Thursday, April 1, 2010

Staff Selections - Kristin, Adult Services Librarian

What is your favorite genre? I read almost everything! Historical fiction, romance, fantasy (especially young adult), mystery, suspense, chick lit, literary fiction….Any combination of those genres is GREAT! In non-fiction, I like travel writing, history, biography, and some poetry.

Who are your favorite authors? Bill Bryson, Tony Horwitz, Linda Howard, Olivia Goldsmith, Kathryn Reiss, Jane Green, Helen Fielding, and Philippa Gregory. Favorite poets : Nicki Giovanni, Langston Hughes, Anne Sexton, and Maya Angelou. I’m sure I missed some!

What are you reading now? I usually read three or four books a week, so this would be outdated before you read it! My current long-term read is Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.

What have you read recently? Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton, The Innocent by Posie Graeme-Evans, The 13th Hour by Richard Doetsch, The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova, Saving Monticello by Marc Leepson, You Can Get Arrested for That by Rich Smith, the Harper Connelly mysteries by Charlaine Harris, This Book is Overdue! by Marilyn Johnson, The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn, Julie and Julia by Julie Powell, Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, The Magicians by Lev Grossman, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, The Postmistress by Sarah Blake, The Book of Spies by Gayle Lynds, Waiting on a Train by James McCommons, and dozens more!

What is your favorite classic? I read Gone with the Wind for the first time when I was 11 and have read it about 10 times since—it is my all time favorite book, classic or not! East of Eden by John Steinbeck, The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, The Illustrated Man and Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, Dracula by Bram Stoker, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, and The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough are also favorites.

What is your all time favorite book/series? I love series because the story isn’t over when you finish one book! His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman has been my favorite series since middle school—I reread it frequently and love it more each time. Other great series are The Lord of the Rings (and The Hobbit) by J.R.R. Tolkien, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris, Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor, and Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.

What are your favorite recommendations? ANYTHING by Bill Bryson. Books by my other favorite authors, especially Confederates in the Attic and Blue Latitudes by Tony Horwitz. Atonement by Ian McEwan. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles. The Case of the Missing Books by Ian Sansom. The Bedford Boys by Alex Kershaw. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. Jurassic Park and Timeline by Michael Crichton. Going Bovine by Libba Bray. The Princes of Ireland by Edward Rutherford. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier.Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Time Windows, The Glass House People, and Dreadful Sorry by Kathryn Reiss. Mr. Was by Pete Hautman. Home to Harmony by Philip Gulley. Nicholas Sparks books of the 1990s. Ask me for more... I could go on forever!