MY SIX BEST BOOKS
EMMA DONOGHUE, 47, is the award-winning author of the novel Room. Her screenplay for the film was nominated for an Academy Award. Her other novels include The Wonder and Frog Music. The stage production of Room is at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in London until tomorrow, then at Dundee Rep from June 13-17. AFFINITY
by Sarah Waters
Little, Brown £8.99 I love all her books and I read this cover to cover on a night flight. It’s set in a women’s prison in Victorian London. It’s a conversational duel between a prisoner and a lady visitor. The end had me cursing myself that I hadn’t paid more attention so I went back and found all the signs that I’d ignored. FLAUBERT’S PARROT
by Julian Barnes
Vintage, £8.99 Barnes manages to be erudite but extremely funny too. This is about the hapless task of being a biographer. You never know what Barnes is going to do next and I admire that. WORTH DYING FOR
by Lee Child
Transworld, £7.99 This series is my greatest pleasure. In this the entire plot happens because Jack Reacher sees a woman in a bar and makes a smart guess that she has been battered by her husband.
I love the way his character is taciturn and macho but with an almost medieval sense of honour. A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING
by Bill Bryson
Black Swan, £9.99 Bryson is known for his travel stuff which is hilarious.
This is his history of science and he has an infectious enthusiasm for not just the theories and discoveries but the oddball people who often came up with them. THE STONE DIARIES
by Carol Shields
World Editions, £9.99 This is about a very ordinary person but Shields uses all sorts of techniques to show the nitty-gritty of her life in such a way that you’re riveted. It makes her seem important. I burst into tears on a train reading it. A THOUSAND ACRES
by Jane Smiley
Harper, £8.99 A modern story of an American family dividing up their farm, inspired by King Lear. It’s gripping.
Smiley has enormous range. I try to model myself on writers such as her. It means you have to reinvent yourself with each book but that’s good.