What's Anne Rice reading?

For Halloween weekend, we spoke with Anne Rice from her home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Known for her Vampire Chronicles, the author has devoted much of the last four years focused on her conversion back to Catholicism, the religion of her youth. With the release of Angel Time, Rice, 68, marks a return to creating alluring, albeit creepy characters, in this case Toby O'Dare, a contract killer yearning for redemption and able to time travel back to 13th century England.

What is on your nightstand?

Right now I'm reading about Julienne of Norwich, the medieval mystic. I am thinking of using some of it in an upcoming novel.

I've read you don't read fiction. Why?

I find it hard to relax by reading fiction, but I love to read history. I love the strong narrative thread of history and the outpouring of facts.

What is a book that has been on a banned list that you hold in high regard?

Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita. What a wonderful novel. It was beautifully written in terms of literary style, and in its own way was a moral book.

Today is All Saints Day; what's your favorite saint story?

My favorite saint story is St. Francis of Assisi's. The legend that he made the very first nativity scene, and so many took inspiration from it. I also love that St. Francis was the first to receive the stigmata.

Piper Castillo, Times staff writer