Reader's Fave, July 17, 2025

I recently interviewed Stacy Wynn for our 22nd installment of Reader's Fave, a casual interview with someone who shares their favorite book. I met up with Stacy at Health and Human Services, his place of work.

As we began, Stacy shared "The Princess Bride" by author William Goldman. This book is a fantasy romance novel filled with true love and high adventure, but the author focuses on the "good parts" of romance and adventure.

Stacy began by saying he has a "top five" as far as books go, and he considers "The Princess Bride" the best, but what's most interesting is his re-reading of these top five books. "I re-read these five books annually," he said. "I don't know why others don't re-read their favorite book each year." The look on his face said it all. He truly didn't understand why not, but this seemed to also reflect Stacy's strong love for reading in general.

He first became aware of and saw the movie "The Princess Bride" back in 1994 on HBO when he was about 13 years old at a friend's house. He loved the movie and all the characters in it. He especially liked seeing Andre the Giant in the film.

Stacy knew nothing about there being a book until years later, but when he found out and read the book, he loved it. "I fell in love with the way the author told the story," he said. "I wanted the story to be real, it just captured my attention. I liked how the author described things to the tiniest detail. It is so grandiose, 'the greatest love.' It is so grand, it's incredible."

Since Stacy reads this book each year, he estimates he's read it at least 30 times. "I still escape into it," he said. "I still want it to be true. It's just great!" A book which can be read some 30 plus times is a true testament to its ability to enrapture faithful readers.

Stacy said he'd always been a reader. He remembers reading the "Scooby-Doo" books in his early days of reading, and a bit later enjoying the "Star Wars" books. He mentioned, "My parents were not big readers, but I always enjoyed it. I liked going to the library as a boy. It was really influential and it didn't cost anything."

In middle school, he recalled a teacher reading "A Bundle of Sticks" by Pat Mauser. The book is about a boy who stands up to the schoolyard bully. "I remember being entranced by it," Stacy said. She would read it for the last 15 minutes of class."

Later in middle school, he read "The Hobbit" and hated it. Finally, in high school, he was told to read "The Lord of the Rings" and began to read it and hated it, too. He just didn't like how it was written. He asked the teacher if he could read something else. Reluctantly the teacher obliged and had him read a higher-level book, "Fahrenheit 451," which Stacy described as a "great" and "incredible" book.

Today, Stacy enjoys his books in a variety of ways. He'll do audio, sometimes using the Libby app through the library, and listen while driving. Stacy usually has around five books on his night stand waiting to be read. He also revealed, "I try to have a book of poetry around." He also specifically highlighted books by Native American writer Cliff Taylor. Stacy finds Taylor's writing about the heartbreak of Native Americans "incredible."

What about Stacy's other four books in his top five? Stacy kindly listed them: "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams, "Starship Troopers" by Robert A. Heinlein, "Word War Z" and "The Zombie Survival Guide," both by Max Brooks. Every year, Stacy reads them all, like clockwork. "I don't know how you can't re-read your favorites," Stacy said again as our interview came to an end. "It's really a mystery."

So, wonderful Wahkiakum readers, may you find and enjoy a book so enrapturing that you might consider re-reading it each and every year.