An Italian bookworm who used his position in the industry to swipe hundreds of unpublished manuscripts claimed in court papers Friday that he pulled off the ruse because he wanted to read books before they hit stores. 

Book manuscript thief Filippo Bernardini, 30, pleaded guilty in January to one count of wire fraud for stealing the manuscripts, including titles written by Margaret Atwood, Ethan Hawke and Ian McEwan, from 2016 through 2022.