Book Treasures – An Interview with an Avid Reader

“My dream as a girl was to be locked in the library overnight. All those treasures, all mine for a time.” (Susan Gibson Snodgrass)

In this post, I have a treat for you as I invited Susan Gibson Snodgrass over to share about her love of reading with us. Authors like me love Susan because she is an avid reader who finds ways to get the word out about our books. She leaves reviews and makes memes to post on social media about books she’s read and liked. Since I enjoy seeing her comments and memes about books she’s read, I thought you might like meeting her too. She graciously agreed to an interview. So, meet Susan.

Thanks for agreeing to stop by my blog, Susan. I know everybody is going to enjoy getting to know you. First off, tell us a little about yourself and your love of books and reading.

Well, I’m 63, married to Tom for 42 years, one grown daughter, no grandchildren, one little spoiled rotten dog. I have loved reading ever since my earliest memories. My mama bought me a Little Golden Book every week at the grocery store and I still have some! Every night she read to my little brother and me, Bible stories and fairytales. She got me a subscription to the Weekly Reader and then the Weekly Reader Book Club. I got my first library card at age 3.  My dream as a girl was to be locked in the library overnight. All those treasures, all mine for a time. Reading is my favorite thing to do.

I love to read too, but I generally simply read the book and maybe tell my friends about it before I put it on the shelf and pick another one to read. But you help so many authors by not only reading their books but writing reviews and making lovely graphics or memes. How many books to you think you read in a year? And how do you choose what to read next?

Last year I read 246 books or thereabouts. I keep a running list by month of what I read. I choose what to read next by what’s on my influencing schedule and I read according to release date. If I get a break between those, I read something I’ve chosen myself (but I would choose those anyway!), or reread some favorites, which I love to do.

(For those of you who might not know what Susan meant by her influencing schedule, many authors ask a few people to read their books and then, if they like them and want to, spread the news about those books by leaving reviews or talking about the books on social media or recommending the books to their libraries, friends, family or whoever. The following is a meme for my book, River to Redemption that Susan designed and shared online.)

I love the quotes you pick out of the books to make the memes. Do you jot down or mark quotes while you’re reading? How do you decide on the quotes and scenes you use?

I do keep track of them. If I’m reading on my ipad via the kindle app, I highlight the quote. Then after finishing, I’ll go back and write them down, or sometimes I write them down as I go. I choose them simply by what grabs me by the heart. Sometimes it’s like one of those V8 moments, when the quote just hits me right square in the head. I love those!

Here’s one Susan did for Jennifer Rodewald’s book This is Life.

Have you ever considered writing your own book?

Oh goodness no. I have no creativity whatsoever. I consider it such a blessing to read so many good books. I don’t think I could ever write a book.

Now what you’ve all been waiting for. Me to ask Susan about that cute dog in the picture up top.

You have a sweet dachshund you post about on Facebook. How long have you had Sam? Is he your first dachshund? What makes Sam special?

We got Sam in August 2010. Actually, my daughter bought him at a no kill rescue. He wasn’t all dachshund and was abandoned because of that. I trained him because he was only 9 weeks when we got him. Leigh was still at home at the time. He just bonded with me and didn’t want to be with anyone else. When she moved out on her own, there was no way I was letting go. Yes, he is the first. We had always had big dogs: German Shepherd Dogs and Boxers. I grew up with dogs, though. At one point, my pop had 26 hunting dogs.

That’s a lot of dogs. Sounds as though you had plenty of chance for dog friends. But let’s go from pups back to books. What’s your favorite genre to read and if you do have a favorite, why?

I love so many books and I’m not afraid to cross genre lines, but if pressed, I’d say suspense. I read almost exclusively Christian fiction, with nonfiction thrown in, which I love because I love to learn. I did read Mary Higgins Clark in the secular field, and when she passed away, I was so distraught. I also read Ann B. Ross in the secular field, who writes the popular Miss Julia series. I don’t read anything with profanity and vulgarity. And I don’t think I could ever pick a favorite. I CAN pick a favorite series and that’s Jan Karon’s Mitford series. It has nourished my spirit so many times and I’ve read that series numerous times. If I could ever visit or live in a fictional place, it’d be Mitford. Although, I did love your Hidden Springs a lot!

That’s fun, Susan, and I do love the above memes you made for Murder Is No Accident, one of the Hidden Springs Mysteries. But since you do read so much, you must have a load of books. Do you have some you keep forever? What do you do when your shelves get too full? Do you give the books away to others you think might enjoy the stories?

Boy, that’s a loaded question. I do have a ton of books I keep. I have close to 1,000 physical books. Both fiction and nonfiction. I have 5 bookcases in my living room, one in our bedroom and one in our prayer room. Then I have two library style shelves in my storage building. I do give books away at times to some friends who read and pass them on so others can enjoy. But not my favorites. I learned an important lesson once by lending a book. I lent it to someone in November 2016 and haven’t gotten it back yet. Don’t think I ever will. So I only loan to those I trust and then hesitantly.

I guess most of us have lost a book or two that way. But all those shelves of books are something like that library you wanted to be locked inside when you were a kid. 🙂 When did you become such an avid reader? Was it while reading those Little Golden Books when you were a little girl or later in life?

As a child, I read almost all the time. My mama used to say, “If you’re looking for Susie, she’s somewhere with her nose stuck in a book.” True words. Books were such treasures to me and still are. When I learned to read my first Dick and Jane book, I thought I was the stuff! All those letters now became words that I could read!

Do you remember one special book you read as a child that woke you to the magic of reading?

I can’t think of one in particular because I was read to from my earliest memory. One I remember fondly was Little Women, which I read several times. I think my childhood copy is still in my attic.

That’s fun since I let Francine in These Healing Hills remember that book as a favorite. Now let’s think both dogs and books for a minute. Since it’s easy to see you’re a real dog lover because you read Sam goodnight books (I know this because I’ve seen a picture on Facebook of you reading to him), do you like books where a pet plays a big role in the story?

Absolutely! I love to read books where dogs are in the book. I always want to reach in the book and pet them.

I love putting pets in books and I know other writers do too. I’m guessing your husband spoils Sam too. You and your husband have been married 40+ years. To what do you contribute so many happy years together?

Hmmm. That’s a hard one to answer because it’s not just one thing. I think you have to start off with knowing this is a forever deal. I think you must remain loyal to your spouse no matter what. If you have a fight, don’t go running and telling everyone about it. You’re an adult and you have to figure this out with him. And make him your best friend. Tom and I are each other’s best friends. I would rather hang out with him than anybody else. We do everything together. He is my protector and my safe place, just as God intended. I firmly believe that. Another author, Mary Connealy, and I were discussing this once on Facebook and were talking about how that first blush of passion fades, but it is replaced by something even more precious. Mary said it was a ‘solid foreverness.’ I loved that way of putting it and I use it often. I can’t imagine life without Tom.

One last question for those who might think making memes the way you do would be fun whether it’s for an author’s book or maybe a birthday greeting for a friend. How do you make lovely graphics like this? 

I get my photos from pixabay, which is free and I use the free version of Canva. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing about your love of reading and books. Are there any last comments you’d like to make?

Thanks so much, Ann. This is incredibly humbling to me. God has blessed me with my dream, reading. I’ve never wished for a fine house, fine cars or money. Honestly. I’m content and have always been. But this reading gig is something I will never take for granted. Truly, He has bestowed on me my heart’s desire.

I hope you enjoyed meeting Susan and her buddy, Sam.

Are you an avid reader too? Do some quotes from books touch your heart in a special way?