The book I am currently reading
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño.
The book that changed my life
Taming the Star Runner by SE Hinton. I was 16 at the time, and the 15-year-old character in the novel was getting a novel published. It was almost taunting me, saying: “You know you want this too, and you’re already 16. Better get moving.”
The book I wish I’d written
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges. It shows that great characters make great books, and it’s stayed with me now for decades.
The greatest influence on my writing
Shoeless Joe by WP Kinsella, for the imagery and other-worldliness of the language. Then, of course, it was the absurdity of a man building a baseball diamond in his cornfield, and the ghosts of legendary ballplayers appearing …
The book that is overrated
Anything by Shakespeare. (I’m joking!)
The book that changed my mind
Pride and Prejudice – because I became an instant Jane Austen convert. Prior to that, I had this idea that boys didn’t read Austen, and then – more than anything – I loved the toughness of Elizabeth Bennet.
The last book that made me cry
The Light Between Oceans by ML Stedman. By the end the words were all blurry, but I also couldn’t stop.
The last book that made me laugh
A rereading of JD Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. It’s also a book that gets sadder as you get older, too, and more heartfelt. The moment Holden drops the record he bought for his sister and it breaks is a killer.
The book I couldn’t finish
What else but Ulysses by James Joyce. But I haven’t given up just yet. It’s been a good decade since I made my first attempt, so it might be time to step back into the ring.
The book I’m most ashamed not to have read
George Eliot’s Middlemarch. So many friends swear by it, and love it, and talk to me about it, and maybe that’s what’s holding me back.
My earliest reading memory
Chewing on a Dr Seuss. I think it was There’s a Wocket in my Pocket. I still have it. And there are still bite marks on the corners.
My guilty pleasure
Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon. I was in the back of my dad’s Kombi van, travelling along the New South Wales coast up to Sydney. I knew it was deemed trashy, but I couldn’t stop.
The book I most often give as a gift
Rope Burns: short stories by FX Toole. It’s often been my go-to book for teenage boys or men. I remember reading it when it first came out; the most affecting story was always “Million Dollar Baby”, which was made into the Clint Eastwood film.
• Markus Zusak’s Bridge of Clay by is published by Black Swan (£8.99). To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £15, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.
