“ Lois Lowry, an author of books for children and a two-time winner of the Newbery for “Number the Stars” and “The Giver,” said she recently read that Katherine Paterson, also a two-time Newbery winner and now the national ambassador for young people’s literature, had named “The Yearling,” by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, as the most influential book of her childhood. “I felt a twinge of ‘no fair, that’s mine!’ ” Ms. Lowry said. “I hastily backed off from that feeling because I know and love Katherine, and it’s O.K. that we share the same book.
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The Book Club With Just One Member - NYTimes.com
Lois, I feel you.
(I am most definitely a blend of public/private reader. It is certainly true that the books I love best are ones I read alone. I’m tempted to apply causation here, and suggest that I love them better because I read them alone, but I’m not sure. I think it might be just that the books I read for book club are often not fully my choice, and therefore I’m effectively pre-selecting books I won’t like as much as books I choose to read myself. But maybe it’s some blend of all these things. All I know is, I have totally felt that stabby “no fair” sensation that Lois Lowry feels, which makes me feel better.)
