What is Matt Haig reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Matt Haig, author of The Radleys.

His entry begins:

I'm reading Roald Dahl's biography at the moment. It is called Storyteller and is by Donald Sturrock, who knew Dahl personally. I think that is what stops this book from feeling like another dry, academic biography. He really makes Dahl's life breathe in all its complexity. What is interesting is not only the sensational stuff (killing as a Royal Air Force pilot in WW2; the death of his young son in a traffic accident; the visits to prostitutes; speaking out about the Salman Rushdie affair), but also the stuff about his writing.

What I didn't quite realise was how...[read on]

Among the early praise for The Radleys:

"This witty vampire novel ... provides what jaded fans of the Twilight series need..."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Funny, scary and wickedly familiar... Reading The Radleys proved an unpredictable experience, its themes crafted through a pleasurable switch of tones. On the one hand it’s a parochial comedy of manners in a...suburban setting, but it quickly gathers poison and then effortlessly enters the supernatural without ever betraying its worldly concerns.”
— Alfonso Cuarón, director of Y Tu Mamá También, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Children of Men

“The Radleys is, first and foremost, the remarkable story of a family, born of denial and deceit, learning to tell the truth. That the family in question happens to be Undead is secondary, because in Matt Haig’s masterly hands vampirism is much more than blood lust. It is a yearning for love, truth, passion, and authentic connection.”
—Allison Burnett, author of Undiscovered Gyrl

“A sharp, bloody tale of abstinence and indulgence (and trying not to eat the neighbors).”
—Steven Hall, author of The Raw Shark Texts

“Matt Haig writes a wickedly clever and completely addictive vampire novel, delicious from beginning to end. Teens and adults alike will be absolute gluttons for The Radleys.”
— Lisa McMann, author of the New York Times bestselling Wake trilogy.

Read an excerpt, watch a video trailer, and learn more about the novel at the official The Radleys website.Visit Matt Haig at his official website.

Matt Haig is also the author of The Labrador Pact, a UK bestseller narrated by a Labrador; The Dead Fathers Club, a widely acclaimed update of Hamlet featuring an eleven-year-old boy; and The Possession of Mr. Cave, a horror story about an overprotective father.

The Page 69 Test: The Dead Fathers Club.

My Book, The Movie: The Dead Fathers Club.

The Page 69 Test: The Labrador Pact.

The Page 69 Test: The Radleys.

Writers Read: Matt Haig.

--Marshal Zeringue