Bibliofemme: Extras

World Book Day 3rd March 2005 - Author Favourites

So to get some ultimate recommendations we asked some of our favourite authors what their all-time favourite book is or a "if you had to pick one book to read..." choice.

This is what they told us:

Click on the author's name to jump to your favourite author's choice:

Northern Lights by Philip Pullman
There are so many books I try to press on people, but I tend to try to judge which one according to the person involved: for crime people, it's Ross Macdonald's The Chill, a near-perfect mystery novel in terms of plotting; for non-fiction types, maybe Ben Hamper's Rivethead (still one of the greatest, and funniest, books about working long hours in a rotten job) or F Gonzalez-Crussi's Notes of an Anatomist; in humour, perhaps Bruce Jay Friedman's The Lonely Guy's Guide to Life, or PG Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster books; and in short stories, Donald Barthelme's Forty Stories, or the collected Tobias Wolff, or perhaps the ghost stories of MR James. Then there are all those books that don't quite fit a category: Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridien; Hunter S Thompson's The Great Shark Hunt; ee cumming's six nonlectures...

Still, I've never given anyone the first part of Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy only to find out later that they didn't immediately go out and buy the second and third parts as soon as they'd finished the first. It's quite superb, and transcends that supposed division between writing for adults and children in a much deeper and more satisfying way than, say, JK Rowling's books. I think the trilogy is probably the greatest contribution to young people's literature in the last 25 years, and its ending came closer to moving me to tears than any book I've ever read. If you haven't read it, then do yourself a favour and try it. And if you have read it, do someone else a favour and give them a copy of Northern Lights.
John Connolly

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
I recommend Great Expectations by Charles Dickens because it seems to shine a light on every human emotion plus it's a great story (and as a free gift I'd throw our own Ulysses into the bag).
Frank Delaney

The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Tóibín
If I was marooned on a desert island with only one book it would have to be The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Tóibín. The reason is not because my great-great-grandmother was called Margaret Tobin (although she was), so I figure somewhere back far enough there's a connection, but because I'm in awe of the way he uses language. He pares down his prose to make every word count. Then there are the characters, three strong, occasionally pig-headed women - daughter, mother, grandmother - and the silences between them in which ambiguity and misunderstanding fester. Finally there is the topicality of the narrative, involving their brother/son/grandson's illness and impending death from HIV, which forces them to bridge their differences and cooperate. Colm Tóibín applies equal weight to those who are kin to us by blood and by friendship in the novel, and I like that. Family and friendship: it's what life is about. And I know I said finally already, but I'm a woman and I'm allowed to be inconsistent, so I have another finally. His evocative setting makes me want to re-visit Wexford every time I read it.
Martina Devlin

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
I've just reread Anna Karenina (having read it many years ago). I know it sounds a bit daunting at over 800 pages, but trust me! It's a stunning novel; complex, deep, passionate and full of wisdom. Tolstoy's understanding of the human condition is profound and his command of structure and narrative drive will keep you reading. And when you have finished, you'll miss those characters whom you've got to know so well and who have alternately fascinated, irritated and amused you.
Anne Donovan

Stoner by John Williams
No question about it my favourite read, ie the one I would have no bother returning to, would be a book called Stoner by John Williams. Set in the early 20th century in Missouri it is an exploration of the loneliness of one man's life. Beautifully written, I can't praise it enough and I envy anyone coming to it for the first time.
Hope you enjoy it.
Christine Dwyer Hickey

Silk by Alessandro Baricco
This is my favourite book at the moment. I think it's a good choice because it is not too long, so not too daunting for someone who doesn't read much...yet it is really well written and satisfying if you love literature.

This is a very short book, easily read in the space of a day, however it held me spell bound from first to last word. Set in the middle ages, it spans Europe and Japan, and is a love story with a very surprising twist. What is so unique about Silk is that the language is almost more hypnotic than the plot, not one word is wasted, each one finely crafted.

