I don’t remember a time when books weren’t a huge part of my life. My father modeled a reading lifestyle, although his books were always non-fiction, and I am a lover of fiction - heavy, dense, literary fiction.
Still, I remember the day my father gave me The Count of Monte Cristo. I was absolutely daunted by its heft, but soon became so entranced with the power of a story that I never looked back.
Studying English literature in college further deepened my passion, introducing me to southern gothic fiction. Its intoxicating form of storytelling captivated me, and I discovered a love for immersive literary fiction. Anything with a transportive setting became my literary haven.
When life led my family and me away from New England and consequently away from my established book communities, I found myself missing my people; my book people. This longing drove me to seek out new connections, and that’s when I turned to Bookstagram. Through @LoneStarWords, I built a new community, formed close-knit relationships with other readers and began interviewing authors.
But Bookstagram is only the start. Now, I am excited to be a part of the Iliad platform launch and partner with reviewers, authors and publishers
- Deb, @LoneStarWords
Interested in reading Deb's favorite books? Check out her top shelf picks below:
Absalom Absalom, William Faulkner
I’ve got a thing for William Faulkner. Absalom, Absalom has been called the best Southern novel of all time and contains everything Faulkner... shifting narrative, stream of consciousness flashbacks, and, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the longest sentence ever written. I fell in love with this novel but fought hard to understand it. I was blessed to study it with a professor who had a lulling southern accent, bringing Faulkner’s words to life. I always return to this book. Society, class, home, ambition, memory of the past. Faulkner attempts to show the reader that we all have our own version of the truth. We only have our own reality.
The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt
The Goldfinch is unequivocally my favorite book of the last ten years - I don’t think another book is even in the same stratosphere. The passion for art, for experiencing, savoring, and sharing it are at the core of this incredible novel. The soul of this book is the obsession and appreciation of beauty - whether it be the written word or the painting on the wall. I am secure in the knowledge that this book is not only one of the best of the decade, but one of the best, period. In Tartt’s words “And isn’t the whole point of things- beautiful things-that they connect you to some larger beauty?"
A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving
Friendship, fate, family, and a questioning of religion are all wrapped up in a story of two young boys, one of whom accidentally kills the other’s mother. I am a reader who believes in the power of the first line, and Irving always comes through. “I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice - not because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.” Could you resist reading a book that began like this? This novel holds the record for the one I’ve gifted the most times - its themes are universal and have the breadth to touch almost any reader. Could you ask for more?