Over the next few weeks we’re participating in a work experience program with students from high schools across Melbourne. Here, Jenny Liu tells us about her favourite books.

How would you describe your taste in books?

I mostly gravitate towards fantasy books, in particular those with interesting magic and strong lead characters. I also enjoy reading science fiction, survival and historical fiction – I’ll read most genres within fiction really. That being said, I don’t particularly enjoy romance books. I also think that most books today don’t really fit within just one genre, but overlap across several.

Tell us about one of your favourite books.

One of my favourite books has to be Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke, a classic fantasy tale with dragons and a quest to fight evil. This was the first book about dragons that I read and it definitely sparked my interest in dragon-related stories, opening my reading world to books like Eragon by Christopher Paolini and Dragonlinks by Paul Collins. Dragon Rider is well-paced with beautifully written characters. Even though it’s aimed at younger and middle readers, I think it would still be highly enjoyable for older readers.

Do you and your friends share books with each other? What is one your friend has liked, but you haven’t?

My friends and I share books with each other all the time. We often spend our lunchtimes in the school library walking between the bookshelves, picking out books and talking about them. One that my friend has liked and I haven’t is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling. Having only read the second book in the series, I know I can’t really can’t say I dislike the series as a whole but I’m not interested in reading any more of these books. While the plot and ideas in the book are wonderful and well-deserving of all their praise, I find the language too simplistic and bland. However, considering that this is a book aimed at younger readers, I suppose it is only natural to have this simpler language.

What is a book you would NOT want to see made into a film?

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. The writing style of Derek Landy in the book is something that just can’t be recreated by a film and without it, the film would be lacking in too many aspects. Also, no one could really play Skulduggery Pleasant himself because his character is just too interesting and complicated to be portrayed well.

Tell us about a book by an Australian author that you enjoy.

Eon by Alison Goodman is another amazing book about dragons with a strong lead character. The plot is intriguing and both Goodman’s story-telling and characters really draw readers in, making them want to find out more about the story. This book is aimed at teen readers but can be enjoyed by all ages.

What would you like to see more of from Australian authors?

I would like to see more mainstream books from Australian authors. What I mean by this is that whenever people talk about books, it’s usually about really popular books and most of the time, they’re not books by Australian authors. I know there are many Australian books out there but I feel like they fall under the radar a bit, and get dwarfed by all these other books taking up the spotlight. So, I’d like to see more books by Australian authors being talked and shared about.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever been given?

The best writing advice I’ve ever heard is to just write a lot because with time, you can learn what your writing style is and continue working on that to produce a story that is genuinely written by yourself.