All About Books discussion

1. Have you always loved books? Who, if anyone, in your life has most inspired you to read?

According to my mother, when I was toddler, I would carry a Curious George book around with me. I would hand it to whatever adult was around and expect them to read it to me. I was fortunate to have parents that were readers and they read to me. I have clear memories of my mother reading Lyle, Lyle the Crocodile to the children who attended my birthday parties. My parents also took me to the library weekly. The library would have story time and children would gather around the librarian as she read to us. My fourth grade teacher, Nancy Erikson would read to us every day in class. I remember her enthusiasm reading Sideway Stories from Wayside School and Bunnicula. I hope that parents, libraries and schools still read out loud to children. The last formative reading experience I had as a child was when I was a teenager. My high school implemented a 20 minute reading break at 10:00 AM every day. This started a life-long habit of reading for
pleasure every day.

2. What was your favourite childhood book?

I grew up in Wisconsin, as did Laura Ingalls Wilder, so the Little House on the Prairie books were some of my favorites. I loved horses so Black Beauty and Walter Farley’s Black Stallion books were read repeatedly. My mother also read the works of Thornton W Burgess and the Boxcar Children to me. Is there anything more comforting than a mother reading animal stories to a sick child? My brother’s girlfriend bought me Anne of Green Gables and The Lord of the Rings. She did not last, but I still have those books.

3. Which books do you remember studying at school? Did you enjoy them?

I majored in literature in college and remember studying Shakespeare, Dickens and Austen. At the time I gravitated toward modern fiction. I loved Hemingway and Fitzgerald. James Agee’s A Death in the Family is one of my favorites. A. R. Ammons is one of my favorite poets. He was a visiting professor at my college and I heard him read several times. “Nelly Myers” is one of my favorite poems. Dr. Wilson taught classes on Romantic poetry, Yeats, Blake and Dylan Thomas. I’m sure he lectured during his classes, but I remember him reading these works out loud. I wish I had a recording of him reading “Ode to a Grecian Urn.”

4. Where do you most enjoy reading? Do you need silence to read, or can you read almost anywhere?

I read in bed or on my couch. I sip tea or red wine. I also like to read on planes. I like the uninterrupted time. I prefer silence when I read. However, I have been known to check the score of a baseball game at the end of a chapter. I also listen to audio books in my car.


5.Choose five of your favourite books and tell us why you loved them so much!

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I read this every year on Christmas night. I spend Christmas Eve night with my family at church services. It is calm and peaceful. Christmas Day is chaotic with presents and food and travel. Every Christmas Night, however, I am by myself. I light a fire, pour some wine and read this perfect story. Peacefulness is restored.

Empire Falls by Richard Russo. This won the Pulitzer Prize a several years ago. Mr. Russo authentically captures the voice of a teen age girl.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. I’m a hiker and this is the story of two middle aged men trying to hike the Appalachian Trail. It is hilarious.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I always love Carmac McCarthy even though he is dark and violent. I thought this book was full of hope.

Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley. Epic. It traced the story of an American Family back to their roots in Africa. It was vivid and brutal and hopeful.


6. Do you prefer reading fiction or non fiction?

I read both fiction and non-fiction. I often read a novel but will listen to a biography on audible or vice versa.

7. Are you fond of a particular author and what attracts you to their books? (You can pick a few if you can’t choose!)

For non-fiction, I enjoy David McCullough and Walter Isaacson. They make the most remarkable people accessible. For fiction, I love Marilynne Robinson for her religious themes and Richard Russo for his portrayal of small town life.

8. Is there an author you haven't yet tried but you'd really like to?

Trollope. Any suggestions on where to begin are appreciated. I also want to read Don Quixote. For non-fiction, I want to read a couple of books by Fergus Bordewich and Taylor Branch. I saw both speak at book festivals and I thought their work on race and civil rights in the US would be interesting.

9. Do you rely on goodreads to keep track of your reading or do you have your own method?

I do use Goodreads to keep track of my books. I also write them down on my calendar at my office.


10. What's the best book you've read so far this year? What are you reading at the moment? What will you be reading next?

I enjoyed Tell The Wolves I’m Home. It is a story about family and love and quirkiness. I also liked Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink. It is about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I’m currently listening to Dracula on audio book which is fantastic. I just start Night Film which is very, very dark and gave me nightmares last night.

Katy ,
I really enjoyed your reading journey because we share a love of a number of books . I loved Black Beauty as a young girl . Richard Russo is also a favorite of mine , especially Empire Falls.
I loved Tell the Wolves I'm Home as well .

I think it's wonderful that libraries played a role in your journey as they have for many of us .
I was also a lit major who gravitated to modern lit as you.


Thanks for sharing .

We have too much in common not to be GR friends . I'm sending you a request right now !

I loved Tell the Wolves and Night Film is vey dark but I liked that one too. Loved reading your journey, I is always so interesting to see what everyone loves to read.

I also loved Tell The Wolves I'm Home and have Don Quixote on my "to read" list for August. I've been intending to read it for ages and have just never gotten to it.

Katy, thanks for sharing your reading journey. Very interesting. I also loved Tell the Wolves I'm Home and Night Film. I have The Road on a Kindle I inherited. I'll definitely have to check it out. (Has anyone read The Sunset Limited by the same author? Quite a moving play.)

Great journey, I liked Black Beauty as a child as well. All these journeys make me want to reread my old childhood favourites

A group of us are doing a My First Trollope readalong in September. I can't remember what we decided to read but the thread should around!

Thank you for your journey! I couldn't agree with you more about Isaacson and McCullough. They are never dry.

I have finally been convinced by a friend to try Empire Falls. I simply had to dump Nobody's Fool. I just could not take it any more; it was so crude. Bridge of Sighs was OK, but nothing more. STILL I have been told that I must give Russo another chance with Empire Falls, so it is wonderful to hear that this book is great.

I also spent some years as a child in Wisconsin, so for me Wilder was very important.

Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for sharing Katy! We have similar childhood favorites but diverge as you (and I) grew up. I will have to check out some of your favorites, esp. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail as I am also a hiker (although these days more of a walker than a hiker).

I love the idea of the 20 min. reading break that your high school had! What a great idea.

THanks for sharing Katy!
As kid I didn't know that Laura Ingalls was a writer and that the little house in the prairie was a book series. For us in Italy it was only a tv series, but I loved it, and now I'm reading the books one a year: I don't want t "run out" of them as I did with Anne of Green Gables ones!!!

Thanks for sharing Katy! Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital looks fascinating. So many crazy things happened during Katrina, the people who were forcibly stopped from crossing the bridge to safety, etc, all just nearly impossible to imagine. So many stories worthy of Greek tragedy on what they reveal of the human condition.

I travelled to Mississippi with a group repairing Katrina damaged homes there, and I met people who had absolutely nothing on this Earth left but hope! We were setting up a children's day care center while we were there, and afterwards, an elderly woman Alice rode with us in our van and showed us what was left of her town. I have never been so impressed or so moved by another human being as I was moved by her. She told us her story, about the water rising up into the attic while they were all huddled there - her story was a precious gift that I've never forgot!

I think I'll read this book by Fink soon!

And I hope the nightmares get better :)