INTERVIEW: talkingbooks

Kamila Shamsie.–Photo by Salman Raza What are you reading these days? Chinaman: The legend of Pradeep Mathew by Shehan Karunatilaka. Everyone who loves cricket and novels should read it. Which books are on your bedside table? Moni Mohsin's Tender Hooks. I read a chapter or two every night before going to sleep. It ensures I end the day smiling. Which titles are on your bucket list of books? All seven volumes of Proust's In Search of Lost Time. I read the first 30 pages of volume one a couple of years ago, thought it was the most brilliant thing I've ever read, and then (foolishly) decided I needed a stretch of a very long time, possibly on a desert island, with nothing else to do with my time except read the whole thing. Obviously I need to change that attitude if I'm ever going to really read it. What is the one book / author you feel everyone must read? There's no book that everyone should read — the relationships between reader and book is so particular that every person has a different 'must read' book. What are you planning to reread? Anna Karenina. I read it when I was 11 — I loved it then, but I know if I read it now it'll be a completely different book. What is the one book you read because you thought it would make you appear smarter? Do people really read books because they think it would make them appear smarter? I thought they only lied about reading certain books to produce that effect. What is the one book you started reading but could not finish? I finish less than 50% of the books I start. So it's a long, long list. In some cases, the book isn't worth finishing when there are other books I could be reading in that time; in other cases, I'm not in the right mood for it and it's unfair to the book and myself to keep going instead of returning at a later point when I' m more able to appreciate it. What is your favourite childhood book or story? No one should ever have to choose between Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh. Kamila Shamsie is the author of many acclaimed novels, including In the City by the Sea, Salt and Saffron and Burnt Shadows. She is currently working on her sixth novel.