Book Brahmin: Lori Ann Bloomfield
Lori Ann Bloomfield is the author of the novel The Last River Child, which came out in Canada last fall, and was published here by Second Story Press this month. Her short stories have appeared in several magazines in Canada and the US. She writes the First Line blog, a source of inspiration for fiction writers. She lives in Toronto, Canada.
On your nightstand now:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, The Essential Yoga Sutra by Geshe Michael Roach and Christie McNally, The Captain's Verses by Pablo Neruda. I like to read poetry before bed, so in addition to whatever else I am reading, I always have a book of poetry on my nightstand. Neruda's love poems are the perfect antidote to a Canadian winter.
Favorite book when you were a child:
When I was nine years old I loved Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. I used to read the scene when Charlotte died over and over. I always cried, and I was always amazed that words alone, just those tiny black marks on a white page, could move me so powerfully.
Your top five authors:
Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen, Annie Dillard, Alice Munro and E.M. Forster.
Book you've faked reading:
I used to pretend I knew more Shakespeare than I actually did. Then a few years ago I made it my New Year's resolution to actually read Shakespeare. I went out in January and bought this huge volume of his complete works with the goal to read at least a bit of each of the most famous plays. To my surprise, I got hooked. Once I stopped focusing on what I thought was impenetrable old English and started appreciating the plots and characters, and eventually even the language, I couldn't stop reading.
Book you're an evangelist for:
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. I've lost track of how many times I have read this slim volume of real life letters exchanged between a writer in New York and a bookseller in London. It never fails to amuse, move and charm me.
Book you've bought for the cover:
My initial reaction to this question was never. Then I looked at my bookshelves and realized I actually do this regularly. My most recent acquisition because of the cover was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It was the old-fashioned handwriting and postage stamps on the cover that I found irresistible. While perusing my bookshelves I also noticed I have bought books simply because they felt wonderful to hold; among my antiquarian books a few have been purchased solely because the paper they are printed on is so thick and exquisite.
Book that changed your life:
I'd have to say Charlotte's Web, since it taught me that words, in the right hands, have the ability to move people to laughter or tears or any emotion in between. That felt like magic to me, magic I wanted to master.
Favorite line from a book:
It is actually the last few lines from the novel The Cunning Man by Robertson Davies: "This is the Great Theatre of Life. Admission is free but the taxation is mortal. You come when you can, and leave when you must. The show is continuous." Those were the last lines of the last novel Davies published before his death. What a great exit speech for a writer!
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Atonement by Ian McEwan. I loved that delicious twist near the end. It awed me as a writer and thrilled me as a reader.
