by Public Service Associate Juliana
I recently read a New York Times “By the Book” interview with Louis Sachar (for free with my library card!) and I found myself thinking how much I would love to ask my coworkers some of these questions. There were so many responses I decided to post it in two parts. Enjoy!
1. What kind of reader were you as a child?
Jen: I did not become a reader until about 8th grade. It didn’t take long until our high school librarian, Mrs. Rudolph, told me I was in danger of reading every thriller, horror and mystery in the substantial (for as rural as we were) library. That remains a point of pride for me.
Gabrielle: I started reading significantly in middle school and mostly read adventure fiction. In high school, I started reading more young adult romance.
Owen: As a kid I was always dragging a book everywhere I went. In the car, to my grandparents’ house, in the doctor’s office, I carried those things like security blankets.
Julie: I loved books from an early age. Never Tease a Weasel, Miss Suzy, and the Sesame Street books my mom would buy at the grocery store were my favorites before I started school. The Sesame Street books were basically a book version of an episode. I have most of them still.
2. Who is your favorite fictional hero or heroine?
Jen: Celie from The Color Purple OR Ellen Ripley from ALIEN (OR Miss Piggy)
Gabrielle: Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch)
Owen: Holden Caulfield
Julie: My first independently read chapter books were Ramona the Pest and Bunnicula in the second grade. I deeply identified with Ramona, especially the first edition scratchy illustrations, one of which hangs up in my work area. I also loved James in James in the Giant Peach, and while I never wanted a pony or to be a “horse girl” I thought Alec’s adventures in the original Black Stallion were amazing and I loved the movie.
3. Your favorite antihero or villain?
Jen: The Alien Queen from ALIEN OR Villianelle from Killing Eve
Gabrielle: Loki
Owen: Hamlet
4. What’s the most interesting thing you learned from a book recently?
Gabrielle: Reading Careless People and learning about how the ultra-rich are very disconnected with the idea of a “normal middle class” life.
Owen: I recently read Lisa Murkowski’s political memoir, Far from Home, and I learned a lot about American centrism.
Julie: I’m listening to the book called Joyspan about longevity and emotional vibrancy into deep old age. I’ve got it pretty much in the bag except for, you know, the pessimism.
5.Describe your ideal reading experience (when, where, what, how).
Jen: Comfy chair/Nonstop Coffee
Gabrielle: A rainy night in fall with the windows in the house open to allow a slight breeze in, lit by low yellow lights and candles. Sitting in a comfy recliner with a fuzzy blanket alongside a steamy cup of tea. My cat is purring in her cat bed next to me. I’d probably be reading a contemporary romance novel.
Owen: The dead of winter, and it’s freezing and snowy so I can wear the loosest, chunkiest sweater I own, with at least four different beverages within arm’s reach, and it’s a little dark inside so everything is in shades of blue.
Julie: I love reading outside, especially on a fold out lounge chair by my parents’ pond but rarely get to do it these days.
6.What’s the last great book you read?
Jen: Inciting Joy by Ross Gay
Gabrielle: I finished Silver Elite and that was a 5-star book for me.
Owen: Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
Julie: I thought Connie Schultz’s And His Lovely Wife was really good.
7.What books are on your nightstand?
Jen: Gardening and home design books
Gabrielle: Oh! Way too many to list here
Owen: The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Anna Karenina
Julie: I have like 1000 books under my bed from poetry, to gardening, to wildlife, to The Price of Happiness (a great book about Jane Austen’s work and film adaptations).
8.What’s your favorite book no one else has heard of?
Jen: Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger (which BPL owns)
Gabrielle: Hush, Hush is a great young adult book, and I feel like a lot of people have never heard of.
Owen: The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
Julie: I love the Abhorsen fantasy series, especially the first one, Sabriel. We still have the original library binding hardcover that is out most of the time because I keep recommending it.
9.Do you count any books as guilty pleasures?
Jen: No (legal, morally sound) pleasure should one feel guilty.
Gabrielle: I kinda think that manga and graphic novels are guilty pleasures for me.
Owen: I would probably count any shorter, lighter book as a guilty pleasure, like a dollar store romance or a paperback mystery, a nice palate cleanser after a bad novel.
Julie: Not really.
10.What’s the last book you recommended to a member of your family?
Jen: Amor Towels’ Rules of Civility (though I am pretty much never not recommending that book)
Gabrielle: Most of my family members don’t read the same types of books. But I have recommended Silver Elite to a few of my friends.
Owen: The Idiot by Elif Batuman. I recommended it to my oldest sister, and she stopped reading it halfway through because she “didn’t understand my generation’s humor.” (the author is 47)
Julie: I sent Mom a Travis Kelce interview with GQ. Zach got me listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl before Matt Dinniman got picked up by a major publisher, sold the rights to Seth McFarlane, or went to the Columbus Book Festival.
Bonus: You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?
Jen: Shakespeare, Carrie Fisher, and Dorothy Parker
Gabrielle: Oscar Wilde, Jane Austen, George Orwell
Owen: Jane Austen, Marcel Proust, Kazuo Ishiguro
Julie: Jane Austen, her sister Cassandra (so they could be reunited) and Mark Twain…I think he and Jane would get along splendidly.
OR
CS Lewis, Richard Adams (Watership Down) and I suppose Tolkien, so he and CS could be reunited. I would just enjoy their conversation.
