What do your favourite authors read?
You may be picking up the new novel by your favourite bestselling writer this summer, but what will they be poring over? Hannah Stephenson takes a sneak peak at some top authors’ holiday reading lists
A good read is a suitcase essential. But as you scan the shelves for books to take on your summer holiday, don’t just look out for your favourite authors’ names – why not take inspiration from what they’ll be reading too?
JACKIE COLLINS
Queen of the raunchy read Collins, says: “I will be going to the Bahamas for a summer vacation and staying at the fabulous Ocean Club with white sandy beaches and azure seas. I like to go there because I can write on my balcony overlooking the ocean and also read books that I have been waiting to read.
“On my list is MR MERCEDES by Stephen King [Hodder & Stoughton, £20]. I always love Stephen’s books because they are quite unputdownable.”
This one’s a cat-and-mouse suspense thriller, in which a retired homicide detective is taunted by a man who claims to be the driver of a stolen Mercedes which ploughed into a crowd, killing eight, in a case which was never solved – and is threatening to do the same again.
“The other one I’m looking forward to is SUSPICION by Joseph Finder [Head of Zeus, £12.99], a thriller-writer of the highest calibre. I am really looking forward to losing myself in this book.” This time, the nightmare begins when Danny Goodman accepts a loan from his daughter’s best friend’s father, a rich and powerful businessman, to pay for his daughter’s expensive private education – with dangerous consequences.
:: The Lucky Santangelo Cookbook by Jackie Collins is published by Simon & Schuster, priced £16.99 hardback
ALAN TITCHMARSH
Alan Titchmarsh
Broadcaster and novelist Titchmarsh says: “I’ll be putting my feet up in our house and garden on the Isle of Wight and reading A HOUSE IN FLANDERS by Michael Jenkins [Slightly Foxed, £12, available at www.foxedquarterly.com or ebook edition from Souvenir Press, £4.28], a lovely man I used to know. He was a diplomat in later life and wrote about his stay as a youth with a varied bunch of aunts in Flanders. I’ve just started it. How I wish I’d read it when he was alive so that I could have told him how good it was.
“I’ll also be reading LE GRAND MEAULNES [The Lost Estate] by Alain-Fournier [Penguin Classics, £7.99]. I read it years ago and found it both moving and atmospheric. Michael mentions it in his book and it has made me determined to read it again. It is one of those books that really gets to you – the travels of a youth in search of love.”
:: Bring Me Home by Alan Titchmarsh is published by Hodder on September 11, priced £7.99
LYNDA LA PLANTE
Prime Suspect creator La Plante says: “I’ll be going to New York in the summer where I will be working on my new novel Tennison, but also catching up on some reading.”
Among the books she’ll be reading is WORKING STIFF: TWO YEARS, 262 BODIES, AND THE MAKING OF A MEDICAL EXAMINER by Judy Melinek and TJ Mitchell (Scribner, Aug 12, £14.75), the fearless memoir of a young forensic pathologist’s “rookie season” as a NYC medical examiner, and the cases – hair-raising and heartbreaking and impossibly complex – that shaped her as both a physician and a mother.
“I am an Honorary Member of the Forensic Science Society and all aspects of medical science fascinate me, this will be invaluable reading,” says La Plante.
She’ll also be reading comedian John Bishop’s autobiography HOW DID ALL THIS HAPPEN? (HarperCollins, July 3, £7.99). “A fellow Liverpudlian and a very funny man, he kindly signed a copy for me when we were on a TV show together. I’m looking forward to having a good laugh.”
:: Twisted by Lynda La Plante is published by Simon & Schuster, priced £12.99
JOHN CONNOLLY
Top crime writer Connolly says: “I’ve been holding off on reading a couple of books until summer, just for the pleasure of delayed gratification. One is Mark Harris’s FIVE CAME BACK: A STORY OF HOLLYWOOD AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Canongate, £30], which looks at the wartime experiences of five great directors: John Ford, John Huston, William Wyler, Frank Capra, and George Stevens. I’m a sucker for film books.
“I’ll also be embarking on THE POISONED CROWN (Harper, £7.99 paperback), the third in Maurice Druon’s series of seven historical novels about the French monarchy in the 13th and 14th centuries, which George R.R. Martin credits as the inspiration for Game Of Thrones. Finally, for my inner music geek, there’s Bob Stanley’s YEAH YEAH YEAH: THE STORY OF MODERN POP [Faber & Faber, £20], at which I can already hear myself shouting in both agreement and disagreement.
