Meet July Reader of the Month: Sarah Smith
Check out Sarah’s Favorite Books
Be the next C-SPL Reader of the Month!
About Sarah:
Sarah has been a reader her entire life, and no one was surprised when she decided to go back to school to become a librarian. When she isn’t reading a book or working at Carnegie-Stout you can probably find her gardening, hiking, dreaming about travelling to somewhere new, or obsessing about Eurovision.
Q & A:
Q. What is the best book you have read within the last year (or ever)?
A. The book I read over the last year that’s had the most impact on me is probably “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer. It’s a beautiful collection of essays that offers hope and a new perspective on our relationship with the natural environment.
Q. What is your ideal reading environment (location, sound, snacks, etc.)?
A. I’m not even a little bit picky about where I read. If I have an interesting book and nothing else I should be doing, I’m probably reading. With how easy it is to pick up an eBook or eAudiobook with the Libby app, I *always* have a book ready to go! In recent years, I’ve really loved being able to share audiobooks with my husband on road trips. Audiobooks are such a great way to discover a work of nonfiction that might put me to sleep in print, or to rediscover an old favorite in a new way.
Q. What book are you most excited about reading next, and what about it is most exciting?
A. The book I am most eager to get my hands on is “The Golden Enclaves” by Naomi Novik. The third book in the Scholomance series won’t be published until September, but the cliffhanger in book two was brutal. It’s an action-packed, coming-of-age fantasy series about the students of a magical school in a world where magic has absolutely deadly consequences. But the narrator isn’t the destined hero of prophecy, she’s the villain that no one trusts and everyone fears.
Q. What book do you think more people should read, and why do you think they should read it?
A. As a librarian I’m a big fan of Ranganathan’s five laws, most specifically the part about “Every reader his or her book.” And “Every book its reader.” There is no one book for everyone, there’s only the book that’s right for you right now.
Q. When do you decide to stop reading a book? In other words, do you read every book to the last page or is there a moment when you decide to stop?
A. Unless I’m reading a book for a book club discussion or a continuing education class, I have no issues abandoning a book that doesn’t work for me. Sometimes the moment just isn’t right, and if I come back to it in a year or two, I’ll find it much more enjoyable. Sometimes I’m just not the reader for that book, and that’s okay!
Check out Sarah’s Favorite Books
Be the next C-SPL Reader of the Month!
See past Reader of the Month posts here.