I have always believed that if you are not reading, you are not really prepared to be a writer. As a teenager, I read a lot of books and considered reading one of my favourite things to do. I still do. I read then as if my life depended on it, and like I always say, my dad, the irreverent Mr Alfred Amodu, gave me an edge over other children my age. By nine years old, I was in his library all the time, and when I got older, libraries and bookshops became a fun pastime. Today, I could be lost in a bookshop for two hours and still be hungry for more.
Writing became my thing from when I was seven years old. My reading self polished my writing self. Over the years, I have read countless books, and my writing got better while my vocabulary expanded.
To be a good writer, you really must be a voracious, if not good, reader.
When I first got my hand on Francine Prose’s book Reading Like a Writer, I knew I had found a gem of a book. Here is truly a book to guide any writer on the sort of books they should be reading to polish their craft. I had already written two books when I found it, but it spoke to me. Books were lined up that I had already read and others I aspired to read, while there were others I had never heard of. Francine’s book is like mining for gold – every single page is a treasure trove. There is Anton Chekhov’s book, Anna Karenina, Shakespeare’s King Lear, and other such delicious books. Every writer and aspiring writer must, as a matter of course, get their hands on this absolutely gorgeous and educative book.
