Me, My Shelf, & I | Valerie
Introduce Yourself | Hi there, I’m Valerie! I’m the digital marketing assistant at Little, Brown Young Readers. I work mostly on creating digital content for our social platforms, updating the NOVL and LBYR websites, as well as maintaining a few of the social media accounts (mainly the LBYR Instagram, but I do work on the NOVL Instagram and Twitter as well!)
Favorite Book of All Time | The Pendragon Series by D.J. McHale. More specifically, my favorite book in the series is the 9th one - Pendragon: Raven Rise (not pictured, because I borrowed it from my school library). I love my Harry Potter (woo, Ravenclaw!), but I think Pendragon is definitely a very underrated series that more people should read.
Favorite LBYR Book | To be honest, I’m relatively new to LBYR, so I haven’t read too many of our titles yet (even though I did read some before I worked here!) So if I had to choose, I would say The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones. It gave me a type of excitement for a book that I haven’t felt in years. The characters were well-developed, and I liked that the story didn’t completely revolve around romance.
Book You’ve Been Meaning to Read for a While | Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. When I worked at Barnes & Noble my freshman year in college, my co-worker talked about this book nonstop, and how it changed his perception on the way people treat each other. I’ve been meaning to read it for so long, but I just haven’t gotten around to it.
Book(s) You Think Everyone Should Read | The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X, as told to Alex Haley. This book is remarkable, and it changed my perspective on the world. After the first read, I went through and marked down my favorite passages that I still refer to sometimes. I’m also super indecisive when it comes to choosing books (because there are so, so, so many good ones!), so I also want to mention Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang. I read the short story that the film Arrival is based on for class, and I was immediately hooked. Chiang is a phenomenal writer, and he weaves the stories in a way that made me pause and contemplate my own ideas about religion, humanity, and science. If you’re a Black Mirror fan, then you’ll love the collection.
Most Worn-Out (but Well-Loved) Book | Bloomability by Sharon Creech. This book arguably made me into a book lover. Its competitor is Walk Two Moons by the same author, but I remember that I read Bloomability over 20 times throughout my elementary and middle school years. I carried it everywhere with me. The spine is broken down, the pages are yellow, there’s a green stain on the side from an unknown source, and it has that old, dusty book smell. I haven’t read it in a while, but talking about it makes me want to read it all over again.
A Signed Book on Your Shelf | Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes. I actually never met any authors until I started working at LBYR. She came in one day to give a very moving talk about the book, and I got my copy signed afterwards. She’s a wonderful and talented writer, speaker, and person.
Currently Reading | Elon Musk: Inventing the Future by Ashlee Vance. As much as I love my YA lit, I very much enjoy my biographies. It’s insane how much Elon Musk can fit into a week, especially since sometimes I’ll take a break before I even start doing anything. I’m also reading Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray right now, in anticipation for Before the Devil Breaks You.
Thanks for joining us for another Me, My Shelf, and I! If you missed Elizabeth’s, you can check it out here. Stay bookish!
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