Reader's Fave

Recently, I interviewed Sandra Staples-Bortner for our 12th installment of Reader's Fave, a casual talk with someone who shares their favorite book. Sandra and her husband live in the Elochoman Valley at the old Henry Johnson farm, where they've done much work in restoring the old dairy barn and farm house.

As we talked, Sandra shared Centennial, by James A. Michener, an American author who has written more than 40 books, most of which were fictional-family sagas. Sandra first read Centennial back when she was a high school senior. What appealed to her was Michener's focus on the land and the people who lived on it through the generations. "I'm about the culture and the people," said Sandra.

Since Michener's focus is Sandra's focus as well, she went on to read his other historical fiction family saga books, such as Alaska. Sandra mentioned this book was also about the land and its people which she enjoyed and read twice. "I really am a connected-to-the-land type of person," she said.

Sandra also remembered making "frequent visits to the library in summer to get books to read for the week" as a kid on the east coast in New England. "I just remember going to the library and browsing the shelves of books," Sandra recalled, mentioning that she would often get books about early travelers or adventure-type books which she always found appealing.

Whether it be a family saga, or an adventurous yarn, may you Wahkiakum readers enjoy a good book this week.