Welcome to the Book Marks Questionnaire, where we ask authors questions about the books that have shaped them.
This week, we spoke to the author of The Road Trip (out now in paperback), Beth O’Leary.
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Book Marks: First book you remember loving?
Beth O’Leary: The Bramley Hedge books by Jill Barklem. I remember poring over the illustrations before I could read.
BM: Favorite re-read?
BOL: Pride and Prejudice, my favorite Austen novel.
BM: A book that blew your mind?
BOL: How to Disappear by Gillian McAllister—it has a twist that made me gasp out loud.
BM: A book that made you cry?
BOL: The Sight of You by Holly Miller. I sobbed.
BM: What book from the past year would you like to give a shout-out to?
BOL: The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney by Okechukwu Nzelu. It’s so beautifully written and balances profundity and humour with such skill.
BM: A book that actually made you laugh out loud?
BOL: Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho.
BM: Favorite book to give as a gift?
BOL: Ghosted by Rosie Walsh.
BM: Classic book on your To Be Read pile?
BOL: I haven’t read Little Women, though really I have no idea why, I’m sure I will love it. Maybe it’s all the cryptic remarks people have made over the years about what happens to the character called Beth…
BM: What’s a book with a really great sex scene?
BOL: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. The complexity of the sexual relationship in this novel is handled so sensitively, and only deepens the chemistry between the two main characters.
BM: Book(s) you’re reading right now?
BOL: The new novel by Caroline Hulse, called All the Fun of the Fair.
BM: Favorite children’s book?
BOL: Philip Pullman’s The Amber Spyglass.
BM: Book you wish would be adapted for a film/tv show?
BOL: Tessa Dare’s When a Scot Ties the Knot. Since Bridgerton, I have been craving more regency romance on screen, and this is a favourite of mine.
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Beth O’Leary’s The Road Trip is out now in paperback from Berkley Books
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