C-SPL Reader of the Month: Sharon

Youth Services Librarian Sharon Daly is the C-SPL Reader of the Month for March. In this interview, she shares about her love for the Beatles, psychological mysteries, and more.

Q & A with Sharon

Q. What is the best book you have read within the last year (or ever)?

A. Is this a trick question? I feel like Forrest Gump trying to choose from a box of chocolates. My choice from the past year is going to be…drumroll please… She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah by Ann Hood. Why did I choose this young adult book about a girl spending the summer of 1966 planning, and scheming, and hoping to meet Paul McCartney? Because I could have written this book!  I felt every thrill and heartache Trudy did, and I could hear every Beatles song played on the radio that summer, and I loved (love) Paul McCartney! This book is all about hopes and dreams with a wonderful twist at the end that, I’ll admit, made me cry. Nostalgia at its best, and even though I cried, I also smiled...a lot.

Q. What is your ideal reading environment (location, sound, snacks, etc.)?

A. Sitting in a lounge chair on the beach with a soft breeze, and the palm trees providing the perfect balance of sun and shade. Oh, and a peach margarita on the table next to me.

If the beach isn’t an option, then my recliner at home with my two dogs on my lap and either coffee, tea, or a glass of wine. 

Q. What book are you most excited about reading next and what about it is most exciting?

A. The Witch Elm by Tana French

I love a good psychological mystery, and Tana French is a master at her craft. Ms. French’s many characters are always very complex and multifaceted. Just when you think you have it all figured out, the plot will spiral into another direction. The answers are never obvious. Her stories are always original, and the crime elements are perfect. I can’t wait to sink into this book, maybe on that beach, but more likely in the recliner.

Q. What book do you think more people should read and why do you think they should read it?

A. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

This beautiful, peaceful book is timeless and offers wisdom and guidance in such an eloquent and poetic way. The book is divided into chapters dealing with love, marriage, children, giving, eating and drinking, work, joy and sorrow, houses, clothes, buying and selling, crime and punishment, laws, freedom, reason and passion, pain, self-knowledge, teaching, friendship, talking, time, good and evil, prayer, pleasure, beauty, religion, and death. It has been translated into 108 languages and has never been out of print. The Prophet was originally published in 1923.

Q. What book has been the most challenging for you to read? How did it challenge you?

A. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Ender’s Game is a science fiction book written in 1994, well before reading dystopian-type books became popular. I found the plot to be quite disturbing after realizing how the children are exploited and used in the Battle Room. The challenge I faced with this book was trying to remember that it was fiction and not reality. Even after I finished reading the book, those troubling feelings stayed with me.

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. I have suffered through many books, hoping for a redeeming moment or a literary epiphany of some sort. Then I saw the t-shirt, So Many Books, So Little Time. Now, if I think a trip to the dentist would be less painful then reading, I know the time has come to put the book down.


Check out Sharon's other favorite books here: https://catalog.dubuque.lib.ia.us/cgi-bin/koha/opac-shelves.pl?op=view&shelfnumber=1422&sortfield=title