist for:

This is forever changing, but this week it's Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. I recently rediscovered it and found it even more amazing on the second read.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Life by Keith Richards. It was love at first sight!

Book that changed your life:

Judy Blume's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. When I first read it at age 12, it rocked my world. It's the book that made me want to be a writer.

Favorite line from a book:

Will a paragraph work? This is from Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's:

"Never love a wild thing... That was Doc's mistake. He was always lugging home wild things. A hawk with a hurt wing. One time it was a full-grown bobcat with a broken leg. But you can't give your heart to a wild thing: the more you do, the stronger they get. Until they're strong enough to run into the woods. Or fly into a tree. Then a taller tree. Then the sky. That's how you'll end up....If you let yourself love a wild thing. You'll end up looking at the sky."

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. Now that I know about the major plot twist, I can never read it the same way again.

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