What I'm reading
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday August 29, 2009
Krissy Kneen, bookseller and writerAs events co-ordinator at Avid Reader Bookshop in Brisbane, Krissy Kneen is lucky enough to get her hands on advance copies of countless books, such as Invisible by Paul Auster. "Invisible gripped me from the first page and made me desperate to read more," Kneen says.She felt the same way about The Ice Age by Kirsten Reed, which she found "intensely poetic" and finished in a day.For Kneen, reading a cross-section of books each week is important and she quite often reads more than one at the same time.However, every now and then she will come across a book that is so good it stops her in her tracks. "Sometimes something will just completely take me away and I'll have to put down everything and read it," she says.One such book was Jeffrey Eugenides's novel The Virgin Suicides, which Kneen rereads for inspiration before starting a new project. "I always go back to that book because it reminds me why I love writing so much," she says.Another book she cites as a major influence is Raymond Carver's collection of short stories, What We Talk about When We Talk about Love, which she keeps on her desk to remind herself "what a beautiful thing writing is".The important thing for Kneen is to challenge herself by reading books that have a gripping storyline, such as Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian."I read for pleasure but the pleasure I get is from the stuff that makes me think," Kneen says.Considering her first full-length book is a sexual memoir, it is hardly surprising she names French erotic writers Anais Nin and Georges Bataille among her favourites, along with the prolific author of speculative fiction Ray Bradbury €” a novelist she has admired since her childhood and who inspired her to pursue writing."If I read something really well written by someone I really admire, I'll read for a while and then be desperate to write. Reading fires me up and makes me excited about doing what I do," she says.Affection, by Krissy Kneen, is published by Text Publishing, $32.95.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald