I love the current Waterstones author promotion. They've asked some authors (Nick Hornby and Kate Mosse so far) to list 40 books that inspired them, and have arranged them together on a table in their shops.
One of the best bits of being in a book group is getting excellent recommendations of what to read, and these lists are very inspiring.
Here's Nick Hornby's Waterstones list:
1. Field Notes From a Catastrophe by Elizabeth Kolbert
Kolbert talks to the scientists who really know what’s going on with our planet, and her conclusions are devastating. A scrupulous, elegant, frightening book.
2. Samaritan by Richard Price
All of Richard Price’s novels are brilliantly plotted and utterly convincing. This is as gripping as his best, with an ethical dimension thrown in for nothing.
3. Brilliant Orange by David Winner
A clever, erudite, imaginative book about… football. Yes, it can be done, but you have to be as original a thinker as David Winner.
4. This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff
Funny, moving and entirely without self-pity, this book taught a whole generation of writers how to approach autobiography.
5. Sweet Soul Music by Peter Guralnick
This was one of the all-time top five favourites of Rob Fleming, narrator of High Fidelity, and if it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me. Definitive.
Click here to see the rest of the list.
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