Reader Profile
Reader profile
My personal reading tastes have historically been firmly planted in literary fiction. I enjoy a good slant toward political and religious satire and/or commentary, and I have a soft spot in my heart for the dreary, sad, dreadful, and the eerie. Kurt Vonnegut, Tom Robbins, and J.D. Salinger are the three heavy-hitters who really formed me as an "adult" reader (meaning post-middle-school), with a shout-out to Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, and Samuel Beckett. Its difficult to remember exactly how or even why these writers came to my attention; it seems like they have just always been there. I remember cranking through all of Vonnegut and then Robbins in quick succession, probably freshmen/sophomore year in high school. Salinger spoke to me in ways I still don't always comprehend-and I'm not even really talking about Catcher. Franny and Zooey and the Nine Stories and Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters collections are etched on my soul, and continue to unearth new and complicated emotions with each re-read. In general, I'm a sucker for a good short story collection, anything from The Dubliners to Interpreter of Maladies, Vampires in the Lemon Grove to The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. So much of this literary taste was born of, and nurtured in, literature classes in middle and high school. I think it is one of the only places I truly felt at ease. Because of this, I went on to get my undergraduate degree in English. Naturally, I dabble in other genres here and there (think Lord of the Rings for fantasy and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for sci-fi), and I'm always up for a good non-fiction anything, but I do tend to stay within my comfort zones. It wasn't until I started working in reader's advisory that I realized just how comfortable I have gotten in my zone. I haven't really read too many (or maybe any) mystery, suspense, western, or romance novels, and I'm out to expand my comfort zone so I can better connect with my patrons. The only genre that equals my devotion to literary fiction is children's/young adult. I have two daughters to whom I have read from the time they were infants, and I spent 6 years as a school librarian, so I have a deep and abiding love for picture books. I am limiting the lists below to adult-level reading, but I allowed myself one YA title for each list; the lines between YA and adult blur quite easily, and so many YA novels that hold up brilliantly as adult reads. In any case, my current job requires (yes, requires!) me to download at least one audiobook a month, so it has been a banner year for me as far as book consumption! With that in mind, I could hardly isolate my lists to "top 5", so I'm going with top 10, which should create a pretty good cross-section of who I am as a reader.
Currently Reading
Tinkers- Paul Harding
The Long Winter- Laura Ingalls Wilder (listening to this one with my girls for the second time!)
The top 10 books I loved in 2017
Lincoln in the Bardo- George Saunders
All the Light We Cannot See- Anthony Doerr
Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter- Kate Clifford Larson
The War that Saved My Life- Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness- Susannah Calahan
The Handmaid's Tale- Margaret Atwood
Wishful Drinking- Carrie Fischer
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster- John Krakauer
A History of Wolves- Emily Fridlund
The Haunting of Hill House- Shirley Jackson
The top 10 books that I love for all time (so far)
Franny and Zooey- J.D. Salinger
Skinny Legs and All/ Another Roadside Attraction (tie)- Tom Robbins
The Goldfinch/ The Little Friend (tie)- Donna Tartt
Raymie Nightingale- Kate DiCamillo
The Red Tent- Anita Diamante
Slaughterhouse Five- Kurt Vonnegut
The Hotel New Hampshire- John Irving
Kafka on the Shore- Haruki Murakami
Loving Frank- Nancy Horan
Northanger Abbey- Jane Austen
Greetings Amanda! We share a lot of favorites. Have you already read The Bell Jar? I haven't yet, but got a copy for Christmas, and it's one of my book picks to read for this class this semester. If you've read it, did you like it? I'm also curious if you've seen the new (or not-so-new anymore, I guess) Handmaid's Tale TV series. I LOVED the book, but haven't seen the series yet and I'm curious what you think of it if you've seen it.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to seeing your reads this semester!
Hello, Anna! It's funny that you mention The Bell Jar. I sort of hemmed and hawed about whether to include it in my all-time top 10. It was definitely a formative, maybe even pivotal book, along with her poem Mirror. However, I've always thought it interesting what our brains hold onto and what they discard. because while I remember it feeling quite profound, I struggle with remembering the details. I have only read it once, and most of the other books on my top 10 I have read multiple times. I think it is a really important book, though, and I'm glad you are going to read it!
DeleteI have not yet seen the Handmaid's Tale series, but the popularity of it brought the book back to my attention after meaning to read it for years. I remember shelving it all the time when I worked at a small branch of our public library and thinking I should probably read it because it was always getting checked out. I'm glad the series has brought the story into the collective conscious of America, because the message is important, if not vital, for people to hear.
I'm delighted to know we have so many reading interests in common, and I'm looking forward to being in this class with you!
Hi! I was struck by the similarities in our profiles! I've never seen Tom Robbins on anyone's favorite author list, so I was immediately intrigued. I love all his books, but I think Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas is my favorite because it was my first Tom Robbins book. I love that you just read the Handmaid's Tale. Do you ever wish you hadn't read something so you can read it again with new eyes? Incidentally, I did start watching the Hulu series, and it was very good. I can't remember why I stopped watching it, but I don't have Hulu anymore, so I'm planning on finishing it when the DVD comes out. It's been so long since I read the book, I'm not even sure how close to the book it is, but it's a great retelling. Your thought about a book profoundly affecting you, but being blurry on details really rings true to me as well. There's an old movie version starring Natasha Richardson and Aiden Quinn that's really good, too.
