JK Rowling has a new interview with the New York Times and Scholastic, and in them she answers a series of questions about her taste in books, what were her favorite books that she’s written, and her favorite books as a child.
When asked if there are any literary genres that she ‘can’t be bothered with’, she says, “Can’t be bothered with” isn’t a phrase I’d use, because my reading tastes are pretty catholic. I don’t read “chick lit,” fantasy or science fiction but I’ll give any book a chance if it’s lying there and I’ve got half an hour to kill. With all of their benefits, and there are many, one of the things I regret about e-books is that they have taken away the necessity of trawling foreign bookshops or the shelves of holiday houses to find something to read. I’ve come across gems and stinkers that way, and both can be fun.” This seem rather odd, considering that Harry Potter pretty much re-invented the children’s fantasy genre.
She also lists her favorite books as a child: “The Little White Horse,” by Elizabeth Goudge; “Little Women,” by Louisa May Alcott; “Manxmouse,” by Paul Gallico; everything by Noel Streatfeild; everything by E. Nesbit; “Black Beauty,” by Anna Sewell (indeed, anything with a horse in it).”
She does add that her three favorite books that she’s written were split three ways by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and the Casual Vacancy.
