Like most writers (especially those who are aspiring to become published ones), I think it’s incredibly important to read – and in copious amounts! It really is the best way to benchmark your own projects against what else is out there, find out what’s working (in addition to what isn’t) and enhance your knowledge overall. I’ve never started reading a book and not finished it (call it an obsessive trait) but I’ve certainly come across plenty of material which, in my opinion, wasn’t very good. Such a realisation can be gleefully satisfying at times! That being said, I’m always on the look out for works which I can add to my top 13 (shown below) but it’s relatively rare that this list is expanded. The way I tend to think about it is: would I ever read this book again? And sometimes again and again? The ones below definitely fall into that category and I’m sure I’m not alone in such thinking!
The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger)
Danny the Champion of the World (Roald Dahl)
The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
Going Solo (Roald Dahl)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë)
Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
Birdsong (Sebastian Faulkes)
The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson)
Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe)
Harry Potter, Books 1-7 (J. K. Rowling)
Troy: Our Greatest Story Retold (Stephen Fry)
Thomas McGlone 