Reader's Fave

I recently interviewed Megan Blackburn Friend for our 44th installment of Reader's Fave, a casual interview with someone who shares their favorite book. Megan and her family live near Cathlamet.

Megan began our discussion of a book from her early youth, "The Monster at the End of this Book Starring Loveable, Furry Old Grover" by Jon Stone. "It was the font which drew me to the book," said Megan. "I love fonts, I love hand drawing them. My art style was definitely influenced by the text and the font in this book. The pages are super detailed. I've read this book to my kids a million times. This book has stayed with me my whole life, and the story comes with a happy ending. I enjoy drawing. I was one of those kids at school who would fill in every margin of every page and I'd fill in every letter "O" on every page. I'd make every letter three dimensional, so this book had a larger impact on me than I first realized. When I lived in New York City, I worked at a Brooklyn coffee shop. I was the one who did the handwritten menu on the board."

Megan clearly is a fan of the literary arts, no matter what form they take. "I read other books, too," she said. "I always have a stack of books at home to read. I go through phases of what I want to read. Right now, I'm reading about our local history, the Butlers, Judge Strong, the Chinook. I enjoy reading memoirs that are based here in Wahkiakum. Other books I enjoyed include "Blindness" by Portuguese author Jose Saramago. Also "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I enjoyed "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn, but it was a book I tried reading a few times but just couldn't, for whatever reason. Then, finally, I just couldn't put it down, and I bought three copies for friends. It reaffirmed how I felt about the world. I got into Jared Diamond's books. These books helped me know that I needed to get out of New York City and have real conversations with people. I enjoyed reading Ray Bradury's book "Fahrenheit 451" and other short stories of his such as "The Long Rain," where they have to get to the Sun Dome, and his short story "Dandelion Wine."

Reflecting on other early reading experiences, Megan said, "I remember at elementary school we'd have Library Day. It was basically free time to go to the library. I'd run to the library and see if any Shel Silverstein books were there. Later, when I was around 7-9 years old, I was into space exploration and how humans could live in space. This is when our family was stationed in Germany at an Air Force base. We moved to Montana, and I was exposed more to the natural outdoors which caused more changes. Now we live here where I focus on self, family, home, our town, and just being here."

Sharing how she likes to read today, Megan said, "I tried the ebook, and actually read a series using the ebook, but that was it. I just miss holding a book in my hands and turning the pages. I did audio one time when I was driving from New York City to Tampa, Florida to attend a wedding. I think it might have been Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel," but I would only do that again on a long, long, long drive. As a mom now, and with two of my three kids being readers, I can sit down and read more."

May you wonderful Wahkiakum readers find books which speak to you and challenge your current thinking in whatever phase of life you find yourselves.