Reading, Writing, Reading Some More

Now that I’m full swing into writing my novel with the Faber Writing Academy, I’m even busier than ever reading.

One of my favourite books about writing is Stephen King’s On Writing, where he says:

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.”

Stephen King

And whilst I’ve always been a keen reader, things have really ramped up now.

There’s always at least four different books on the go, and I’ve noticed that my subject matter falls into one of four different categories.

First up, no great surprise, are the books about writing. I’ve just finished listening to Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott, on Audible. Next up, is one I bought today, Dreyer’s English, An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style, by the utterly brilliant Benjamin Dreyer, long time copy chief of Random House.

Category 2 is like my pleasure zone (not that I don’t enjoy the other books I’m reading) But there’s a special joy in reading novels by amazing Australian authors. And the slightly embarrassing and not at all stalky fan girl in me loves it when I’ve got an author signed book to read. If I may clarify this by saying, that if I have a signed book, it’s usually because I’ve been to an author talk and been entertained, intrigued and engaged by the writer and their story. Also, I love how it takes me out of my regular zone and introduces me to new writers, local writers and genres that I don’t usually read.

Recent favourites include, but are not exclusive to, Burial Rites by Hannah Kent, Someone Else’s Child by Kylie Orr, Returning to Adelaide by Anne Freeman, The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding by Holly Ringland, and of course two of my absolute favourites from last year, The Dictionary of Lost Words, and The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams. I’m sure there are a heap I’ve left out. I’m currently engrossed in Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder by Kerryn Mayne. A book I started to read a while ago that was interrupted, but am so glad I’ve gone back to. In fact, even as I write this, I’m itching to go to bed and read more. And the great thing about newly published authors is that there’s usually a second book that follows very soon. Kerryn Mayne’s latest release is Joy Moody is Out of Time, and Kylie Orr is having great success with The Eleventh Floor.

Then there appears to be a category of classics. Which could be something that I’ve always meant to read but somehow missed, for instance Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – brilliant! Or books that are important to me that I’m rereading, currently Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut, which is equal parts completely nuts and incredibly insightful.

So that leaves Category 4. What should I call it? Booktok? Current bestsellers? What is everyone talking about? Hmmm. This is the most tricky category of all. Sometimes the What is Everyone Talking About category can be extremely disappointing, even painful in a literary sense. Like the time I thought I should read a CoHo book because “people” were saying it’s the best thing they have ever read. Obediently I read It Ends With Us by the TikTok sweetheart Colleen Hoover. OK, no, that’s not my jam. Awful, seriously dreadful. But I’m sure Ms Hoover has absolutely no concerns of my review as she laughs all the way to the big old Amazon bank. And I could list a whole lot of other “Best Sellers” that have left me wondering, and wanting.

But instead I’ll give you two beautifully crafted pieces of literary art. Babel by R.F. Kuang, which I found way more engrossing than her trending novel Yellowface. And the other is Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, who’s probably more well known for the recent Netflix adaptation of his book All the Light We Cannot See.

And that brings me to Category 5. Wait, what? You said there were four categories. And so I thought. But it turns out, when you are studying writing, there is a whole other sub category of amazing, beautiful writing that you’ve never heard of. Scribble that one down, oh and who was that? Ok scribble that down too. And on and on it goes. So many amazing books, written in so many different styles. So much to read, so much to learn, I cannot list them all, but may do in a separate blog.

Oops, did I mention my love of YA and middle school books?

Have you loved any of these books? What are you reading now?