What was the last truly great book you read?

One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. It was chosen as part of the “New Voices” committee (see previous answer). I cried like a baby, which is always the sign of a great book. The best thing about this book is there is no fairy-tale ending.  The ending will drop your jaw, and you’ll be thankful. It’s hard to find an honest book that shows children they can’t always get what they want. 

Are you a fiction or nonfiction person? What’s your favorite literary genre? Any guilty pleasures?

Fiction all the way. Every now and then a nonfiction title catches my interest and I’ll read it in its entirety (The Tiger by John Vaillant). I can’t say that I have a favorite genre. I have to read so many books so I know what to stock in our Children’s departments that it’s hard to know what my favorite genre is anymore. Do children’s books count as a genre? No, but I’ll take it. As for guilty pleasure, I read Twilight. Twice. Please don’t tell anybody.

What book had the greatest impact on you?

My uncle used to buy me books all the time when I was a child; he loved to see me reading. When I was 9 years old he gave me a copy of Lois Lowry’s Anastasia at Your Service, and inscribed it to me, with all his love. My uncle passed away shortly after giving me that book. Almost 20 years later, I met Lois Lowry here at the book store, and brought in that same beat up copy. She also signed it, with “after all this time”. It is the one book that I could never live without. It makes me smile and cry just thinking about it.

What is your ideal reading experience? Your reading habits?

My ideal reading experience is curled up on a couch surrounded by pillows and my purring cats with a big fat mug of coffee within arms reach. My reading habits vary, but I have the bad habit of reading while walking, which leads to angry Miami drivers honking at me as I cross streets deep in a book. I also never by a purse if it can’t fit a book in it.

Do you prefer a book that makes you laugh or cry? One that teaches you something or distracts you?

Considering I’m so sensitive and can cry over almost anything (Pixar movies!), I prefer books that make me laugh. Distraction is always nice. Too much new information in one book tends to feel like a text book and I can’t always retain all the new information.

What were your favorite books as a child?

My father read to us every night, so I have many favorites: Where the Wild Things Are; Mother, Mother I want Another; A Light in the Attic; and Where the Sidewalk Ends are just a few. I also remember ditching my 10th birthday party to read The Phantom Tollbooth. I apparently was on to something as only one of these titles is out of print these days.

Who are your favorite heroes and heroines of fiction?

I love Jay Gatsby. In the kid’s world, my favorites are Harry Potter, Matilda, and The Giving Tree.

Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel as if you were supposed to like, and didn’t? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?

Two books stick out in my mind as major disappointments. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter and The Elegance of the Hedgehog. Both were too slow moving and not compelling enough for me. (I did finish both, though. Bad habit). I will never again trust Oprah’s opinion.

What’s the funniest book you’ve ever read?

Everything written by Chelsea Handler has made me laugh so hard I cried. My husband read me the first chapter of Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang while I was driving, and I had to pull over because I couldn’t see through all the tears that my hysterical laughter was producing.

If you could meet any writer, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you want to know?

Stephen King. I’d want to know if he would sign the giant stack of books I had with me (between my husband and I, we own everything he’s ever written).  Honestly, I’d just want to grab a beer with him and just chat.