I love reading. Ever since I can remember, I have had my face in a book. Libraries are some of my favourite places, but I also can’t go past a second-hand bookstore. There is something I get out of reading that no other activity can satisfy. The creation of internal worlds via words printed on a page has always seemed magical to me. The power of a book belies its unassuming exterior. The time I mainly read is before bed. I like to get in at least an hour a day. This level of reading for three decades has enabled me to read very fast, and yet still comprehend what I am looking at. Reading is definitely part of my nighttime routine and if I don’t do it, I feel completely out of whack. I read anything and everything, but here are my top five authors at this present time.
Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway is definitely in my top five. I have been in love with his writing since my teens. Yes, he is a misogynist, violently rejecting anything feminine, but his writing actually magnifies his vulnerability and I hear so much emotional pain and longing whenever I read him. It is a bizarre juxtaposition. My favourite books of his are “Fiesta (The Sun Also Rises)” and “The Old Man and The Sea.”
Stephen King
I am a horror fanatic, in movies, TV shows and books, and no one can write the genre better than Stephen King. His harnessing of the scary elements of everyday life is so effortless. The characters he creates, and the relationships between them, come to life so swiftly, that it only takes a couple of pages before I am whisked away. His writing is so well crafted that there are no missteps. My favourites of his are “The Shining” and “Needful Things” (although it kills me to whittle it down to two!).
John Updike
John Updike has such beautifully descriptive prose and painfully vulnerable characters. It is hard to describe his style, but his books always leave me with a feeling of awe at his ability to capture emotion in everyday stories. The way he describes sex is just amazing and incredibly unique. My favourites of his are “The Centaur” and “Men and Women.”
Mo Hayder
I came upon Mo Hayder by chance. I was reading another crime novel and her name was a suggested reading (“If you liked this book, you may also like…”). Her style is thrilling and intense, following incredibly horrific cases her detectives pick up. Her books, which I cannot stop thinking about are “Skin” and “Tokyo.”
Clive Barker
Finally, Clive Barker. An absolute horror mastermind with stories created in a complex and multidimensional world. His “Hellbound Heart” was the basis of the iconic “Hellraiser” franchise but many may not know his haunting and gripping style of story telling. One of the absolute masters of the genre, you must check out his “Books of Blood” including “The Midnight Meat Train.”
I cannot help but mention these authors who have had a lasting impact on me and are well worth the read: JG Ballard, Anais Nin, Gustav Flaubert, Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, Mary Shelley, Ian McEwan, George Orwell, Edgar Allen Poe, Truman Capote and Daphne du Maurier.
