by: Jenn Risko, John Mutter
Nancy Pearl speaks about the pleasures of reading to library, literacy organizations and community groups throughout the world and comments on books regularly on NPR's Morning Edition. She's the author of Book Crush: For Kids and Teens: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Interest; Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason; More Book Lust: 1,000 New Reading Recommendations for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason; and Book Lust To Go: Recommended Reading for Travelers, Vagabonds, and Dreamers (October 1, 2010), all published by Sasquatch Books. Among her many honors and awards are the 2010 Margaret E. Monroe Award from the Reference and Users Services Association of the American Library Association, "presented to a librarian who has made significant contributions to library adult services"; the 2004 Women's National Book Association Award, given to "a living American woman who... has done meritorious work in the world of books beyond the duties or responsibilities of her profession or occupation"; and the 1998 Library Journal Fiction Reviewer of the Year award from Library Journal.
Even though she hates being asked questions that limit her answers to a finite number of books, we bribed her with crispy Greek fries and she consented to answer limiting questions.
On your nightstand now:
Exley by Brock Clarke, How to Live Safely in a Science Fiction Universe by Charles Yu, Churchill's Empire by Richard Toye, At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson.
What books you keep close by when you need to lighten up:
Anything by Georgette Heyer, Jane Haddam, Elizabeth Cadell, D.E. Stevenson, Terry Pratchett and Lois McMaster Bujold.
Guilty pleasures author:
The most embarrassing is Elswyth Thane, who wrote the Willamsburg series-- it's a family saga from the Revolutionary War through WWII, set in America and England. The books are hard to find but I've located sets for both my daughters and my sister. They are sexist, racist, anti-Semitic--everything I hate in books--the characters are so wonderfully romantic, and the relationships are totally unreal, but the books are still absolutely wonderful.
Your favorite poets:
Philip Larkin, Howard Moss, Edna St. Vincent Millay, A.E. Housman, Stephen Dunn.
The funniest books you've read:
Straight Man by Richard Russo. Then there's Handling Sin by Michael Malone, or Honey Don't by Tim Sandlin. A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel, Farley Mowat's The Dog Who Wouldn't Be and anything by Carl Hiaasen. Roy Lewis's Evolution Man. Everything by Terry Pratchett. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome, and Connie Willis's homage to the book, To Say Nothing of the Dog.
Best classic discovered late in life:
Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope, and Stephen King's Hearts in Atlantis, a brilliant novella.
Favorite title (as a title):
An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke; The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall; Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer.
Your favorite first line:
" 'Take my camel, dear,' said my aunt Dot, as she climbed down from this animal on her return from High Mass."--The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay
"We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck."--Feed by M.T. Anderson
Do you feel pressure when you read a book?
I think that I try to avoid that like the plague, but it's true that every time I read a book I try to figure out what kind of reader would like it, and why I do or don't like it myself. When you're talking about books on a professional basis, it changes the nature of your reading--it's no longer a purely personal response.
What was your most surprising interview with an author?
What's most surprising and wonderful is how generous some of the writers are in terms of sharing their thoughts and lives. Justin Cronin, Sherman Alexie, Marjane Satrapi, Elinor Lipman, Ann Patchett, Elaine Showalter, David Wroblewski, to name just a few. I don't have a set of questions that I'm going to ask them--I imagine that we're sitting in my living room having a conversation about everything and noting in particular.
Sometimes I'm surprised at where an interview goes. I see these interviews as a chance for the listener to get to know the author, so I'm always happy when the authors veer off into something they really want to talk about.
What are your biggest gripes about the book business?
Too many bad books being published and promoted; blurbs by authors I suspect haven't read the book; and cover copy that tries to link two or three totally different but well-known books--the most recent one that had me shaking my head in disbelief: "Reminiscent of The Color Purple as well as the frontier novels of Willa Cather and Laura Ingalls Wilder." The novel looks good, and I'll probably read it, but jeez louise, give me a break: Cather, Wilder and Walker?
A book that got you through tough times:
All the books I read between 1973 and 1993.
A book you wish everyone would read:
Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link. It's a short story in a collection by the same name. It's also found in her collection Pretty Monsters.
The most difficult question for you to answer:
What is your favorite book? What books would you take to a desert island? Basically, any question that forces me to limit my response to one or two or 10 books.
What is your favorite question?
What books would you like to see put back into print? But no one ever asks me that! So let's start with Last Night at the Ritz and The Girls from the Five Great Valleys by Elizabeth Savage; A Gay and Melancholy Sound by Merle Miller (my favorite book ever); Betty Cavanna's teenage novels; books by Elizabeth Cadell and D.E. Stevenson.
Follow her book thoughts on Twitter: @Nancy_Pearl
from: Shelf Awareness
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