Booklover

Justin Brown is a radio host and author whose latest book, Myth New Zealand, is a comic and thought-provoking look at the country.

The book I love most is...   A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. It inspired me enough to visit India and put my own thoughts into a book, although I hasten to add, five Kiwis playing backyard cricket with street kids in Jaipur is no match for one of the finest books ever written. Then again, Rohinton never hit a six into an open sewer in Darjeeling.

The book I'm reading right now is....   The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas. Initially I thought the book would nothing more than a PC rant, but the issues of an Aussie Greek family in the wake of a kid being slapped at a family barbeque is a damn good read.

The book I'd like to read next is.....   I’ve bought a few New Zealand Penguin classics lately but will most likely get stuck into Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.

The book that changed me is.....   Asterix in Spain or Asterix in Great Britain by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. I say that only because those are books that got me into reading.

The book I wish I'd never read is.....  the second half of Shantaram. Gregory David Roberts’ descriptions of being a doctor in a slum in Mumbai are daring and brilliant, but the book, despite having won numerous awards, could have done with a stroppy, Twink-yielding editor.
Footnote:
Booklover is a feature each week in the Herald on Sunday's book section  edited by novelist/journalist  Nicky Pellegrino (Recipe for Life) who has kindly given permission for the column to appear on my blog.