Daniel Radcliffe's Five Influential Books For Scholastics 'You Are What You Read' Campaign

Scholastic's latest campaign, You Are What You Read, encourages readers to create a list - or "bookprint" - of books that have left an "indelible mark on our lives, shaping who we are and who we've become."

A few notable names have shared their personal bookprint with Scholastic, including Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe. His picks include the classics The Old Man and the Sea and Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. And, of course, not to be left out: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone!

You can read Mr. Radcliffe's complete top five list below along with a short explanation for each of his choices:

1. The Old Man and the Sea
"I think the Old Man and Sea was probably the first book by a really classic author that I ever read, and it was then that I realized that things were classics for a reason, and they weren’t all just really, really, really hard work."


2. Germinal
"Germinal by Emile Zola was the first sort of longer and more European novel that I ever read, and I remember reading it in like five days. It’s a long book, and I’m a slow reader, but I just did nothing else."


3. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
"It was given to me on my 15th birthday by a friend, and I just thought it was the funniest thing I ever read and kind of amazing and captured the period of time brilliantly."


4. The Master and Margarita
"The Master and Margarita is my favorite, favorite book in the world ever by Mikhail. To me it’s the greatest exploration of the human imagination, and it’s about forgiveness and life and history, and it’s just the most incredible book that I’ve ever read; I read it once and then I read it almost immediately again."


5. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
"I think it’s fair to say that if we’re talking about the five books that have most influenced my life, I think it would be pretty churlish of me not to say Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone for giving me everything that I have and everything that I will have."

Other famous faces who have shared their bookprint with Scholastic include actress Sarah Jessica Parker, tennis player Serena Williams, and writer/director Richard Curtis.