The Good Books, V. E .Schwab: ‘I’m a very reluctant DNF-er when it comes to reading’

Best selling author V. E .Schwab was born in California and currently splits her time between Denver, Colorado and Edinburgh. She got her masters in depictions of monstrosity in medieval art at the University of Edinburgh. She chats to us about her favourite authors, what she’s reading now and why she always likes to finish a book. 

The first book I remember reading:

I was raised on poetry more than prose, and I have a vivid memory of being read each and every piece by Shel Silverstein. I still have my beloved (and battered) hardcovers of Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and Falling Up. 

A book I recommend to everyone:

I’m not sure I believe there’s a book that appeals to everyone – reading is so subjective – but I’m always keen to recommend Fonda Lee’s Jade City for fantasy fans, Stephen Graham Jones’s The Only Good Indians for horror, and Jenny Lawson’s Furiously Happy for Memoir.

The best book I have read in this year:

Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte. It’s a series of short stories about millennials and second hand embarrassment that are so incredibly cringeworthy, in a way that takes incredible talent.

The book I am most looking forward to:

I am so terribly unaware of the timing of book releases. Most of what I read came out five years ago or isn’t on shelves yet (one of the great perks of my job is getting access to books early. But I’m incredibly excited to start Alix Harrow’s The Everlasting, and Daniel Kraus’s Angel Down.  

A book I didn’t finish:

I’m a very reluctant DNF-er when it comes to reading, in part because I’m a completionist and in part because I think you can often learn as much from what you don’t like/what’s not working in a piece.

An author that has inspired me:

Oh, the list is long and ever growing. I admire Stephen King’s productivity as well as his creative freedom. I am inspired by Donna Tartt’s craft. I am enamored with Stephen Graham Jones’s melding of horror, literary, and history. I am in awe of Mona Awad’s weird wonder. I am inspired by debuts like Omar Hussein taking big narrative swings, and pros like Veronica Roth working in new forms.

The book I am reading now:

I’m currently in the middle of Julie Clark’s The Ghostwriter, Seon-Ran Cheon’s The Midnight Shift, and Nnedi Okorafor’s Death of the Author.

V. E. Schwab’s latest book, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, is out now and available to buy now. 

Read more of The Good Books here.

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