A favourite author of our followers Jodi Picoult has always been an avid reader herself and at the age of four was already practicing writing her own name so that she could get her very own Library card. Once the card was obtained Jodi says “I was so proud of that because then I could bring home my own stack of books, just like my mom,” then to make things even better “For my birthday, I got a reading lamp so I could read in bed, just like she did. I was such a reader!” and so began a lifelong love of books, reading and eventually writing her own books.
Talking exclusively to US Weekly Jodi has revealed the books that she read as a child and those she read as an adult which she says influenced her writing career.
Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
“This woman created a world out of words,” Jodi says of the book she first read at age thirteen “I could feel myself walking down the street even though I have never lived there or lived during that time. I was amazed at how resonant that setting was because of her writing. I thought, Maybe I could do that. It was really the first time I remember thinking, Maybe I could be a writer”
Out of Africa, by Isak Dinesen
Describing Isak’s writing technique (known as ellipsis) Jodie says “She doesn’t describe how she felt about her lover. He meant so much to her she couldn’t do that relationship justice in words,” having written a thesis on the book during her time at Princeton she continues “As an author, that has been one of the most fun things to explore when I’m writing. The idea that words fail us and that tells readers something.”
Turtle Moon, by Alice Hoffman
Once Jodi was done with college she was finally able to read purely for pleasure “this was the first book I read as an adult fan,” says of one of her favourite authors “She’s like comfort food. She makes writing look easy and it never really is.”
The Paper Bag Princess, by Robert Munsch
The tale of a kick ass heroine who rescues a prince Jodi used to read this different take on a fairy tale to her (now 21) daughter “Ironically, we wrote a young adult book about a girl who falls for a fairy-tale prince who needs her help,” referring to their 2012 novel, Between the Lines. “Full circle!”
Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
Loving the premise of this best selling novel Jodi says “Here’s a book that on the outside is about a boy, a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a tiger on a lifeboat. It sounds like a bad joke. When Pi gets back on shore, he tells his rescuers this story and they don’t believe him,” explaining why she loves the book so much she continues “This is a brilliant exploration of how we make people believe the stories we tell.”
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