Meredith Goldstein

Meredith Goldstein is an advice columnist and entertainment reporter for The Boston Globe. Her column Love Letters is a daily dispatch of wisdom for the lovelorn that gets about 1 million page views every month on Boston.com. Love Letters appears in the Globe’s print edition every Saturday. Goldstein also writes about fake rock stars, former boy banders, female werewolves, self-help books, last picture shows, and how to sound like Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting.

Her new, debut novel is The Singles.

Recently I asked Goldstein what she was reading. Her reply:

For whatever reason, I couldn’t bring myself to read books for grown-ups while I was writing The Singles. I became addicted to young adult literature as a way of escape – and because the genre was so different from what I was writing that I never had to worry about losing my voice.

I started with the paranormal stuff and then branched out to every subgenre of young adult literature. I adored Daniel Handler’s Why We Broke Up, which made me cry. I went dystopian for a while with The Hunger Games and Lauren Oliver’s Delirium. I became addicted to Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series, which kept me obsessed through six books.

At the moment I’m reading City of Lost Souls, the latest book in Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series, which brings vampires, werewolves, and powerful “shadowhunter” teenagers to the familiar streets of New York City. Please don’t judge. I acknowledge that these paranormal books can be derivative (and that they’re are meant for pre-teens), but Clare’s stories explore mythology, family issues, and sexuality – and by book three I was desperate to know whether Clary and Jace would be able to overcome evil forces and make out with each other … or more.

As YA heroines go, Clary Fray is pretty dynamic role model. She fights like a champ for what she believes in, she’s loyal to her mom, and she’s brave about love. I’ve had great dreams while reading this book. (I have to admit that ever since I started reading YA before bed, I’ve slept better.)

I do plan to read one or two adult books before I become absorbed by my next novel. I’m treating myself to The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta, The Murderer’s Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers, and the new John Irving, which will be a big treat.

Then it’ll be right back to YA for me. Probably Laini Taylor’s sequel to Daughter of Smoke & Bone.

Visit Meredith Goldstein's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: The Singles.

My Book, The Movie: The Singles.

--Marshal Zeringue