Douglas Stuart's Reading List

"In fiction, I'm loving the gastronomic dystopia of "Land of Milk and Honey," by C Pam Zhang."

"The perfectly crafted "Biography of X," by Catherine Lacey."

""Old God's Time," by Sebastian Barry, is truly superb."

"I asked a friend what her favorite book was and she recommended this. I knew once I'd read it that I had excellent taste in friends."

"I once hunkered down in my poky Florentine hotel and missed much of the city because I was so engrossed by Maria McCann's "As Meat Loves Salt.""

"I am fascinated by the irredeemable hero at the center of Alexander Trocchi's "Young Adam." It is a claustrophobic study in how men and women can use each other."

"I love the mother and son dynamic in "Gentlemen of the West," by Agnes Owens."

"The twisting of the Frankenstein story in "Poor Things," by Alasdair Gray."

"The unapologetic heroine in "Morvern Callar," by Alan Warner."

"The gothic, weird, gender bending in Iain Banks's "The Wasp Factory.""

"I wish everyone would read "The Trick Is to Keep Breathing," by Janice Galloway. Galloway writes with an unflinching intimacy."

"Not enough people have read James Kelman's Booker winner, "How Late It Was, How Late," which is a masterpiece of dialect but also one of the most audacious novels ever written."

"We read the same books to feel closer to each other, and our first pick was Genet's "Our Lady of the Flowers." It was sexy and full of yearning."