Ruth Rendell Book Quotations

I can't exist without books.

Some say life is the thing, but I prefer reading.

My favourite book - 'The Good Soldier' by Ford Madox Ford, which I have read about 20 times - is different from my favourite author, who is Iris Murdoch. I find her books exciting and unputdownable. Her characters are so carefully studied and in-depth; I love that.

I never carry a notebook while walking around London. I just pick those things up. I'm very good at quizzes.

People do sometimes ask me some really idiotic questions: 'Is your husband afraid of you putting arsenic in his food?' I replied that I have never written a book about poison, ever.