Author’s Day sparks new exciting reads
This past Monday was National Author’s Day; a day to curl up with a favorite novel or current read under a fuzzy blanket with a warm drink.
Minnesota State University, Mankato fourth year Madeline Margo’s current read was “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens.
Margo talked about the book so far, “It’s kinda like a mystery. It’s about this girl who grew up with a hard home life. It was kind of an abusive home. It got so bad her mom left and she didn’t have proper schooling. And then her dad would leave for weeks at a time. She basically raised herself. And then these people in the town treat her differently because she doesn’t have proper schooling. She ends up having romances and experiences with romantic interests and she’s finding her own way though all of that. But nobody told her how those things go and what to do in those situations, so it’s really interesting.”
However, if that book doesn’t tickle your fancy, Margo recommends the mystery author Clive Cussler and a nostalgic favorite “Gone” by Michael Grant.
She gave a preview of “Gone” by saying, “It’s like a teen sci-fi book. Basically, it’s these groups of kids that are at school, and one day their history teacher randomly disappears and they realize that everyone in their town over the age of fifteen has vanished. It’s about teenagers figuring out how to live alone.”
MNSU’s head of creative writing Geoffrey Herbach has published eight novels. As an author, he has inspirations he recommends.
Herbach says Kurt Vonnegut was, “the person who made me want to read more when I was a teenager.” Another author he mentioned was fellow staff member Chris McCormick. Herbach also shared a favorite book “A Visit from the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan.
“It’s a novel but it’s really connected,” he says. “There are two characters who travel through the whole thing, but it’s short stories. It’s like a short story compilation. So it doesn’t have an arc like a novel would have, but it’s about how time affects life. It makes you nostalgic and heartbroken. And it’s super funny in parts; it’s everything a book should be.”
MNSU freshman Katayiah Crim revealed her favorite book to be “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn. Crim loves the book because she thought it was really good. “When you pick it up it’s a little bigger, but it’s fast. It keeps you on your toes,” she explains.
Crim said she wasn’t currently reading anything, and if you’re not either, maybe one of these books can fill that void.