‘Romcomoisseur’ and novelist, Bolu Babalola’s favourite love stories, ‘are the ones that are quieter—friendship based, and the ones that build on connection and involve self-growth, and community.’
First Draft is our interview column, featuring authors and other prominent figures on books, reading, and writing.
Our questions are italicized.
What books or kinds of books did you read growing up?
When I was very young, from single digits to about twelve, I loved Road Dahl’s books. Funny, sharp, moralistic, fun, with the children as heroes. I was very drawn to his sense of humour. Roald Dahl never pandered to kids.
I also loved the A Series of Unfortunate Events series by Lemony Snicket—strange because I am not drawn to darkness, but again, the wit was so sharp and storytelling so engaging. Tween and teenage years, the humour stayed but the subject matter began to focus—romance, romcoms. Jane Austen—my blueprint. Then Julia Quinn. Meg Cabot, Louise Rennison. I also used to steal Mills & Boon novels from my mother’s shelf.
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