The William Hall Free Library: March 2016

Welcome to a new installation at the William Hall Library! Periodically, we will quiz the staff on their literary tastes in the style of the New York Times "By the Book" column. Our first entry comes courtesy of our Youth Services Librarian, Elise!

What books are currently on your night stand?

The books that are on my nightstand are SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick, and Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Ed Tarkington – okay, okay, so none of these are kids’ books, I’m just taking a little break!

Who is your favorite novelist of all time? (For now)

Do I have to pick just one? It’s really a toss-up between Jane Austen and P.G. Wodehouse, both are authors whose works I can read over and over again.

Who are your favorite fiction writers working today?

Jeffrey Eugenides, Chris Bojhalian, Sarah Waters, Emma Donoghue, and I have to admit a soft spot for Anne Rice.

And which children’s book authors do you especially admire?

Lois Lowry is always a winner, lately I’ve developed a fondness for Roddy Doyle, though when I was in middle school I was obsessed with Mildred D. Taylor. My favorite teen authors are Libba Bray and John Green, though John Barnes wrote a terrific YA novel that I love, Tales of the Madman Underground, but he usually writes for adults.

What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves?

I absolutely refuse to get rid of my dozens of Babysitters’ Club books because I am convinced that someday I will read them again. They’re not just on my shelf, there are boxes full of them that I won’t part with.

What’s the last book you read that made you laugh?

Snappsy the Alligator: “Did Not Ask to Be in this Book!” It’s a picture book about a necktie-wearing alligator named Snappsy whose life is being narrated (and embellished), it’s hilarious and it’s a good way of teaching kids about ‘objective’ versus ‘subjective’ perspectives.

The last book you read that made you cry?

I think it was Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell – I got all choked up reading about the British surrender.

The last book you read that made you furious?

All the Rage by Courtney Summers, it’s a teen book about a girl who was raped by the sheriff’s son. She went to the police to report the crime, but no one believed her and as result she is essentially shunned by the entire town. The book is about her processing her experience and learning to cope and move on – as the title implies, she’s angry and I got angry on her behalf.

What kind of reader were you as a child? Your favorite book? Most beloved character?

I would like to say I was the kind of kid who read everything, but while I certainly read a lot, I had my favorites and I stuck to them. Mostly, I read historical fiction, a smattering of fantasy, some sci-fi, and occasionally some realistic fiction. I tended to get pretty into certain series, like the American Girl books, or the Dear America series. My favorite book when I was younger was probably The Giver by Lois Lowry, but my favorite book character was Mary Lennox. She was, and continues to be, one of my literary heroines because her journey had nothing to do with going from being a “bad” child to a “good” child. She went from being unhappy to happy and, as a result, was less of a pill to deal with, but she certainly never had to dim her spark or conform to stultifying behavioral expectations.

If you had to name one book that made you who you are today, what would it be?

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. I had no idea it was part of a series and now that I do know, I have no intention to read the other entries because I had such powerful emotional associations with that one book. I loved Meg Murray, loved the fact that she really wasn’t the greatest at anything, she wasn’t that good in school, she wasn’t amazingly pretty or even particularly kind (are you noticing my theme of favorite awkward heroines?), but she had a strong sense of justice and wanted to do the right thing, and she also had a serious spine of steel to traverse multiple dimensions to save her father. She wasn’t a ‘chosen one,’ kind of heroine, she was just a weird kid who got caught up in a bizarre situation and became her best self. I thought that was pretty great.

If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?

I feel like he’s the one person in the world who I could force to read The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin. In the first place, it’s about two presidents, so it’s a topic he’s familiar with and in the second, one of those presidents was a lawyer and a judge, so obviously it’s a topic right up his alley. I’m really just desperate to discuss with book with someone, but it’s incredibly long and I just can’t get anyone to volunteer to read it. So, actually, not only would I have to force him to read it, I’d then have to force him to sit down and talk to me about it. Probably for at least an hour.

Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel you were supposed to like, and didn’t? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?

The last book I put down without finishing was Infinite In Between by Carolyn Mackler, but that wasn’t the book’s fault, I had recently finished reading another teen book about kids whose lives changed after high school and I didn’t particularly want to read another one. The last book I set aside because I genuinely didn’t like it was The Wolfman by Nicholas Pekearo, I was in the mood for some supernatural horror fiction, but it was a little bland. But there are many books that I’ve read and just hated that I know most of the world loves – I can’t stand The Catcher in the Rye, I didn’t make it all the way through Great Expectations, and I have a deep loathing for Tess of the d’Urbervilles. Oh! And I also hated Mr. Lemoncello’s Library and I think I’m the only children’s librarian in the state who has that opinion.

What’s the one book you wish someone would write?

Asexuals on a road trip. Just that, a group of friends of various genders on an adventure and no one hooks up with anyone else. I’m also waiting for A.M. Jenkins to write the sequel to Night Road.

Whom would you want to write your life story?

Jane Austen because she could really elevate the mundane details of my day-to-day doings into something hilarious that also reveals deep truths about human nature.

What books are you embarrassed not to have read yet?

I haven’t read so many things, it’s kind of ridiculous. I always mean to read A Tale of Two Cities (I hate Charles Dickens as a person, but I still want to try to like his books). I will say, though, that I don’t really believe that the Canon of Western Literature actually means anything, so when people react with shock that I haven’t read, say, Catch-22, I don’t really care.

You’re having a dinner party. Which three authors, living or not, will you invite? Why??

Jane Austen, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Hannah More.

Reason 1: They are AWESOME.

Reason 2: They were roughly contemporaries, so they’ll have a lot to discuss.

Reason 3: I really, really, really want to meet them.

The William Hall Free Library

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

William Hall Library By the Book

April Vacation Week