I’ve been in love with Ireland ever since I was little and believed in fairies. Does that explain why I gravitate toward Irish writers? It seemed like a fairy trick last year when I’d start a novel and realize, “Another Irish author! How interesting!”

I was fourteen years old and obsessed with Kurt Cobain. His song, “Heart-Shaped Box,” inspired me to dump my Valentine candy into a bag and use the empty heart-shaped box for safekeeping. Shiny red, about the size of a dinner plate, it was perfect for love notes, by which I mean literally notes of “Things I Love.”

Juliana Farrington invited fellow Bexley Public Library Patron Services Associate, Hannah Fithen, to share her past, present and future reading journey. Here’s what Hannah had to say.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed and preemptively exhausted even, trying to be so intentional and thoughtful about the holidays. When I start to feel that way, I turn to my favorite resources.

A reel of images pass through my mind of a recent trip to California. A picturesque bungalow on Electric Avenue a couple blocks from Venice Beach, breakfast sandwiches beneath palm trees, a booth at the Formosa where Elvis once ate. Then it was over in a flash.

Since 2017, my mom and sister committed to reading all 339 book titles that made an appearance on Gilmore Girls, also known as The Rory Reading Challenge.

Every February, in honor of Toni Morrison Day, I choose one of Morrison’s novels to read.