What’s your favorite piece of literature (or theory, technique, etc.) to teach to your college students?  My favorite authors to teach are probably Charlotte Brontë and Virginia Woolf. Jane Eyre is of course a book with some plot elements that really raise our eyebrows (Edward Fairfax Rochester what ARE you doing?!) but those same elements are what help it to teach well, because it gives us real stuff to dig into and discuss. Also, Brontë burns through loads of plot, which hooks my students, while also […]

What’s the best book you’ve picked up as a result of a CBR recommendation/review? The September Book Club recommendations have been great so far – my favorite has been All Boys Aren’t Blue. Most recently I added The Journalist and the Murderer to my TBR, and it’s nearly at the top so I am looking forward to reading that soon! I am also currently listening to How to Be Perfect on audiobook in the car and really loving that (I also really loved The Good […]

You read a wide variety of stuff (manga, history, middle grade mysteries, Wilkie Collins!). How do you decide what to read next from your TBR pile? I tend to flip back and forth between fiction and non-fiction, while continuously reading comics, so I tend to decide by staring at the books on my bookcases until something strikes me. I feel like it’s often less of a rational decision than an internal urge for a certain genre or author, but I’m often circling my bookcases for […]

Did you grow up as a reader? Are your kids readers? I was a voracious reader as a kid! I remember having to get special permission to take out more than the usual number of books from the library, plus I got early access to the Young Adult room. Each summer, we’d go on vacation to a cabin for two weeks and between myself, my mom and my grandmother we’d have 5-6 milk crates of books. It’s no surprise that my kids also rocket through […]

How many times have you participated in CBR? Has it changed the way you read? Hm, per Cannonball Read itself, this is my 4th time participating. But, per me, I’d say this is really only my second proper go of it. I don’t know if it was something akin to burnout after setting a record (at the time) for most books, which could’ve been higher had I not fallen so behind on the review part of the equation, or if it was just a more […]