My Summer Reading with author Elizabeth Baines

Our second author today on our My Summer Reading Series is author Elizabeth Baines, whom we work with to green up her upcoming book "Too Many Magpie" by planting one tree for every copy printed.

Elizabeth Baines was born in South Wales and lives in Manchester. She has been a teacher and is an occasional actor as well as the prize-winning author of plays for radio and stage, and of two novels, The Birth Machine and Body Cuts. Her award-winning short stories have been published widely in magazines and anthologies.

Hi Elizabeth, What are you reading now?
I'm reading Dido, the new novel for young adults by my friend Adele Geras, and John Lahr's The Autograph Hound for my reading group.

Any recommendation on a good summer reading?
I always think Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca is a great summer read because if I'm right she wrote it during one rainy summer stay in Cornwall, and that atmosphere pervades the novel. Ali Smith's The Accidental is a great book about a summer holiday with a weird turn of events, as is Margaret Atwood's Surfacing, which has an environmental thread.

What you are planning to read this summer?
A whole pile of Salt books - short stories and poetry.

What is your favorite place to read in the summer?
In the middle of a field under a tree halfway up a mountain in North Wales - when the weather's good!

Thanks Elizabeth!

"Too Many Magpie" is due from Salt Modern Fiction in Oct 2009. You can read more about Elizabeth on these links:

www.elizabethbaines.com
http://elizabethbaines.blogspot.com
http://fictionbitch.blogspot.com

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

My Summer Reading with Tania Hershman, author of "The White Road and Other Stories"

Last week we started our My Summer Reading Series, where we present our partners' choices and recommendations on great books for this summer.

Last week we had one publisher and one author and today we have two authors, both whom are publishing with UK's renowned Salt Publishing.

Our first guest is Tania Hershman, author of the great book "The White Road and Other Stories". A tree is planted with Eco-Libris for every sold copy of the book.

Tania is a former science journalist and her award-winning short stories combine her two loves: fiction and science. Many of Tania’s stories, which have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in print and online, are inspired by articles from popular science magazines. In November 2007, she founded The Short Review, a unique website dedicated to reviewing short story collections. Tania, who was born in London, is living in Jerusalem, Israel. "The White Road and Other Stories" is her first book. For more on Tania's current projects,please visit TaniaHershman.com.

Hi Tania, what are you reading now?
I am reading Home by Marilynne Robinson, it's stunning, utterly compelling, beautifully written. And Life in the Universe, a new short story collection by Michael J Farrell. I've read two stories, am loving it.

Any recommendation on a good summer reading?
Short stories are perfect, in my opinion. A few I recommend are: Ali Smith's The First Person and Other Stories, Tamar Yellin's Kafka in Bronteland, Carys Davis' Some New Ambush and Paddy O'Reilly's The End of the World

What you are planning to read this summer?
More short stories! I read a collection a month for review for The Short Review, the online journal I edit. I also read literary magazines, whatever I can get my hands on. And I have the Collected Poems of Elizabeth Bishop.

What is your favorite place to read in the summer?
Inside, in air conditioned bliss! And right now I am at a writing retreat in Ireland, Anam cara, and sitting in the outdoor jacuzzi with a view of the sea is a pretty perfect place to read.

Thanks Tania!

"The White Road and Other Stories" is available for sale in several bookstores - full information can be found at http://www.thewhiteroadandotherstories.com/buy.html

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net