ReplyDeleteBecause our tastes are so similar, I'm looking forward to investigating your favorites! I'm always looking for something that is so good I can't stop thinking about it for a long time!
I just remember reading Tom Robbins for the fist time (Skinny Legs and All was my first), and I almost couldn't believe the mix of humor and politics and religion and satire and everything else. I had been on a steady diet of dreary fiction and poetry since 7th grade and it blew my mind.
DeleteI think part of the reason I re-read certain books is so that I can read it with fresh perspective. We are changed in small and big ways all the time by our life experiences, and going back to an old favorite, or to a book I just could not get into the first time, often yields surprises. I honestly can't say how many times I've read Franny and Zooey, and each time there is something else that strikes me. What's interesting about a book like The Handmaid's Tale is, I wonder how I would have read it in the past vs. now? As a younger version of myself, I may have found it gripping and post-apocalyptic, but with my life experiences in the past few years and the current climate of women's issues, this book was just astounding to me, to the point where I feel like EVERYONE should read it.
Anyway, thanks so much for your comments! Very much looking forward to sharing books and ideas this semester!
Hi! I read almost exclusively to my kids and have been deeply moved by the quality of YA material out there! I'm interested to learn more about your favorite YA books, especially with your school librarian experience. My 7 year old and I are reading Connect The Stars by Marisa de los Santos and David Teague, and it's one of our favorites, so far! It has tones of sadness, dreariness and a bit of humor...a great read!
ReplyDeleteA while back, I started isolating my childrens/YA reads on my Good Reads account, and I am so glad that I did. So many of those books are so meaningful to me, but they can easily get lost in the shuffle of all the adult reading. And now that I am no longer in a school, I simply do not read as much YA as I have in the past. I do have 2 pre-teen daughters who love to read, so it's a good way to stay on top if it. My younger daughter just finished walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, which was one of my all-time fave YAs, and we talked (and cried!) about it. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli is a great story, and the most intriguing to date might be Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan. I could go on and on!!
DeleteBut i'm so glad to have someone who appreciates the contributions of quality YA, and I can;t wait to talk with you more about it!
Great profile! We have very similar tastes. It was game over when I discovered Kurt Vonnegut. I'm still straight up obsessed with him and I will read any book that claims it's Vonnegut-esque! Looking forward to reading your annotations this semester!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Vonnegut is completely amazing. I feel like he hits all the sweet spots! Every once in a while I go back and re-read one to remember why I loved it. I don't know about you, but when I discovered him, I pretty much read it all back-to-back, so that for a while all of the stories sort of ran together. So the occasional re-read gives them life again!
DeleteHi! Your profile is intriguing- your passion for the books you love definitely comes through. I read "Lincoln in the Bardo" last year and I loved it. It took some time for me to get into it, but once I did, I was hooked. "Wishful Drinking" is on my list of books I want to read, and I look forward to reading it sometime very soon.
ReplyDeleteBecause of the nature of my job, I listen to quite a few books, and in fact, is my primary method of reading right now. (I work for a talking book program, and all of my patrons only listen to books. Keeping current on audio book, as well as being familiar with the changing technology our patrons use to listen, are essential parts of the job). I listened to both Lincoln in the Bardo and Wishful Drinking, and I really think in these cases it added to the experience. I was the same with Lincoln-I had a hard time grasping it at first, but once I figured out what was going on it was fascinating, hilarious, sad, and so many other things. The audio is a full-scale production with over 100 narrators! Carrie Fisher actually narrates Wishful Drinking, and something about hearing the story in her own voice, especially now that she is gone, was really special. Her sarcasm and humor are what made it for me!
DeleteFun fact: in my undergrad, I took a class (Intro to English Studies, which was discontinued after the year I took it), where our professor had us read Salinger and watch Wes Anderson films. It was probably one of the most memorable classes I ever had, and it completely revamped my academic paper writing style. That professor was also behind the class that helped digitize offerings at the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library in Indianapolis, as well as helping to craft an oral history of Vonnegut and a film archive. Pretty cool stuff, there!
ReplyDeleteI think it can be really easy to get into a "niche" with our comfort zones. We know what we like, so we stay there. I've also found that I have to really stretch to find a book to match up with a reader sometimes, especially if I don't know the genre. I can suggest some things, but I have to turn to colleagues or Novelist to help with recommendations a good bit, too.
Wait-a class where you read Salinger and watch Wes Anderson films ??? I'm pretty sure that's the class I take when I die and go to heaven! Of course, the immediate mental connection I make is the Glass family and the Royal Tennenbaums, but I'm certain if I think on it a while, there are probably other correlations that will make me swoon.
DeleteGood Reads is my go-to for finding books in an unfamiliar genre, and also finding that "series list" someone is always looking for. I find that, in many cases,an author's actual website isn't always very navigable, and even some "series-in-order" websites are clunky and difficult to navigate. Novelist is something many of my other co-workers use, so I may have to explore that a little bit more.
Thanks so much for your comments, and I'm going to dream about that Anderson/Salinger match-up for a long time!