Tusiata Avia.
Writer Tusiata Avia tells Eleanor Black what she's reading
I'm a lucky reader. My cousin, playwright Victor Rodger, lends me a big bag of books every month or two when he's in Christchurch. He has great taste and keeps an eye on the big literary prize winners.
I did, however,
run out immediately to lay down some cash for Auē, by Becky Manawatu. Auē does what I want a book to do: grab me by the neck (or some part of my body) and not let me go until the last page. Trust Exercise by Susan Choi gripped me similarly but in a completely different, razor-sharp way.
The 2019 Man Booker winners: one from Victor's bag - Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo, which I swallowed and want to read again - the other, The Testaments by Margaret Atwood, which I bought as a strategic present for my mum. I am a long-time Atwood reader, although I admit to not watching A Handmaid's Tale on Netflix. I suspect I might lock myself in my room for days and forget about feeding my child.
I found an old copy of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and gave that another whirl after last reading it as a teenager. It's a classic for good reason but I'm keeping my distance from dystopia for a while. These are strange times.