I found Silk an inspiring book as a writer. The author was completely free…neither dictated by norms of length, content or style. It is an exquisite novel and has the same impact on the senses as eating a small quantity of very, very fine food. So perfect that you only need a little to feel satisfied.
Noëlle Harrison

A Month in the Country by JL Carr
Whenever I read A Month in the Country I'm reminded that this is my ideal of a perfect novel: beautiful, short, delicate and moving. I often say that I write novels I wish I could read - but this is a novel I wish I had written.
Justin Hill

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
I read this when I was a teenager and it has remained with me as a big influence, like a personal movie in my head. Francois Trauffaut made a dull film of the book starring Oscar Werner but that is best ignored. Bradbury's novel (published in the sixties) is a stunning and extremely visual evocation of a future society where books are banned and considered dangerous. The hero Montag, is a fireman whose job is to hunt down illegal caches of books and burn them. Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which paper catches fire and burns. One day, Montag (out of curiosity) reads a book and his worldview changes. I still read the book once a year, and I usually find time to delve into Bradbury's other books, especially The Martian Chronicles, The Golden Apples of the Sun and Something Wicked This Way Comes (which was made into another crap film).

If I had to pick the works of my favourite authors for my desert island hideaway I'd include all of Bradbury's early books, almost everything by Alice Hoffman, Cormac McCarthy, Raymond Carver and Charles Bukowski as well as a mad novel called Car by an eccentric ex-marine, bareknuckle fighter, circus hand, barman and redneck university lecturer named Harry Crews (about a man who decides to eat a volkswagen in order to get famous). Then there's Ambrose Bierce, Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Twain...

Now see what you've started. I could go on, but I need to stop now before I lose the plot completely.
Ferdia Mac Anna

The Golf Ominbus by PG Wodehouse
PG Wodehouse: The Golf Omnibus. My comfort book, the one I read when I'm feeling low. He's a master of the English language and of comic writing. Who can resist the image of a useless Saturday morning golfer put off by the "sound of a butterfly's wings flapping in a distant meadow".
Sheila O'Flanagan

JD Salinger
Anything by JD Salinger. There's no ego in the writing, you don't stop to think, God, this is brilliant. Your heart is thumping along with the story. Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: an Introduction (Heinemann, 1963), is a good place to start.
Clare Sambrook

Reef by Romesh Gunesekera
A book I like to recommend is Reef by the Sri Lankan novelist Romesh Gunesekera. It's a kind of Sri Lankan Great Gatsby with an ecological twist. There's also some wonderful writing about food. It was shortlisted for the Booker in 1994 but got forgotten in the the furore which followed the announcement of Kelman as winner.
Alan Taylor

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
I first read Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind when I was about twelve. I fell head-over-heels in love with this lush, sweeping tale of the American Deep South and its wilful, resilient, tragically misguided heroine. When I was a student I would re-visit the novel for comfort after sitting exams: it was such a relief to simply read for pleasure rather than having to analyse and criticise text. I'm a great fan of the film, too: it's very faithful to the book, and there's a lovely story attached to the making of it. After a two-year-long search for the actress to play Scarlett, a virtually unknown Vivien Leigh turned up on the MGM back lot as they were shooting the burning of Atlanta. "Here's your Scarlett!" her agent told the producer. Die-hard fans may also want to read Margaret Mitchell's biography - The Road to Tara, by Anne Edwards (Coronet Books).

Book trivia: you'll be tickled to know that Scarlett's name in an early draft of the novel was Pansy O'Hara!
Kate Thompson

The Femmes would like to extend a big thank you to all of the above authors, whose support and contributions to this site have made our lives so much easier.

For more book recommendations have a look at our Pageturners and Bookmarked sections.

More about the Authors
An interview with Kate Thompson
An interview with John Connolly
An interview with Frank Delaney
An interview with Justin Hill
An interview with Noëlle Harrison
An interview with Christine Dwyer Hickey

Book Reviews
Nocturnes by John Connolly
Ireland: A Novel by Frank Delaney
At Ruby's by Frank Delaney
Temptation by Martina Devlin
Tatty by Christine Dwyer Hickey
Beatrice by Noëlle Harrison
Passing Under Heaven by Justin Hill
The Drink and Dream Teahouse by Justin Hill
Anyone But Him by Sheila O'Flanagan
Going Down by Kate Thompson
Living the Dream by Kate Thompson
Northern Lights by Jonathan Pullman - as recommended by John Connolly