Staff Selections: Danielle Furr

Hello readers! This year we will be featuring library staff at the beginning of each month to recognize all the hard work they do here. For the month of February our staff selection falls on Danielle Furr.  

Danielle Furr is a circulation assistant at Samuels Public Library

I have been coming to Samuels Library for as long as I can remember. It was always the highlight of the week to come in with my family and fill up bags with new books to read, or old favorites to reread. I love working here now, being on the other side of the desk when families check books out. I also love seeing the same excitement in their eyes that was in mine when coming to the library twenty years ago. To me, libraries are a chance to broaden your horizons and learn new things about the world around you and I feel blessed to have a part in that experience for our patrons.

Favorite genre: SciFi/Fantasy

Favorite authors: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Jane Austen, Alexandre Dumas, Sir Walter Scott, Michael J. Sullivan, Karen Hancock, Ted Dekker, Merrie Haskell

Currently reading: The Talisman by Sir Walter Scott and Missing Member by Joann Powers

Recently read: The Belgariad by David Eddings, the first two books in the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, and Death at Seaworld: Shamu and the dark side of killer whales in captivity by David Kirby

Favorite classic: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Dracula by Bram Stoker, and Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

All-time favorite books/series: The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings/Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien, Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Martyr's Song series by Ted Dekker, and the Black Stallion books by Walter Farley

Books I'm looking forward to: The Last Hunt by Bruce Coville (finally the conclusion to the series after over ten years of waiting!)

How do I choose new books to read: Recommendations by other staff members, and books that look interesting as I check them in.

Favorite Poem: She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron and Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats

Favorite Short Story: The Lady or the Tiger? by Frank R. Stockton

Favorite play: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

Books vs e-books: I definitely prefer books. I like the weight in my hands and the smell of paper and the sound of turning pages.

Character traits that you like most in a book: I like characters who are willing to adapt to situations and take charge of their own responses and actions, and think for themselves. Also I like underdogs who refuse to give up no matter what gets thrown at them. I have put down books in disgust before because the main character is too whiny or too wrapped up in pleasing someone else.

Favorite aspect of a book: I like the escapism--the chance to use your imagination and go somewhere entirely new and forget about real life for the time that you are immersed in a story.

How much description do you enjoy in a book: It depends on how well done it is and whether or not the plot gets bogged down in descriptions. On the whole, however, I prefer to let my imagination do most of the work and a lot of the time, even if the author does describe characters, I still form my own mental image of how I think they look that is often completely different from how the author described them!



If you like J.R.R. Tolkien as much as Danielle, then here is a read alike guide. This guide, and many like it can be found in our library. Just as at the Adult Reference desk and we will be happy to assist you. 

Click to Enlarge!