A fellow Perth short story writer, Laurie Steed, sent me a meme. I'm not going to add specific names - I'm happy to hear everyone's thoughts on reading.
What are you reading right now?
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
Dangerous
Women an anthology ed. by Geroge RR Martin and Gardner Dozois
The Neanderthals Rediscovered: How Modern Science is Rewriting Their Story by Dimitra Papgianni & Michale A. Morse
Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done
with that?
The Pure Gold Baby by Margaret
Drabble for my book club and then Falconer by John Cheever.
What five books have you always wanted to read but
haven’t got round to?
There’s hundreds on my random
'must-read' shelves. I suppose the extended 'five' whose numbers I’ve always wanted to come
up of late are:
The Prestige by Christopher
Priest
Great Apes by Will Self
The Iron Heel by Jack London
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
Tallula Rising by
Glen Duncan
Assymetry by Throraiya Dyer
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Dr Rat by William Kotzwinkle
Yellowcake Springs by Guy Salvidge
George Saunders' Pastoralia
The Australian Movement by George
Megalogenis.
I’ll confess that Karen
Russell and George RR Martin are two writers whose work leapfrogs the random
reading list everytime.
What magazines do you have in your bathroom/ lounge
right now?
I currently subscribe to Overland Literary Journal, One Story (a great concept) and Meanjin.
I also have a myriad of
other literary journals lying around or on the shelves. These
include many from: Griffith Review, The New Yorker, Tin House, Zoetrope:
All Story, Granta, Island Magazine, Southerly and Ploughshares. And for the genre binge I’ve got a few Magazine of F &SF, ASIM and old
print editions of Aurealis Magazine. These
are all a wonderful byproduct of mad buying and very generous writerly friends.
I always have National Geographic and an Australian Geographic lying about too.
National Geographic and Overland Literary Journal are the actual two on
the coffee table at present.
I have to admit that I'm dismayed by the rise of electronic fiction. I understand that it's complicated and relates to business prophet margins but as soon as a journal goes solely electronic, I stop reading it - whether it's quality fiction or not.
What’s the worst book you’ve ever read?
It's only been over the past few years that I’ve learned to surrender books which I really dislike. Worst that I’ve read
to completion recently has to be The Girl
with the Dragon Tattoo. I know, I
know, super popular. How could you?!
It just plateaus completely for me. When I say 'plateau', I mean like leveled concrete, same colour
too.
What book seemed really popular but you didn’t like?
As just mentioned The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Didn’t
finish Love in a Cold Climate either…
What’s the one book you always recommend to just about
everyone?
So many! One is a strange
concept:
Let's see for a classic
American novel: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
The Fan Man by William Kotzwinkle. If you don’t mind comedy and political
incorrectness.
The Song of Ice and Fire Series (Game of Thrones) by George RR Martin, if you want a fantastic, epic
story.
LOTR by JRR Tolkien, simply because it’s superb in its richness, world building and uniqueness.
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole for a rich, comical,
literary masterpiece.
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson for a great Victorian
novella.
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. Wonderful work.
Freedom and Death by Nikos Kazantzakis, a much forgotten and
seriously underrated writer at his best here. When Albert Camus was awarded the Nobel
Prize he proclaimed that Kazantzakis deserved it more.
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene. Simply
outstanding.
Captain Correlli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières for a novel that has it all
in terms of narrative.
Bluebeard, Timequake, and God Bless You, Mr Rosewater by Kurt
Vonnegut (along with many others)
Short stories:
The Locus Awards: Thirty Years of the Best in Science Fiction & Fantasy ed. Jonathan Strahan & Charles N. Brown
Almost anything and
everything by Richard Yates, John Cheever, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Karen Russell.
Joyce Carol Oates for a
lesson in narrative craft
Will Self if you’re after OTT ostentatious satire
Where do you usually get your books?
Love supporting independent stores. The following Perth bookstores may confuse interstate and overseas readers: I think I'm the backbone for sales at Northside Books on
William St and Planet Books on Beaufort. Crow Books, if I’m in the area, and New
Edition in Freo. Stefen's Books also does very well out of me. White Dwarf and Oxford Books too.
When you were little, did you have any particular
reading habits?