:: The Wolf In Winter by John Connolly is published by Hodder & Stoughton, priced £13.99
LESLEY PEARSE
Female fiction writer Pearse says: “This year, I’m having a week’s holiday in Majorca with my girlfriends. The books I’ll be reading are Maya Angelou’s I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS [Virago, £8.99], her autobiographical book about her childhood in Arkansas during the Fifties.
“My other choices include Sue Monk Kidd’s THE INVENTION OF WINGS [Tinder Press, £14.99 hardback], the story of Sarah Crinke, a 19th century slavery abolitionist and women’s rights pioneer, and Claire Tomalin’s SAMUEL PEPYS: THE UNEQUALLED SELF [Penguin, £9.99].
“I usually choose the kind of books for my holidays that are a little more challenging than those I read at bedtime at home, because I can read in huge chunks, rather than just a couple of chapters a night, and I definitely retain what I’ve read far better. Historical books on real people are my absolute favourite.”
:: Survivor by Lesley Pearse is published by Penguin on July 17, priced £7.99
GERALD SEYMOUR
Best-selling thriller writer Seymour says: “I am given, happily, a stack of books each Christmas and then spend the year working through the list… The ones I have kept back for the summer holiday reading are, I hope, the best.
“I am hugely looking forward to Ian Rankin’s SAINTS OF THE SHADOW BIBLE [Orion, £18.99 hardback, paperback published Sep 11, £7.99]. His detective, Rebus, is always excellent to be with. That will be a big pleasure.
“And I’m very excited about Simon Pearson’s THE GREAT ESCAPER [Hodder, £8.99]. Roger Bushell was the inspiration for the World War Two mass break-out from Stalag Luft 111, a man of fierce personal courage, a real leader, and shot after recapture. It will be fascinating.
“My favourite thriller writer these days is Alan Furst. I have NIGHT SOLDIERS [Phoenix, £8.99] ready for packing.
:: Vagabond by Gerald Seymour is published by Hodder & Stoughton on July 17, priced £13.99
SANTA MONTEFIORE
Santa Montefiore
Romantic novelist Montefiore says: “I will be spending the summer in Sicily, taking books by Philippa Gregory and Garcia Marquez.
“I can also recommend THE ENCHANTED APRIL by Elizabeth von Arnim [Penguin Classics, £8.99]. Set between the wars, four very different women respond to an advertisement in The Times and rent a castle in Italy for the whole month of April. They are all unhappy and in need of escape. The magic of Italy slowly wakes them up to the love in their lives. It’s a enchanting novel, witty, touching and very perceptively written, which will sweep you into wisteria and sunshine.”
“I also adore the fragrance of MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden [Vintage, £8.99]. I literally smelt Japan on every page. It’s the story of a young girl from a poor fishing village who is sold to become a geisha. The most beautiful and successful geisha sees her as a future rival and sets out to destroy her.
“It’s a fascinating book, opening the secret door into the world of the traditional Japanese geisha. The research is impeccable. But at its heart is a love story. I fumed, I cried and I adored every lyrically and skilfully-written word. Pure joy to read on every level.”
:: The Beekeeper’s Daughter by Santa Montefiore is published by Simon & Schuster on Jul 17, priced £12.99
STEPHEN LEATHER
Crime-writer Leather says: “Books by Scandinavian writers seem to be everywhere at the moment, so this summer I’m getting stuck into ALPHABET HOUSE, by Danish writer Jussi Adler-Olsen, translated by Steve Schein [Hesperus Nova, Aug 15, £8.99]. It’s a gripping psychological Second Word War thriller in which two escaped British airmen end up hiding out in Alphabet House, a mental hospital for SS officers damaged by the war. How long can they pretend to be crazy before they go insane for real?
“Then I’ll be getting back to the best of British with Matt Hilton’s latest thriller THE LAWLESS KIND [Hodder & Stoughton, Jul 31, £7.99]. Matt’s hero, ex-counterterrorist soldier Joe Hunter, is one of my favourite tough-guy characters, and in this book he’s summoned to Mexico to rescue the kidnapped great-grandson of his mentor, CIA Black Ops director Walter Hayes Conrad. Bullets will fly!”
:: White Lies by Stephen Leather is published by Hodder & Stoughton on August 14, priced £12.99
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