Jeanette Winterson's Reading List

“To me, a proper dictionary is a book of spells,” says the novelist, whose most recent book is “Frankissstein.”

Open in WellRead Daily app →

By the Book: Jeanette Winterson (2019)

NYT By the Book column (2019-09-26).

Source: www.nytimes.com

Collected Poems

Carol Ann Duffy · Buy on Amazon

"Poetry is a wonderful sedative because it conjures up images and emotions without a story."

Ordinary Light

Tracy K. Smith · Buy on Amazon

"Tracy K. Smith's Ordinary Light, a memoir that reads like poetry."

Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being

Ted Hughes · Buy on Amazon

"Reading it is like a very long conversation with an old friend trying to understand something magnificent. It is also, possibly, utterly bonkers."

Home Fire

Kamila Shamsie · Buy on Amazon

"I thought Kamila Shamsie's Home Fire — a version of Antigone for the current world of paranoia, fake politics and terrorism — was so good."

Quichotte

Salman Rushdie · 2019 · Buy on Amazon

"I just read Salman Rushdie's Quichotte, a loose remake of Don Quixote. It's a terrific read."

Invisible Women

Caroline Criado Perez · Buy on Amazon

"Caroline Criado Perez's Invisible Women is no rant, just facts and figures: voice recognition software is generally set to a male pitch — and 70 percent more likely to recognize the male than the female voice."

Favorite books (2023)

Favorite books recommended by Jeanette Winterson, as compiled by radicalreads.com. Source article: https://radicalreads.com/jeanette-winterson-favorite-books/.

Source: radicalreads.com

Orlando

Virginia Woolf (also rec’d by Gabriel García Márquez & Tilda Swinton ) · Buy on Amazon

"It begins, ‘He, for their could be no doubt about his sex…’ and then we spend the rest of this gorgeous rollicking novel entirely in doubt about his sex. A love-letter to language, a time traveling duel with duality."

The World According To Garp

John Irving (also rec’d by Peter Hook ) · Buy on Amazon

"As funny as it was when it was written, and more tragic, and more true. One of my favorite laugh/cry novels, and one I talk about with friends and teach to my students."

Suggest an update?