The
laboratory/dunny/toilet, bed, sofa, dining table, you name the place, even managed
the shower once or twice...
Never really read during
school hours though.
What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night
reading because it was too good to put down?
Always George RR Martin. Stayed up with Burial Rites by Hannah Kent too.
Have you ever “faked” reading a book?
Think I fake-finished a couple
to impress when I was younger. Don’t see the point now.
Have you ever bought a book just because you liked the
cover?
As a teen, binging on
fantasy? Of course
What was your favourite book when you were a child?
How much space do we have
here? Tolkien’s The Hobbit and LOTR were fab. I adored Roald Dahl’s
novels too. Asterix comics too - what a Gaul!
What book changed your life?
Wish I could say that they
did. I suppose I dreamed of mountainous sword adventures in primary school?
Hang on a tic, I’m a
writer, so if I really take ‘reflection’ to an extreme, I’d say that they all
have and still do.
What is your favourite passage from a book?
It’s like asking you to
choose a favourite member of the family.
Who are your top five favourite authors?
ATM, this is my long five…
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Graham Greene
JRR Tolkien
George RR Martin
Karen Russell
Richard Yates
Joyce Carol Oates (short
stories)
Kurt Vonnegut
John Cheever
What book has no one heard about but should read?
Depends on your hearing.
Think that in Australian
Independent Spec-Fic there are some great collections and anthologies from Ticonderoga Publications, Twelfth Planet
Press and Fablecroft - all Publishing Houses that are deservedly getting some
real notice from elite level critics as well as winning (or being finalists for) The Aurealis Awards on a regular basis.
What books are you an ‘evangelist’ for?
Anything on the favourite
list.
What are your favourite books by a first time author?
A Confederacy of Dunces. From recollection, John Kennedy Toole's first
and only novel was published posthumously
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. Beautiful debut.
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. As long as you forget about
the icicle scene.
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell as a novel, and her collection, St Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Girls is incredible. One of my all time favourites.
What is your favourite classic book?
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stephenson
Five other notable mentions?
Not classics, just mentions
in general. I’m a rule breaker:
Seahearts by Margo Lanagan
The Quiet
American and The
Confidential Agent by Graham Greene (as well as a host of others by Greene)
The Road by Cormac McArthy
Adult
short stories of Ursula Le Guin .
Tobias
Wolf
Roald Dahl’s
twists are often seen as dated but I still love them, same applies for Kurt Vonnegut
Sherman
Alexie
George
Saunders.
Michael
Swanwick’s short stories
Nalo
Hopkinson’s short work too. Looking forward to reading her longer work.
I've read two
short stories now by the Australian writer, Ryan O’Neil: “Four Letter Words”
and “R and L" and I’ve been impressed.
And in
Australian spec-fic, Margo Lanagan aside, the few stories that I’ve read by Lisa L. Hannett, Deborah Biancotti and Angela Slatter have been fabulous. I’m also looking
forward to reading more from Faith Mudge, who has a real talent for fluid storytelling so it will be interesting following her writing journey.
I’d add
my writing group here too… All are doing very well at present but that just
seems in poor taste and they know who they are.
"Submerging" in Overland Journal 214, Autumn can be ordered here: http://overland.org.au/shop/ 
Currently Reading: Just finished The Pure Gold Baby by Margaret Drabble. The ideas, commentary on society, and Drabble's rhythm, all
scintillate. Its pitfall, however, is the distant narrative voice (distant from the story rather than cold and distant), which fails to
captivate for the novel's entirety. It does, however, work superbly in patches. 
I'm also reading Dangerous Women ed. George RR Martin & Gardner Dozois. It's a compilation of stories and novellas with some real meat on them. Some standouts so far include: Joe Abercrombie's "Some Desperado", which is an action-packed Western with superb prose. After being slightly disappointed by Queenpin, Megan Abbott shows more than just the goods here with a wonderfully structured story that few writers could execute in the brilliant and psychologically intricate "My Heart is Either Broken". "Wrestling Jesus" by Lawrence Block is a fun story of rugged 'old-school' masculinity. "Neighbors" by Megan Lindholm is easily the best story exploring issues relating to dementia that I've ever read and "Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell" is my first introduction to Brandon Sanderson and it's a pleasant surprise. More highlights to come. 
