This month's LitSoup question:

What are your guilty pleasure reads?

I posed this question to the newsroom, and these are the responses I received:

Caitlin Fertal:

In the request for our guilty pleasure reading, Cheryl pointed out that we could “go ahead and admit that you’re reading the Twilight series,” so I thought, OK, I will.
I read these books a couple years ago, and I immediately fell in love with them.
It was an easy read that you could throw yourself into completely and just escape whatever it may be that you were dealing with in the real world. (For me, that happened to be a less-than-pleasant breakup, so the fantasy world sucked me in where I didn’t need to think).
I think a book like this is perfect for it, and I’ve told anyone who will listen that I don’t know if what was going on in my life at the time is why I am so fond of these books, or if I would have liked them just the same if I wasn’t escaping reality.
Either way, when I went to see The Hunger Games recently, (which was AWESOME) and the trailer for the newest Twilight film came on, I was pretty excited about it. I’m not gonna lie, I can’t wait to see Bella turn into a vampire.
Maybe I am just a nerd/teenage girl at heart, because I love everything about the characters and the story. (I know Cheryl thinks they’re lame, and hasn’t joined either “team,” but I’ll always be a team Edward girl).
If you haven’t read them, you should know that the movies are pretty terrible in comparison. I still like them, and I’ll go see the newest one when I have time.. but the books are far better – especially because you aren’t surround by a bunch of swooning 12 year olds.
Books like this and the (much better) Harry Potter series make me wish I could be a vampire or attend Hogwarts. Now that certainly qualifies as a guilty pleasure.

Nicole Franz:

My guilty pleasure reads are comic books. I’m particularly guilty of delving through the bound volumes of Marvel Comics titles like X-Men.

Jeffrey L. Frischkorn:

Shhh.. Don’t tell anyone but it’s SCI-FI, especially the Star Trek stuff… Great airplane reading material…

Cheryl Sadler:

As Caitlin mentioned above, I am reading the Twilight series (but I don't think I'm enjoying it as much as she did, so I'm not sure if it qualifies as guilty pleasure). I am a fan of mindless chick lit -- those pink paperback books. I'm working my way through some Meg Cabot, which is not that great but entertaining. And it shouldn't be a secret to any longtime readers of this blog that I read and thoroughly enjoyed "Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later ..." (though I might have liked re-reading the original Sweet Valley High books in preparation for that a bit more).

Matthew Skrajner:

My biggest guilty pleasure read is definitely celebrity gossip. Do I know any of these people? Will I ever meet them? Do they affect my life in any way? Absolutely not. But I can’t get enough TMZ… I’m not proud of it.

I opened the question up to Twitter:

@nhcheryl Sweet Valley, duh! I just got a copy of Sweet Valley Confidential. Only a year late. :)
— Danielle Capriato (@DCapriato) March 26, 2012

@nhcheryl Sorta feel guilty that I still prefer Wishbone's interpretations of the classics to the originals. t.co/KoWG0Dti
— Edouard Weevil (@EdouardWeevil) March 26, 2012

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This post is part of a LitSoup, a regular feature on The Book Club compiled of contributions from the newsroom and community. Send an email or tweet with your suggestions for future LitSoup topics.

-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

Author Annmarie Cleversey grew up in Painesville and spent plenty of time in Morley Library. Both have served as inspiration for her Hailey Hanson Mysteries. She even dedicated the first book in the series "To the staff at Morley Library who always made the library my favorite place to be."

Cover for "Trouble Comes to Town,"
from facebook.com/annmariecleversey

Cleversey recently contacted me to let me know two of the books in the series have been e-published and are available as Kindle editions on Amazon.com:

"Trouble Comes to Town" by Annmarie Cleversey is available on Amazon.com as an e-book for the super price of $0.99. Children's Librarian Hailey Hanson finds trouble (and a little romance) when a little boy is left behind one night in the children's room and she sets out to find his mother. Set in the fictional town of Hamley, Ohio, readers will recognize some similarities between Hamley and Painesville, Ohio. The book is a light read and is the first the mystery series that will feature female sleuth, Hailey Hanson along with Officer Ryan Thomas of the Hamley Police Department who does his best to keep Hailey out of trouble. The second book of the series, "Deadly Deceptions," is also available on Amazon.com for $1.99. Both books have the download sample available, which allows the reader to download a portion of the book free.
Check out Annmarie Cleversey's Facebook page for additional information regarding the books.

Sounds like a good read for fans of mystery, Morley Library and Painesville.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

The Wickliffe Public Library Board has one opening.

Interested parties should email a statement of interest and their background information to wkplmain@gmail.com by March 12. Selected applicants will be asked to attend a short interview during the week of March 13 through March 19.

Wickliffe residence is preferred but not required.

Today is Read Across America Day, which is celebrated every year on Dr. Seuss' birthday. According to Seussville.com, "Across the country, thousands of schools, libraries, and community centers participate by bringing together kids, teens, and books ..."

So in honor of reading and in celebration of the genius Dr. Seuss, here is an infographic from mamiverse.com with 30 Dr. Seuss quotes to live by:


[Via: 30 Dr. Seuss Quotes to Live By]

-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl