Reader of the Week: Frances Evangelista
June 22, 2009 by Rob
Filed under Rob's Reader of the Week
Rob’s Intro: Refinement is the buzzword again this week on Rob’s Reader of the Week as I proudly present Frances Evangelista of Nonsuch Book. Quite frankly there aren’t too many readers out there that can boast a level of reading sophistication to match Frances’ and I consider it a real pleasure to be able to feature her.
I first met Frances a few months ago when she launched her Proustian reading challenge. I’d just discovered the charismatic draw of Marcel. Frances had decided to once and for all absorb the French literary maestro, and viola, fate had played its hand. I’m glad it did because Frances titillates me, she really does. I not only love her reading choices (except for the poetry 
)) and her enthusiasm for books, I also enjoy her blog posts which are always warm, passionate and full of exquisite detail.
That’s right folks Frances is a shining example of everything a book blogger should be, and so it gives me great delight to turn the virtual mic over to the lady herself. Heeeere’s Frances:
I am lucky enough to live just outside Washington DC, one of the most engaging cities in the world. I am a librarian/ media specialist for DC Public Schools, have been an advocate for various literacy initiatives for over 20 years, and run the biblioblog Nonsuch Book. My inner child is not so inner, but when I manage to behave as an adult, I enjoy wine, museums, film, cooking and great restaurants, and any activities by a beach.
1. Favourite Genre? Nonsuch Book contains mostly literary fiction but I read all over the place. Since I work in education, I read a HUGE number of books written for the short set. And as the subtitle on my blog (musings of a print junkie) suggests, I ingest most print that crosses my path including magazines, journals, newspapers, etc. Sometimes it is a habit a little out of control.
2. Favourite Book? My favorite children’s book is The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. As a child, no matter how many times it was read to me or by me, I cried my eyes out when the Lorax lifted himself up by the seat of his pants, and vanished through a hole in the smog. I still get a little weepy reading it to my students on Earth Day every year. They love to pat my back, and tell me it will be OK.
My favorite adult book is much harder to pin down. Let me name a few: Anna Karenina, One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Great Gatsby, and last but not least, The World According to Garp ties with A Widow for One Year as my favorite Irving novels.
3. Why do you love reading so much? If I were a book character I would be Curious George. My exhausted parents fed me a constant supply of books during my childhood to satisfy my curiosity about everything and to quiet my restless self. The answers I sought in those books contained so much more delicious detail than I was provided anywhere else, that I was hooked for life. And it was not only those answers that appealed to me. It was all the answers to questions that I had never thought to ask. Invitations into other people’s heads that drew me outside my own.
4. Favourite reading place? Bed. If my family permitted it, I would make my bed my life’s command center. And in a garden is lovely too. Or at a restaurant when you get the opportunity to eat alone. Kind of decadent when you think about it. You are hiding out away from the responsibilities of work or home, and there is someone right there obliged to wait on you. For money.
5. How BIG is your reading addiction? This is a trick question, Rob, but you will not trip me up. It is not an addiction but a means through which I navigate life. We all like to call it an addiction because it makes us sound edgy. Kind of funny. In the same way I like to tell people that Batgirl was a librarian. Unless you have been featured in a Basbanes book or your home has been condemned as a fire hazard, your slightly excessive book lust is not a true addiction. Maybe.
6. How do you normally add books to your collection i.e. Online booksellers, 2nd-hand book stores, thrift shops, book swapping sites? All of the above.
7. How do you decide what to read? Completely random unless I have committed to a shared read with friends like for a book group or our push through Proust. It has to be a specific title like that too. I am notoriously bad about challenges. Book bloggers are often great list makers who plan their reading out for the month, the season, the year, and then post that plan and stick to it. I am not capable of that. It would prove laughable for me to even attempt it. And I have no desire to attempt it.
8. Ebooks – love or hate? Getting used to it. Have the Kindle app on my iPhone and have read through a bit of Arthur Conan Doyle that way recently, but still prefer a paper product in hand. Many tell me that I would become a convert if I had a full size Kindle, but that remains to be seen.
9. Has reading inspired you to do any serious writing yourself? Tons. If reading could only inspire me with the courage to attempt to publish, life as I know it would be sweet. Inevitable rejection and all.
10. What single piece of advice (or tip) would you give to fellow readers? Share your love of reading in every way you can. Volunteer with an adult literacy initiative or tutor at an under-served school. Give books away randomly to people that might like them. And not just your best friend. Give some books away to people you don’t even care for like that woman at work that told you what a flake you are (and that still means a GOOD book not some bodice ripper piece of something that you hope might offend her). And don’t forget to support your local public library. Circulations in a tight economy are at highly elevated levels, but at the same time, library budgets are being slashed everywhere. Chances are a local librarian will think you a super hero for a few hours of shelving or processing holds. We are or will become what we read so advocate for best possible outcomes.
Thank you for your wonderful answers Frances, and for taking the time to share them.
Well that was the very refined Frances, and remember you can catch up with her at any time over at her own sickeningly good lit blog – Nonsuch Book.
For next week’s Reader of the Week? Well I’m keeping a veil of mystery, if only to encourage you to come back next week
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Rob, a self-confessed bibliophile, is without any hope of rehabilitation. He gets unnaturally excited over anything book-shaped, and if book sniffing were a crime then he would have been locked up years ago (which wouldn't bother him in the slightest provided his cell were lined with books)
Great feature. Good interview questions. I follow Frances and she does have a great blog.
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If I didn’t already recognize Nonsuch Book as great, the presence of “The Lorax” here would certainly serve well in selling it to me. Fascinating as usual and a pleasure to see one of my favorites honored with a picture.
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