What Writers Read

When you hear that an author has sold more than seven million books, a number of thoughts come to mind. Ideas about money, fame, perhaps artistic gratification. You probably don’t imagine the author in question turning into a nervous wreck upon meeting her peers. Funny, how easily we forget that most people who are drawn to the writing life started out as passionate fans.

Camilla Läckberg published her first novel, The Ice Princess, in 2003. Since then, in her native Sweden, Läckberg has returned again and again to the bestseller list, penning a shelf of crime novels, a cookbook, and just this month a story for children. Now, finally, eight years after the debut (and thirty-four countries of publication later), her books have come to America, with The Ice Princess leading the way. [click to comment]

Anthony Doerr geeks out over two books that inspired him to write, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy and The Diary of Anne Frank. [click to comment]

Sloane Crosley: Lit Crush

August 5, 2010

Sloane Crosley’s reading list includes several books you’ve been hearing about: the forthcoming Franzen novel (Freedom), the new Shteyngart (Super Sad True Love Story), Jonathan Lethem in paperback (Chronic City) and a sequel of sorts by Bret Easton Ellis (Imperial Bedrooms). But she reserves her true excitement for “a dark, little Canadian pellet” whose new book comes out this fall. [click to comment]

Says Bender: “Books should help you be a person, right? That’s what a book, I think, hopefully, ideally could do. All these books in some way, in some underground way, are guides.”

Subscribe to ReadRollShow using the form on the right and you could win a signed first edition of Aimee’s new novel, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake! [click to comment]

We always wind up asking about favorite books. Authors on book tour are relieved to get out of the spotlight and talk about somebody else’s writing for a change. They often sound more confident. They don’t lack opinions. And they’ve read a whole lot.

Not asking would be a little like going to the dentist and not asking about your teeth.

So we decided to make it a series: What Writers Read.

Brady Udall calls out Plainsong, Kent Haruf’s 1999 novel, a National Book Award finalist. [click to comment]