Some people imagine their Oscar speech or their touchdown dance, but personally, I like to daydream about when the New York Times asks me to do the By the Book column.
Since I'm still waiting for that call, I asked Maggie to celebrate the half-way point on this blog with our own By the Book. I picked questions for her, and she picked questions for me.
Now, just imagine that I'm currently on tour for my recently released novel/Pulitzer Prize.
Describe your ideal reading experience.
Oh boy, thinking about the answer, I realized how much time I spend on finding/creating the ideal reading experience. On the beach, by the river, on a park bench, in a coffee shop -- I have dozens of spots. It depends on the season and my mood and what I'm reading. Now that fall is coming, though, I'd say in a comfortable chair with the window open so it's cool enough to curl up with a pillow, blanket, hot tea and cookies.
What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves?
I don't use cookbooks very often, but I like owning them. My favorites are Cook Korean! by Robin Ha, Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant by various authors, the What Did You Eat Yesterday series by Fumi Yoshinaga and The Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones. I like to look through them while I'm heating up my Trader Joe's frozen food.
Which writers -- novelists, playwrights, critics, journalists, poets -- working today do you admire most?
There are two authors with new books this fall I'm excited about: J.K. Rowling and Helen Oyeyemi. Rowling makes writing a book look easy, until I pick up other books and they just don't keep my attention in the same way. It's hard to write in a way that doesn't come off like you're writing. Just read that sentence, and you'll see it's true.
Then there's Oyeyemi, who is fascinated with fairy tales but uses them in challenging new ways. She's insightful, travels the world, writes mind-bending prose and collects teapots.
Others would include: The writing staff for "The Good Place." Lin-Manuel Miranda. Tracy K. Smith. Rebecca Stead. Brian K. Vaughn. N.K. Jemisin. Naomi Alderman. And my co-workers at the Enquirer.
If you could meet any writer, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you want to know?
I'd meet Terry Pratchett. I'm not sure what I'd ask him specifically. Maybe if he had more time, what would he have written? But asking about the what-ifs doesn't seem very Pratchett-ish. Then maybe advice on how to get by in a world that right now seems crazier than a flat planet on the back of four elephants carried on a giant turtle. I'd also be interested in knowing more about when he worked as a reporter.
Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel you were supposed to like, and didn’t? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?
Sorry, Maggie and many more critics, I had to quit Circe. I picked it up because it had a lot in common with other books I like -- the retelling of classic tale from the perspective of a female character -- then I dumped it because it felt like deja vu. Yes, I see the irony there. It lacked the oomph of Lavina or Wicked.
What’s the last book that made you laugh?
Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant. I read an article about author John Bellairs and illustrator Edward Gorey. After that, how could I not look up Beaton's comics that guess what a book is about, based on the Gorey cover? KIERKEGAARD
Whose opinion on books do you most trust?
I'm one of those people who read the blurbs. If an author I like recommends a book, I check it out. It's why the Fantastic Fiction website is so great, because you can look up an author and find out what blurbs they've written. It was my friend Jamie who recommended that website. So the answer, ultimately, would have to be: Jamie.
How do you decide what to read next? Is it reviews, word of mouth, books by friends, books for research? Does it depend on mood or do you plot in advance?
I do judge a book by it's cover -- or at least, by the description on the cover. I keep an eye on reviews to know what's new, but my favorite reviewer to take recommendations from is Amal El-Mohtar. I was happy to see her take over the Otherworldly column from N.K. Jemisin for the New York Times. She has a good understanding of how genre fiction can be fun and challenging, and knows when not to take things too seriously. I keep a TBR list on Goodreads (that's why we have those handy buttons at the bottom of each review on this blog). But some restless days it feels as if the only books I'll ever like have already been written and I'll never find a good new book again, and on those days, I re-read my favorites.
What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned from a book recently?
I’m not a memoir reader, but I recently bought Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? by Alyssa Mastromonaco and Lauren Oyler at a library sale. Mastromonaco worked for President Obama and she said the average length of time for staff was three years. I thought that was interesting -- even for someone who lands a dream job, who believes in what they’re doing, there is only so much a human being can give. Also, Mastromonaco said there were no sanitary napkin/tampon dispensers in the women’s bathrooms in the West Wing until she lobbied for it. I don’t remember that ever being an issue in The West Wing, but that would have made a great episode.
Who is your favorite overlooked or underappreciated writer?
I’m not sure how popular Mari Okazaki is in Japan, and a lot of her work has been translated into French, but it’s a disservice how so little of her work is available in America. Okazaki did have a series called Suppli being translated, until the publisher went out of business and stopped before getting to the end.
I was reminded of the injustice of this when Viz came out with a new book, only available digitally, called Will I Be Single Forever? It’s a series of interconnected short stories about women, happiness, loneliness, and societal expectations. It’s psychologically astute and Okazaki is never afraid to get a little abstract with her art to get a point across without words. I can understand the hesitation for a company to invest in her work, I suppose -- there’s not much demand for Jennifer Weiner comic books in America. But for someone who has pulled comfort and laughs from her work, whose stories has made me reflect, whose drawings of streams of fish or pixelated cherry blossoms I've admired, I wish she’d get a little more credit.
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