Introduce Yourself
Emilie here. I’m LBYR’s Marketing Director, and I work on the best books with the best book people in the business. I love my job!
Favorite Book of All Time
It changes based on which one I most recently reread, so I’m cheating (you can do this when you’re the boss) and saying it’s a tie: The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay and Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
Favorite LBYR Book
The Jolly Postman or Other People’s Letters by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. It begins, “Once upon a bicycle,” (doesn’t that give you the most delicious little spine shiver?), and it was the first book I read as a kid with TWO titles, which blew my mind. My favorite part was the Wicked Witch’s circular from Hobgoblin Supplies Ltd. Because this interview is on NOVL, I’m also going to name my favorite YA book of ours: Days of Blood & Starlight, the second book in Laini Taylor’s absurdly smart Daughter of Smoke & Bone series. And because I am a mom, I’ll name my kids’ favorites: Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall, Dragonboy by Fabio Napoleoni, Lift by Minh Lê and Dan Santat, Saturday by Oge Mora, and The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Jerry Pinkney.
Signed Book on Your Shelf
The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns, signed by Chris Colfer. This fantastic series has 6 books, and I’ve loved them all—but this installment, book #2, is my favorite. Out of professional courtesy, I usually don’t ask authors or illustrators I work with to sign books for me personally, but I crossed the line here. And I’m so glad I did.
Weird Literary obsession
Books set on islands. I credit (blame?) this phenomenon not on a book but rather a movie, specifically: Exile, a 1990 made-for-TV Disney Sunday Night movie. I have not seen this movie since the 90’s, but in my memory (and I’m certain only in my memory), it holds up beautifully.
Unexpected Book That You Love
Waiting to Be Heard by Amanda Knox. I cannot fathom what motivated me to read this book, as I did not follow the trial when it was happening, wasn’t interested in learning more about it, and don’t usually care for memoirs. Yet read it I did. And I was riveted. I recommend this book to people all the time!
Most Worn-out (but Well-loved) Book
Philip Pullman’s Sally Lockhart mysteries, with #3, The Tiger in the Well, being my most favorite of the favorites. All the noise goes to Pullman’s His Dark Materials, and I get why, but Sally is my BFF (Best Fictional Friend).