Like most librarians, I have been an avid reader all of my life. My tastes in books are constantly changing. As a kid, I loved series like The Baby-Sitters Club. In middle and high school I spent a lot of time perusing Mary Higgins Clark's mysteries and Garfield comic books. I went through a phase during my undergrad years where all I was interested in reading were poetry and the "classics"--Frost and Fitzgerald and Lord of the Flies. These days I'm all about non-fiction (especially humor, true crime, and pet stories), popular contemporary fiction, and short-story anthologies. Honestly, I will read pretty much anything, with a few exceptions: I am not interested in anything Nicholas Sparks or the like; I can't get into apocalyptic tales (sorry, but the idea of the world ending just doesn't do positive things for me); and I'm not a fan of historical fiction (but I chose it as a genre to explore for this class because broadening my horizons is a good idea). Like I said, I'm open to nearly any genre, and I'll also read any length, from B.J. Novak's one-page stories to Norman Mailer's 1000+ page narrative of Gary Gilmore's criminal history. I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone else is reading this semester and to expanding my book interests!
5 of my favorite books from recent memory:
5 of my favorite books from recent memory: