NL: Can you share a bio with us?
KS: I joined the Nyack Library Board of Trustees in February and I look forward to serving the library community. I am the Program Manager for the Early Childhood Programs at Teachers College. I was working as a stage manager but when my children came along I got back in touch with my love of children’s literature. I was lucky enough to co-own Hopscotch Books with Claudia Uccellani, a children’s bookstore here in Nyack. Those were magical years spent reading and sharing old and new favorites with young readers. When I left the store, I returned to school to get my master’s degree in elementary education and literacy. My current work supports prospective new teachers.
NL: What are you currently reading? Do you like it?
KS: I tend to like contemporary fiction. I usually have multiple books going at once. Even when they seem unrelated, I find ideas bounce back and forth. I’m currently reading The Berrypickers by Amanda Peters and Unmasking Autism: Discovering New Faces of Neurodiversity. I like them both. In their own way, they both explore the costs of being made to live inauthentically.
NL: If you could have any author speak at Nyack Library, who would it be and why?
KS: I’d love to hear Barbara Kingsolver. I’ve always liked her writing but I thought Demon Copperhead was the best book I’ve read in a while. Plus she seems like she lives a very interesting life on her farm.
NL: Which character in a book do you most identify with?
KS:I grew up with 4 sisters and felt such a kinship with the March girls in Little Women. Of course, I wanted to be Jo. I recently read Hello, Beautiful by Ann Napolitano and all those feelings of sisterhood connected with me again.
NL: What books are on your night stand?
KS: I just picked up Opinions by Roxane Gay after seeing her speak at the Nyack Center. Also, I dug out my copy of The Good Lord Bird by James McBride. I’ve had it for a long time and not read it but I really enjoyed his The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store so I’m going to try again. And The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby lives on my nightstand. I think he’s very clever; I like to hear what he has to say about books; and he makes me feel better about the books I’ve bought but not read.
NL: Are there any books that you feel are overrated?
KS: Lots, but if it works for someone else that’s OK.
NL: Do you have a literary “guilty pleasure”?
KS: I read mysteries when I’m looking for something fast and entertaining. I like Laura Lippman a lot, maybe because I grew up in Maryland. The characters are fun and I like to predict the solution.
NL: Would you ever organize your books by color? Yea or Nay?
KS: Not ever.
NL: What do you plan to read next?
KS: Kristin Hannah’s The Women is next in my queue.
NL: What’s the first book that you remember reading?
KS: After the Dr. Seuss books, I really remember The Borrowers by Mary Norton. I was enchanted with the idea of this small mirror society living with us.
NL: What’s your least favorite book?
KS: These days if I don’t like a book I just put it aside.