What do writers read?

Wondering what to pack for your holiday reading? Take inspiration from some of our favourite authors, says HANNAH STEPHENSON

2022-07-27 -

WE asked six top authors – who themselves have new books out this summer and autumn – to share what they’re most looking forward to reading this summer.

With mystery, drama and thought-provoking non-fiction in the mix, could one of these inspire your next holiday read?

LISA JEWELL

The award-winning female-fictionturned-thriller writer says: “My eyes keep going to my reading pile and falling on the same three books that I am absolutely desperate to read but am saving for my holidays in August and the suspense is killing me! The first is Ocean State by Stewart O’Nan (Grove Press UK, £14.99). It’s the story of sisters, Angel and Marie, and the desperate childhood secret that haunts them.

“Next is Nonfiction by Julie Myerson

(Corsair, £16.99). She has written across many genres and is uniformly brilliant in all of them. It’s a fictional story about a mother dealing with her daughter’s drug addiction, loosely based on Julie’s own welldocumented struggles with her oldest son many years ago. Her writing is both beautiful and addictive.

“Lastly is Sun Damage by Sabine Durrant (Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99), who has written some of my favourite books of all time, including Lie With Me and Finders Keepers. This is a mystery suspense novel about a group of friends sharing a villa in the South of France, with, unbeknown to them, a criminal in their midst.”

The Family Remains

By Lisa Jewell, Century, £16.99

ANTHONY HOROWITZ

The prolific novelist, screenwriter and creator of the Alex Rider teen spy series says: “I’ve become a huge fan of Japanese murder mystery, which really pushes the envelope when it comes to bizarre, fiendishly complicated plots filled with mind-boggling clues – and all credit to Pushkin Press who are leading the way with handsome editions of mysteries you won’t find anywhere else.

“The latest to arrive on my desk is

Death On Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo (Pushkin Vertigo, £8.99 paperback).

Lots of gruesome murders with all the characters trapped on an island. Perfect summer fun.

“Alias Emma by Ava Glass (Century,

£14.99, out August 4) is a non-stop adventure with all the action taking place within a 24-hour period. It’s got a terrific lead character in Emma Makepeace, a young spy in a covert department where nobody is to be trusted.

“It’s all tremendous fun and I suspect this is going to be a major, long-running series.”

The Twist Of A Knife

By Anthony Horowitz, Century £20 (out on August 18)

MIKE GAYLE

The bestselling writer of touching, humorous and uplifting stories says: “This year, I’m hoping to do all my holiday reading by the pool of the apartment we’ll be staying at in Portugal. Rather than stick to one genre, I like a mixture of books, so there’s no chance of getting bored. I love a good domestic thriller and they don’t get better than those written by Lisa Jewell.

“Her latest, The Family Remains (Century, £16.99), is a sequel to her recent mega hit The Family Upstairs, and I can’t wait to see where she takes the story next.

“As a bit of contrast, I’m also looking forward to reading Preventable by Devi Sridhar (Viking, £20). Sridhar is chair of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh and her book, subtitled, How A Pandemic Changed The World & How To Stop The Next One, is a comprehensive and readable look at the Covid crisis.

“My last choice is The Answer To

Everything by Luke Kennard (Fourth Estate,

£8.99). I enjoyed the poet and academic’s previous novel The Transition immensely, and I’m really looking forward to discovering what he’ll do with this tale of an ordinary couple who have their lives turned upside-down by the arrival of new neighbours.”

The Museum Of Ordinary People

By Mike Gayle, Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99

JOHN CONNOLLY

The Irish writer, best known for his Charlie Parker series, says: “I’m about to begin the second year of my doctorate, so much of my reading is based around that. But I’ve set aside a couple of books, mostly non-fiction, as summer diversions, the first of them with slightly mixed feelings.

“James Lee Burke’s new novel,

Every Cloak Rolled In Blood (Orion,

£20) draws upon the sudden death of his daughter Pamala in July 2020. I knew Pamala, and liked her a great deal, so exploring her father’s sense of bereavement through one of his fictional counterparts will be an intimate, affecting experience, I think.

“I love books on music, although for a long time this tended to be a largely male preserve, but that’s changing. I’ve been familiar with Jude Rogers’ magazine work for many years, so I’m looking forward to her memoir-cum-inquiry, The Sound Of Being Human: How Music Shapes Our Lives (White Rabbit, £16.99).

“Finally, film volumes are my other weakness, so I’ll be spending time with Carry On Regardless (White Owl, £20), Caroline Frost’s history of the Carry On series, because the actors involved were such a curious, sometimes troubled bunch. As for where I’ll be reading these books, well, with two elderly dogs to look after, it’ll probably be at home, for the most part. But I could be in worse company, in both canine and literary terms.”

The Furies

By John Connolly, Hodder & Stoughton, £20

FERN BRITTON

The Cornwallbased bestselling novelist and broadcaster says: “I’ll be spending summer in the back garden in Cornwall, going down to the beach for a swim in the early evening and then back for supper. I’ll be doing my summer reading here.

“I’ll be reading three thrillers –

The Paper Palace, by Miranda Cowley Heller (Penguin, £8.99 paperback), about a family who have a house in Cape Cod and this girl goes there every summer. While in the pool she has a moment of remembering a lost love.

“The Haven by Amanda Jennings (HQ,

£14.99) is another one which caught my eye as it’s set in Cornwall – about a couple who leave everything behind to join a group living in a tumbledown farm on Bodmin Moor, then this idyllic life with all its characters starts to unravel.

“The Ocean Liner by Marius Gabriel (Lake Union Publishing, £4.99), with its lovely art deco cover, is the story of people escaping Germany in the Second World War, who board a liner to New York and a happy life. But of course, we know the Atlantic was full of German U-boats.”

The Good Servant

By Fern Britton, HarperCollins, £14.99

JOHN BOYNE

The bestselling author of The

Boy In The Striped Pyjamas says: “I’m taking a copy of Aingeala Flannery’s debut novel The

Amusements (Sandycove, £12.99) with me to France this week. “Having spent most of my childhood summers in seaside towns on the south coast of Ireland, I expect this is going to bring back memories of those glorious days, and with jacket endorsements from the likes of Anne Enright and Donal Ryan, it’s sure to be a valuable read.

“I was a great admirer of Emilie Pine’s essay collection Notes To Self, so I have high hopes for Ruth &

Pen (Hamish Hamilton, £14.99), a novel that charts the story of a middleaged woman and a teenage girl over a single day in Dublin. (A female counterpoint to James Joyce’s Ulysses, perhaps?) Pine is known for the authenticity and vulnerability of her writing, and I’m intrigued to see how she makes the leap from non-fiction to fiction.

“Finally, Ross Raisin publishes A

Hunger (Jonathan Cape, £16.99, out August 4).

Raisin’s three earlier novels were outstanding so this, which features a cook in crisis, is probably the book I’m most looking forward to over the months ahead.

“I spend a lot of time in Lausanne, Switzerland, these days, and I’m planning on reading this on the sunny banks of Lake Geneva.”