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# Ten questions with Lisa Ray

*Actor, author, philanthropist Lisa Ray on reading, writing and her favourite books. *

**1. What is your favourite genre to read?**
Fiction; and within fiction, I’m a promiscuous reader.

**2. What was the first book that you read?** 
I’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)

**3. What book are you reading currently?** 
I’m always reading quite a few books simultaneously. Currently, I'm reading:
*[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

**4. What books can be found on your nightstand?** 
Normally 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.

**5. One great writer/ novelist that you admire the most?**
I’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.

**6. One book you would choose to be stuck with on a deserted island?**
Another 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.

**7. What is the one book you wish you had written?**
I have two: *[Educated](https://www.amazon.in/Educated/dp/B079BZLK52/ref=adbl_mag)* by Tara Westover and *Less* by Andrew Sean Greer.

**8. What was the last book that made you cry/emotional?**
I’d say *[The Far Field](https://www.amazon.in/The-Far-Field-A-Novel/dp/B07LCQLDQX/ref=adbl_mag)* by Madhuri Vijay.

**9. If you had a book club, what would it be reading- and why?**
Honestly, 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.

**10. What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?**
If 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.

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Lisa'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.