Brandon Mull's debut series, Fablehaven, hit the bestseller lists and put him on the map. As he puts it, that world, set in a hidden nature refuge called Fablehaven, is "mostly populated by creatures we've heard of before--magical creatures with another spin, with my own rules about how they interact." But in Beyonders, he creates entirely new permutations of the human species. Here he discusses the books that have shaped him as reader and writer. Mull lives in Utah with his wife, Mary, his "first editor."
On your nightstand now:
The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.
Favorite book when you were a child:
The Chronicles of Narnia.
Your top five authors:
C.S. Lewis (The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe made me into a reader); J.R.R. Tolkien (hooked me forever on fantasy); J.K. Rowling (led me into the category where I currently write); Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game was my favorite book in high school); and J.D. Salinger (The Catcher in the Rye was my favorite mandatory read in school).
Book you've faked reading:
The Scarlet Letter (I skimmed enough to pass the test).
Book you are an evangelist for:
Ender's Game (especially for reluctant reader teen boys).
Book you've bought for the cover:
The Graveyard Book.
Book that changed your life:
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. It didn't turn me into an objectivist, but I connected strongly to much of what I read.
Favorite line from a book:
"The clerk smiled like he'd learned how from a book." --Terry Pratchett (might be a paraphrase, I think it was from Mort).
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
The Lord of the Rings.