Twenty Bookish Things About Me
1. I read fast, but not as fast as I used to, and like books that immerse me immediately and carry me along.
2. Although I’ve always loved to read and write and think about stories, I majored in Elementary Education in college.
3. I have met Anne Lamott, Elizabeth Berg, John Gilstrap, and Esmeralda Santiago.
4. I love libraries.
5. A few years ago, I began “allowing” myself to abandon books that did not grab me in the first 50 pages. This has been very liberating.
6. I like audiobooks and never listen to anything else in the car.
7. I rarely re-read books. Some books that I have re-read are really old favorites like Desiree by AnneMarie Selinko and Valley of Decision by Marcia Davenport
8. Frances Parkinson Keyes is just about my favorite author of all time. I discovered her in my early teens.
9. When I am in a new place, I love to find independent bookstores.
10. Reading a good book is the best thing I can think of doing.
11. When my children were young, I read a lot of mysteries and now I rarely ever read them.
12. I dislike and distrust most memoirs.
13. I like “foodie” fiction and essays. My favorite writers in the food essay genre are Laurie Colwin and Nigella Lawson.
14. If I do not see books in a person’s home, I wonder about that person.
15. I do not read books about the Nazi/Holocaust experience, nor do I read science fiction, fantasy, time travel, memoirs, mysteries (although I do read some thrillers).
16. Even though I just said I do not read fantasy, I have been a fan of Nick Bantock’s for 20 years and own almost everything he has written, even his children’s pop-up books. And I like the type of magical realism in Alice Hoffman’s earlier novels.
17. I rarely read BFB (big fat books) because I find that most of them are overwritten and the authors could have used an editor who was not afraid to say this.
18. I love to talk about books and authors, and have a fascination with the publishing business
19. Although I do not think I have ever read a book that did not teach me something, my main purpose for reading (novels) is entertainment. Thus, I have little patience with those novelists whose writings are convoluted and esoteric. I like forthright and linear writing/stories.
20. Epistolary novels are my favorites.