John Kelly– writer and broadcaster
I usually have to read at least one book a week for work. At the moment, I'm reading an outstanding book called Why Mahler? How One Man and 10 Symphonies Changed the World, by Norman Lebrecht. This man is convinced that Mahler is one of the towering figures of art, along with Picasso and James Joyce, and although this one is great, sometimes when you have to read a book in a week, it isn't as much fun as it ought to be.
So with that, every summer, I always make sure to read at least one book that I know I should have read, or else to re-read a classic. Over the past few summers, I've read the likes of Moby Dick, Wuthering Heights, Ulysses.
This summer, I've already read Tender is the Nightby F Scott Fitzgerald, which I hadn't read before, and Murphyby Samuel Beckett, which I had read as a teenager, but didn't get at the time. I enjoyed it this time around. I'm a serial reader – I have about two work books on the go all the time, and then there's always one beside the bed. On the wishlist over the next while is another classic, something off the bookshelf — maybe DH Lawrence — and something by Richard Ford and Raymond Carver. The best book I've read recently? Willy Vlautin's Lean On Pete, which is a fantastic read.
As told to Tony Clayton-Lea
