Grab-Bag From A Writer’s Bookshelf
When writers have a book come out we tend to get asked about the books we like reading, or what books we consider have particularly influenced us, usually over time.
I tend to focus on Fantasy novels in my reply, because that’s what I write and with a new book out that’s very much the ‘focus’ of interviews and guest spots.
However, today I thought I’d take a “grab bag” from my writers bookshelf of books that I’ve particularly loved on first encounter and where the love affair has proved enduring.
Homer’s Iliad, for example, has held pride of place since I read my first children’s version, although it’s the adult edition, also very well-read, which now occupies the writer’s bookshelf.
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is another enduring favourite, as is Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina—and I will always feel a deep appreciation for JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, which has effectively benchmarked a genre.
The bookshelf also features books that speak to our humanity in a profound way, such as Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, or Aldous Huxley’s Eyeless in Gaza — as well as rare and delicate portrayals like Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book.
Yet these are still just a very few examples of books and writing I admire greatly.
But how about you, dear Friday readers—what would a grab-bag from your personal reading shelf contain?