24-07-2025
Which King would Holly Jackson take to a desert island?
What Book...
... are you reading now?
Blake Crouch's Recursion. I haven't read a huge amount this year as I've been so busy writing season two of the TV series of A Good Girl's Guide To Murder.
When reading for 'fun', I like to have a break from crime thrillers as they feel too close to work, so sci-fi is what I reach for. I'm enjoying Recursion and its very unique take on time travel.
... would you take to a desert island?
For nostalgia reasons, but also for practical reasons as it's very, very long, I'm going to say The Stand by Stephen King – the uncut version so that we can get all that extra material in and keep me entertained in my solitude (or if I need any extra pages to light a campfire).
I first read it when I was around 14 years old, which was vastly inappropriate but I loved it.
I re-read it again recently – it's the apocalyptic book that keeps on giving. He's truly the King for a reason.
... first gave you the reading bug?
I think the first time I truly fell in love with reading was with a series of books called The Edge Chronicles, written by Paul Stewart and illustrated by Chris Riddell.
And it wasn't just one series: it's a vast universe of connected trilogies, full of fantasy and adventure. It kept me very busy and entertained as a kid.
And just to cheat slightly, something else which gave me the reading bug, but wasn't a book at all, was a 1994 movie called The Pagemaster – in which a boy becomes trapped in a library and is thrown into the different worlds of classic literature.
I would rewatch it over and over again, and it truly pushed me towards books and the adventures they can take you on.
... left you cold?
I'm going to take this question very literally and answer with Thin Air by Michelle Paver.
It takes place up a mountain in the Himalayas, so it is a very, very cold book due to its setting.
And in addition to the environmental kind, you might also shiver with fear, as it's a creepy ghost story.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, so the colder the better I say.
