Loan Stars is the readers’ advisory tool that allows library staff across Canada to collaboratively select their favourite forthcoming titles. Using CataList, the online catalogue service and order management tool available for free to libraries, library staff can endorse the Fiction, Non-Fiction, Juvenile, and Young Adult titles they want to recommend to their patrons. The titles with the most recommendations become Loan Stars picks!
But who are the authors and illustrators behind these great Loan Stars reads?
We find out in our series Meet the Loan Stars.
Meet Katherine Reay
Katherine Reay is the national bestselling and award-winning author of Dear Mr. Knightley, Lizzy and Jane, The Brontë Plot, A Portrait of Emily Price, The Austen Escape, and The Printed Letter Bookshop. All Katherine’s novels are contemporary stories with a bit of classical flair. Katherine holds a BA and MS from Northwestern University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, and is a wife, mother, former marketer, and avid chocolate consumer. After living all across the country and a few stops in Europe, Katherine now happily resides outside Chicago, IL.
You can find Katherine’s new novel, The London House, included as a Loan Stars pick on the November 2021 Loan Stars Adult list.
Without further ado, our interview!
If you could visit any library in the world, where would you go?
So many places…. Honestly, wherever I go I look for the library. One of my absolute favourites is Trinity College Library in Dublin. And, while in Prague, I peeked into the Klementinum Library. We were unable to go in — so that is definitely one I'd like to wander around. I would also love to see the Stuttgart City Library. I have only seen pictures and it's so stark, modern, and oddly very inviting.
Do you have a favourite librarian, real or fictional?
I have met many wonderful librarians and have a few as close friends — they always pick the best books. But the one at my local library growing up will always hold a special place in my heart. She simply knew what books would interest me and never ran out of dynamic and spot-on suggestions. It was magic.
Which book would you choose to recommend to library patrons?
Of course, I'll first suggest my own stories — they truly are all love letters to books and literature. But... If I sense you're looking for something different, might I suggest A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles? I offer this one because it pulls wonderful insights from both literature and history and is a remarkable story that will span ages and interests well.
What does being a Loan Stars pick mean to you?
Books and libraries mean the world to me — they teach us about ourselves, they grow our empathy and understanding, they bring our communities together, and they foster all the best aspects of humanity. To be chosen as a Loan Stars pick is a great honour. Thank you all very much.
And thanks to you, too, Katherine!
Are you a Loan Stars-recommended author or illustrator who wants to be featured on our blog? Get in touch with us to get started.
Until next time!
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