Bookshelf: Vicky Mohieddeen, Founder, Electric Shadows

The books on my shelf with the most sentimental value are the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. They remind me of home, partly because they’re very British but also because my mum is a huge fan of the series. Whenever I go back I always sneak a paperback or two into my suitcase, which used to drive her insane but in these post-Kindle times, she’s a lot more forgiving.

If you only ever read one book about film, make it Living in Oblivion and Eating Crow by Tom DiCillo. I was given this by a man pal just before I started studying film and it’s the one I recommend most often to filmmaking friends. It’s the screenplay of a film-about-a-film accompanied by the director’s diary ... awesome prep for the absolute nightmare that is the film industry and film festival circuit.

Subway reading? I was very much enjoying No god but God by Reza Aslan when last I rode the subway. There’s nothing quite like immersing yourself in pre-Islamic Arabia whilst attempting to stabilize yourself by wedging limbs into the ample tummies of the people surrounding you. But last September I went on a subway strike and it’s a lot harder to read a book on a bicycle. I’m still only halfway through it.

The book I hid before you came around was See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson. It’s part of a series and let me tell you, these books are trash – badly written ice hockey soft-porn trash – but they are very distracting and therefore good to read on scary, turbulent flights.

My favorite book from childhood is Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild. I was ruined by Noel Streatfeild books ... all waifs and strays and orphans with glamorous backgrounds scrimping and saving to study dance or acting or skating. No wonder I grew up to be absolutely insufferable.

The book I’d like to see adapted as a film is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, although I loved it so much that I’m a little scared they might completely mess it up. If they can get half as much of the emotional power into a film version, it would be extraordinary.

Ever judged a book by its cover? Yes, but not as often as I judge people by their faces.

Click here to see the June issue of the Beijinger in full.

Photo: Sui