Reader's Fave

I recently interviewed Lisa Yeager at her home in Grays River for our 29th installment of Reader's Fave. Each week for Reader's Fave, I have a casual interview with someone - often a local - who shares their favorite book.

As we began, Lisa made it clear that she didn't have a favorite book. "But I do have a favorite author," she said. Lisa then brought out a book and pointed to the author's name, Sandra Dallas. Sandra is an American bestselling author of both fiction and non-fiction books. "I'm not one to have a favorite of anything," Lisa said. However, she did share that her grandson might be a current fave.

Lisa came across Sandra Dallas in the early 2000s. Being a member of a book club, Lisa heeded a suggestion to read one of the author's books and was immediately attracted to Dallas' style of writing. "She painted a picture, and her focus on the female character going through some hard times," ..."it made you feel what the characters were feeling. She makes it so you feel like you're there. I can picture the setting, the place, and time. I like to place myself there."

Of the 50 plus books Dallas has written, it was "The Persian Pickle Club" that Lisa has enjoyed the most. The story is set in Depression-era Kansas with no jobs and crops dying in the 1930s. A quilting group of women meets each week and comes face-to-face with a dark secret in their community. "There's a group of these eclectic women with different personalities and some older women who share bits of wisdom who have banded together," said Lisa. "I like things like that where these women find family other than blood relatives. I love stories like that [about] people who band together."

As we talked, Lisa said she's always been a reader, and she then pulled out the book, "Amelia Bedelia Treasury" by author Peggy Parish. "I was a reader as a kid," said Lisa. "I'd get lost in books. When I bought this book about 10 years ago, it all came back. I could almost smell and feel from years ago the physical manifestation of it all." She recalled probably first reading Ameilia Bedelia books around fourth or fifth grade.

Lisa mentioned that school was a large influence for her, due to her family constantly moving. She estimates between the age of 6 and 18, she changed schools eight times. "Reading was escapism for me," she said. "Books were a way to escape. I read a lot. I'd go to the library and get a handful of books. I loved the smell of books, finding something new, [and] reading the back of the book jackets."

Lisa pointed out that she reads her books on a Kindle. "I don't like clutter," she said. "I'm [also] not an auditory learner. I can't listen. Otherwise, it's in one ear and out the other." In 2024, she read 325 books. "I was in a really rough place and just read," she said. "Plus, I'm a very fast reader. All I did was read. This year I've read 150 books so far. I want to read 225."

In case you did not know, Lisa is a writer for the Wahkiakum Eagle. She has recently worked on writing her own book. "I spend a lot more time writing now, and I've learned to write by reading," she said. Lisa first explored writing a memoir, but it was, as she said, "Really, really hard." Next, she worked on a contemporary romance novel set in Grays River. "I couldn't get there," she said. "With the book, it was very formula driven." Later, Lisa found success with a another romance novel. "I finished the first draft, and it's being reviewed and edited," she said. "[It] should be published by the end of the year. It'll be a series of five books. The other four are in my head, with pieces of myself in all of them." With her reading books as a child and adult and, now, writing a book, it seems Lisa has come full circle.

May you wonderful Wahkiakum readers find an author who paints the picture for you, allows you to feel what the characters are feeling, and lets you have a bit of escapism.