Becca: Friday Favorites

Last week, we talked to Tori. This week, we’re revisiting Becca. This post was originally published on October 5, 2018.



Friday Favorites; Read Yourself Happy; Reading Blog; Book Blog; books

Tell us a bit about yourself!

I’ve always been a book nerd so it was no surprise that I became an English teacher. When most people find out that I’m an English teacher, they picture me reading Ulysses or some other equally confounding tomb. Suckers! I love comic books, classic books, and a cereal box if it’s within reach. My dog, Nala, loves when I read out loud to her. Her favorite book is Things Fall Apart, but I don’t have the heart to tell her she’s on her own there. This picture is of Nala waiting for me to read some lit theory to her.

cute dogs, dog
Nala

If you could spend a night hanging out with three authors, living or dead, who would you choose?

I’d like to hang out with Oscar Wilde, drinking champagne (obviously), Zadie Smith, and James Baldwin. All 3 of them speak to me so much and I can’t help but go back to their work time and again.


Which classic or popular book do you hate?

The Crucible - Arthur Miller

I don’t really like The Crucible. It’s boring. I don’t like teaching it or even showing the movie anymore. We get it, Daniel Day Lewis — you only have your name. But news flash: you create your identity, not those wiggos. I also never read any of the Harry Potter books until my mother-in-law made me read the first one when I was about to graduate from college. I guess it’s good for 11-year-olds, but not so much if you’re 22.


How do you keep track of books you’ve finished and books you want to read?

I use Goodreads to keep track of books that I want (and basically to generate my wish lists for my birthday and holidays). I like that it suggests other books to read once I’ve finished one.


What are your five favorite books, and why?

My top 5 favorite books (that will likely change in a month) are:
  • White Teeth by Zadie Smith — I can’t really articulate what all I like about this book (the writing! the characters! the plot! the underlying commentary on post-colonialism!), but it’s always had a special place in my heart.
  • A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles — This is just such a wonderful story told in a delightful voice. I was reading a few books about Russia at the time…BONUS: Towles is apparently a distant relative of my husband!
  • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald — I re-read this every semester when I teach it and notice new things EVERY TIME!
  • The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama — Books don’t usually make me cry like I did when I read this, but maybe it’s the fact that I recently finished it and am nostalgic/sad/disgusting with our current world.
  • The Giver by Lois Lowry — This is the first book I remember reading that stressed the importance of thinking for yourself and not buying into what other people want from you.

Finally, leave us with your favorite bookish quote.

I cannot remember the books I've read nay more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me. - Ralph Waldo Emerson




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