Here on the blog the other Matchmakers and I share what we are reading, watching, or listening to quite frequently, but we don’t often hear from our other staff members all over the library system. Now, we will be sharing interviews from other staff members so that you the reader can see what we’re reading/watching/listening to all over the Heights Library system!
This interview comes from Adult Services Librarian Bill!
What book are you reading at the moment? What are your thoughts on it?
Right now I’m enjoying The World Beneath by Rebecca Cantrell. The hero is a Silicon Valley millionaire who finds himself stuck in Grand Central Station with agoraphobia and no way out. He lives in a Victorian mansion built under the station, buys all his food and supplies at the attached hotel shops and spends his nights wandering the abandoned tunnels of the subway, getting caught up in a government conspiracy and solving mysteries as he goes. A real page turner and the first in a series that I’m looking forward to reading.
What kind of books do you typically read?
I like books about people who find themselves in unexpected situations. I like to follow the characters as the work out what it is that they need to do using their knowledge, wits and resources. I read across genres, so I am as interested in reading a thriller, a mystery, science fiction or a classic as long as the story is character driven.
Have you ever pretended to have read a book? If so, which one and why?
I never actually read The Scarlet Letter in high school. I got trapped in The Custom House introduction and never made it out again. Which didn’t stop me from writing a term paper “Comparing and Contrasting the Use of the Words Scarlet, Red and Pink in The Scarlet Letter.” I just scanned the book, took quotes that included the colors and came up with a literary theory that was sufficiently nonsensical that I got an A on the paper.
Do you ever go back and reread books?
I first read JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy when I was 12 years old. I reread them at 24 and every 12 years since. Great storytelling and although I know where the story is going to go, I am happy to rediscover incidents that I have forgotten each time I read it.
The book that I reread on an annual basis is Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Between the characters, the story, the locations and the writing I find myself caught up in the lives of the Flyte family and Charles Ryder every time I open the book. I am also a fan of the original Granada Television series with Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews and Diana Quick.
What’s your favorite book related quote?
“A book is a gift you can open again and again.” —Garrison Keillor
Thanks Bill!
