Sadly, Ms Pick is leaving St Paul's at the end of this term, but she very kindly paused in the middle of packing up all her books to answer the book blog's questions:

Q: What were you reading when you were a teenager?
 A: Harry Potter and the His Dark Materials trilogy were the favourites.

Q: What are you planning to read this Christmas?
A: I’ve got a stack building up, but top of the pile for fiction is A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. For non-fiction, Other Minds: the Octopus, the Sea and the Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godfrey-Smith – which is a wonderful combination of philosophy and octopuses.

Q: What/who is your all-time favourite book/writer?
A: This is a tough one. I loved The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, and also loved The Secret History by her. So perhaps, Donna Tartt.

Q: Who’s your favourite fictional character?
A: Hmm… Matilda!

Q: Do you have a favourite word/favourite line from a book?
A: 'All was well'. The last sentence of the Harry Potter series.

Q: If you had to recommend one book that everyone should read, what would it be?
A: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It gives a beautiful insight into a part of the world that is often misunderstood.

Many thanks to Ms Pick for taking the time to answer the blog's questions, and best wishes for the future beyond SPS!