• Motto

Amy Schumer Loves Gloria Steinem and Eloise, Hates ‘Fifty Shades’

2 minute read

Amy Schumer gave The New York Times a peek at her reader’s brain, and it’s unsurprisingly stocked with books by strong women.

Schumer told the Times that Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train and Gloria Steinem’s My Life on the Road currently live on her night stand. Schumer makes it clear she has a soft spot for Steinem. (For the record, the feeling’s mutual. Steinem told TIME last year that Schumer’s film, Trainwreck, was one of her favorites.)

Follow Motto on Facebook.

“I have read many of Gloria Steinem’s books, and I admire her greatly. I am now lucky enough to call her a friend,” she said. “Spending time with her is such a thrill, because for years, my fellow female comic friends and I have been texting each other Gloria quotes to comfort one another while we’re out on the road.”

Schumer grew up reading stories featuring female protagonists. She said that her favorite childhood books included Nancy Drew and The Baby-Sitters Club series, but that her “absolute favorite was and still is” Kay Thompson’s Eloise.

She shows no real respect for authority or the status quo. She marches to her own beat,” Schumer said, “Several years back, my sister commissioned someone on Etsy to put me in an Eloise picture, and it’s my prize possession.”

But one book Schumer can’t stand? Fifty Shades of Grey.

“I only made it three pages in,” she said. “I loved the movie, though, and have watched it several times.”

More Must-Reads From TIME

Write to Samantha Cooney at samantha.cooney@time.com