{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","contentId":"00000174-7cda-d5ee-a77e-ffdf6a8c0002","url":"https://www.aboutamazon.in/news/books-and-authors/ten-questions-with-lisa-ray","headline":"Ten questions with Lisa Ray","description":"Actor, author, philanthropist Lisa Ray on reading, writing and her favourite books.","datePublished":"2020-09-14T05:14:42.720Z","dateModified":"2020-09-14T05:14:42.720Z","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amazon Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/08549ff/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1125x1125+438+0/resize/84x84!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F47%2F6d%2F7fe296e642859c7ba2a629eda3ba%2Famazon-logo-hero-images-2024.jpg","width":"84","height":"84"}}],"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/fec4d04/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4053x2702+0+298/resize/300x200!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F95%2F63%2F2ff27f534a9b94b6d9482a92ccc8%2Fimage-1.jpg","width":"300","height":"200"},"articleBody":"![Ten questions with Lisa Ray](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/fec4d04/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4053x2702+0+298/resize/300x200!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F95%2F63%2F2ff27f534a9b94b6d9482a92ccc8%2Fimage-1.jpg)\n\n# Ten questions with Lisa Ray\n\n*Actor, author, philanthropist Lisa Ray on reading, writing and her favourite books. *\n\n**1. What is your favourite genre to read?**\nFiction; and within fiction, I’m a promiscuous reader.\n\n**2. What was the first book that you read?** \nI’m quite sure it was Roald Dahl- something a bit dark and ironic like *[The Twits](https://www.amazon.in/The-Twits/dp/B079X22N4Z/ref=adbl_mag)*[.](https://www.amazon.in/The-Twits/dp/B079X22N4Z/ref=adbl_mag)\n\n**3. What book are you reading currently?** \nI’m always reading quite a few books simultaneously. Currently, I'm reading:\n*[Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line](https://www.amazon.in/Djinn-Patrol-Purple-Line/dp/B07ZRN4V4D/ref=adbl_mag)* by Deepa Anappara- *[Normal People](https://www.amazon.in/Normal-People/dp/B07FNW9Q4J/ref=adbl_mag)* by Sally Rooney- *[Such a Fun Age](https://www.amazon.in/Such-a-Fun-Age/dp/B082VLWVVB/ref=adbl_mag)* by Kiley Reid- *[The Twice-Born](https://www.amazon.in/Twice-Born-Life-Death-Ganges/dp/B07NWWCRDN/ref=adbl_mag)* by Aatish Taseer\n\n**4. What books can be found on your nightstand?** \nNormally books that deal with spirituality and Buddhism. My husband has recently been introduced to Nicheren Buddhism, so I’ve been flipping through his copy of *Happiness* by Daisaku Ikeda, but my favoured masters are [Osho](https://www.amazon.in/s?k=Osho&i=audible&ref=adbl_mag) and [Jack Kornfield](https://www.amazon.in/s?k=Jack+Kornfield&i=audible&ref=adbl_mag). And Pema Chodron’s *[When Things Fall Apart](https://www.amazon.in/When-Things-Fall-Apart-Difficult/dp/B077VTTBDB/ref=adbl_mag)* is an absolute classic that should be returned to again and again.\n\n**5. One great writer/ novelist that you admire the most?**\nI’m really hard pressed to answer that, but the first that comes to mind is my beloved [Pico Iyer](https://www.amazon.in/The-Man-Within-My-Head/dp/B07JFG4LMK/ref=adbl_mag). There’s something spiritual in his prose that I can’t put my finger on. He has such a fine catalogue of work to chose from.\n\n**6. One book you would choose to be stuck with on a deserted island?**\nAnother truly unfair question, but I’d go with *[Midnight’s Children](https://www.amazon.in/Midnights-Children/dp/B07FSTN1S6/ref=adbl_mag)* by Salman Rushdie. And inside *Midnight’s Children* would be a copy of the *Old Man and the Se*a by Ernest Hemingway. Two opposite ends of the spectrum, literature wise. If my kids were with me, it would be different: *Conscious Parenting* by Shefali Tsabary and the *Collected Works of Ramana Maharishi* to give me perspective.\n\n**7. What is the one book you wish you had written?**\nI have two: *[Educated](https://www.amazon.in/Educated/dp/B079BZLK52/ref=adbl_mag)* by Tara Westover and *Less* by Andrew Sean Greer.\n\n**8. What was the last book that made you cry/emotional?**\nI’d say *[The Far Field](https://www.amazon.in/The-Far-Field-A-Novel/dp/B07LCQLDQX/ref=adbl_mag)* by Madhuri Vijay.\n\n**9. If you had a book club, what would it be reading- and why?**\nHonestly, I’m a magpie, I gravitate towards all sorts of fiction. A book club is great when you are exposed to books one normally would not read. I would probably be a pusher though: [Deborah Levy](https://www.amazon.in/s?k=Deborah+Levy&i=audible&ref=adbl_mag), [Rachel Cusk](https://www.amazon.in/s?k=Rachel+Cusk&i=audible&ref=adbl_mag) and [Jeanette Winterson](https://www.amazon.in/s?k=Jeanette+Winterson&i=audible&ref=adbl_mag) are my go to writers, who are still prolific.\n\n**10. What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?**\nIf you are not writing everyday, or thinking of writing, or reading obsessively, find something else to do. If you are- you’re a writer and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.\n\n![](https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/f807323/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1721x1721+0+0/resize/767x767!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2F50%2F34%2Fb84f5756489d923e8cc88269b803%2Fb085gkpytq.01-11764279125.RMXXXXXX.jpg)\n\nLisa's latest book***[Close to the Bone](https://www.amazon.in/Close-to-the-Bone/dp/B085GL9389/ref=adbl_mag)*** is an unflinching, deeply moving account of her life, tracing her childhood in Canada as the biracial daughter of an Indian man and a Polish woman, her rise as a popular Bollywood star and her battle with a rare, incurable cancer. At once funny, charming and gut-wrenchingly honest, *Close to the Bone* is Lisa Ray's brave and inspiring story of a life lived on her own terms.","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"About Amazon","url":"https://www.aboutamazon.com","sameAs":["https://x.com/amazonnews","https://www.linkedin.com/company/amazon","https://www.instagram.com/amazonnews"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://assets.aboutamazon.com/bd/8f/88e7b0314cc2bd05b9de3155a0fe/amazon-news.svg"},"parentOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Amazon","url":"https://www.amazon.com","sameAs":["https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3884","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(company)","https://x.com/Amazon"]}}}