Kate Blackwood is the new editorial assistant at Bookseller+Publisher, and naturally a big reader. We asked her to tell us what titles make her tick.
What are you reading right now?
I just finished Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead (Text) and I’ve plunged in to Anna Karenina—at long last.
What book do you always recommend?
This is How by M J Hyland (Text), The Collector by John Fowles (Vintage), John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men (Penguin) and Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day (Faber). Choosing is hard.
What book are you most looking forward to?
J M Coetzee’s The Childhood of Jesus (Text).
What book made you wonder what all the fuss was about?
A certain series of books featuring an earnest boy wizard.
What’s the best book you’ve read that no-one’s ever heard of?
I wouldn’t say no-one’s ever heard of it, but I was given graphic novel-in-a-box Building Stories (Chris Ware, Pantheon) for Christmas and it’s pretty extraordinary.
Obligatory desert island question—which book would you want with you?
Tess of the d’Urbervilles would see me through to a coconut-induced death, I think.
Is there a book you’ve bought for the cover?
There are many! Obviously anything designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith. Lots of semi-obscure vintage children’s hardbacks. I also coveted the 1987 edition of Anne of Green Gables with the beautiful green border so much that my partner bought me the entire set of hardbacks for Christmas one year, probably so I would stop pining over it.
Hardback, paperback or digital?
Paperback.
If I were a literary character I’d be…
Reepicheep from ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ because I’m small and plucky.
The best thing about books is…
Climbing inside a writer’s brain and marvelling at her/his smarts.
Welcome, Kate! How nice to have you as part of the team, I bet you’ll have a great time.
And your interview has reminded me I meant to read Anna Karenina, I must get onto that. I look forward to hearing more from you.