What are you reading right now?
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth.
Tell us a bit about it ...
Imagines that the great aviator, Lindbergh, becomes president of USA in 1940s. The Jewish community in America are in fear as he is a Nazi sympathiser. All their fears were realised and Jewish neighbourhoods start to be broken up.
What is your favourite book of all time?
The Pearl by John Steinbeck.
Tell us a bit about it ...
Simple story of a poor fisherman and his wife. He finds a pearl of great beauty and enormous value which, instead of improving their life, destroys it. Brief, simple, powerful read.
What book do you remember most from childhood?
Grimms' Fairytales by the Brothers Grimm.
Tell us a bit about it ...
Wonderful, exotic tales which transport the reader to a different world filled with colourful complex characters. Dark but always with a lesson, or moral where goodness always prevails.
Which of your books is battered from using over and over again?
The Golden Treasury by Francis T. Palgrave.
Tell us a bit about it ...
It is a poetry book that belonged to my father. He is the one who used it most and why it is literally falling apart. Signed, by him, on the inside fly cover dated 8/2/35. I love it as it has so many poems I love. Ozymandias of Egypt, Upon Westminster Bridge, The Listeners. I love to pick it up at random and read it.
What is your favourite book by an international author?
Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta.
Tell us a bit about it ...
Tells the story of a young Nigerian girl and her struggle with her sexuality. Set against the backdrop of war. Read recently but not the only book by an international author - [I also enjoyed] Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.
What book do you feel depicts your own or another culture most vividly?
Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Tell us a bit about it ...
Silliness of the class system unveiled.
Is there a book that changed your mind/perspective about something?
The Spanish Gardner by A.J. Cronin.
Tell us a bit about it ...
It didn’t change my mind or perspective but it portrayed the folly of blindly judging through to pride and privilege. How lack of justice wrecks such destruction on lives.
