Off the Shelf: What we're Reading: From Educational Theory to the ...

Usually in this column we profile a staff or faculty member of the UK Libraries. For this month?s column we decided to interview a different kind of library employee, a Graduate Assistant and student in the School of Library and Information Science. Debbi Lloyd, a Graduate Assistant in the Reference Department, met with me recently to share her most recent and current reads plus a bit about her favorite genres. We had a great conversation covering a wide variety of books.

Debbi has an undergraduate degree from Spalding University in Louisville in Interdisciplinary Humanities, a degree that focused on art, creative writing, and philosophy. She is currently in her second year of Library School here at UK. She would like to work in an academic library one day.

Our diverse book discussion began with the book Debbi was currently reading for her EDC 608 class. The class is Instruction Design 2 and she is taking the class as a cognate for her MLS. The book is Hamlet?s Blackberry: a Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age by William Powers. It focuses on the balance between technology and how it decreases our depth in relationships and thinking. Debbi explained how the author uses his own personal stories and compares it to difference philosophers. She felt that the book really makes you reflect on your own technology uses and your reliance (or dependence) on technology. Debbi thought it was a very good book, very thought-provoking, and she would recommend it to anyone looking for that ?technology/life balance.? In addition to our discussion on various philosophies and the part technology plays in education on many different levels, we also discussed the various fiction works Debbi enjoys for pleasure reading. Debbi prefers mysteries and paranormal stories in her free time, although she will occasionally read a biography or?memoir-type book?as long as it is funny. In the biography/memoir?area, Debbi mentioned two books that she has read recently that she enjoyed. One was Are You Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling (who you might remember from past seasons of ?The Office?) and the second was Let?s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (the title and the Shakespearean, taxidermy mouse on the front cover are plenty to peak my interest!). But much more to Debbi?s liking are the fiction books she enjoys. Primarily mystery stories (Agatha Christie is a favorite and she is looking forward to rereading the complete Sherlock Holmes) and what she fondly calls the ?paranormal crap? fiction. She is particularly attracted to the contemporary or urban fantasy, often where you have a culture within the one we?re all familiar with (think Harry Potter as one example). Debbi recently finished reading Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia which fits perfectly into this ?world within a world? type of fantasy. The story is about a young girl, Lena Duchannes, whose boyfriend discovers that she is a witch and has no control over what kind of powers, good or evil, she will get when she comes of age. The book explores Lena?s angst over her unknown fate and her inability to choose her own powers. The story is told from the point of view of her boyfriend, Ethan Wate, a boy who is not part of this secret world. A movie based on the book recently came out as well and Debbi has already seen it, twice even! This is exactly the kind of stuff that Debbi enjoys the most. Debbi has two books on her to-read list that both exemplify the type of books she enjoys the most. GoneGirl by Gillian Flynn is a crime mystery and Horns by Joe Hill is another mystery with a paranormal element. In addition, Debbi regularly goes in and downloads all the free top 100 Kindle books in the paranormal category. So she has lots of things on her reading list! It?s always interesting to ask an avid reader about their favorite books and those they disliked. Debbi pointed immediately to the book The Drifters by James Michener as her favorite book. The book takes place during the time of the Vietnam War and is about a group of young adults in their late-teens and twenties traveling in Europe. They each have different stories and reason for their travels; they don?t know each other and encounter each other throughout their travels as the story unfolds. Debbi feels that she read this book at the right time in her life and it really spoke to her. She regularly recommends it to students traveling to Europe. ?Another favorite is the Percy Jackson series of books by Rick Riordan as well as his newer series, the Kane Chronicles. She has been reading these with her niece and she finds them very empowering books for young kids, especially those who struggle with dyslexia or ADHD. On the other end of the spectrum, she is not a fan of post-apocalyptic stories, like the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Passage by Justin Cronin. Debbi said that it?isn't?often that she?doesn't?finish a book (even if she has to force herself), but The Odyssey is one she has never managed to finish.

I really enjoyed the conversation Debbi and I had about these various books. Have you read any of these? Are any of these books ones you now want to put on your ?to read? list? Do you have any questions for Debbi? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: http://otsuklibraries.blogspot.com/2013/03/what-were-reading-from-educational.html

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