Name: Patience Randle
Where you live: Kansas City, MO
Insta handle: @inkandfable
Current read: Incidents In the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
All photos property of Patience Randle.
What has been your favorite read of the past year?
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.
Imagine this. You and a celebrity of your choice are becoming friends. They have asked you for a book rec. Who is the celebrity and what book do you recommend?
Definitely Zoe Kravitz. And I’d probably suggest The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Honestly when anyone asks me what to read that’s what I tell them.
How do you choose your next read?
Bookstagam! And my coworkers started this awesome google spreadsheet with all of our book recommendations. It’s never ending and always growing. I also look to literary podcasts and sites like Shelf-Awareness.
What book meant the most to you as a child?
Oh goodness, this is SO hard. But I think that I would have to pick Holes by Louis Sachar. When I read it I felt so engaged. It’ was a “real chapter book with depth”. I felt so grown up reading it (even though I was only 11). It was one of the first times that I felt like I understood context and plot and characters and how everything could come together and tell one big story.
What is your favorite adaptation from book to film, theater, or television? What book do you wish would be adapted?
I have a few favorites! Holes, The Color Purple and Pride and Prejudice.
What’s the one book everyone loves that you just cannot stand?
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I really tried to love it I did! But it just wasn’t for me.
What is one classic you think is not overrated?
Jane Eyre is probably my all-time favorite classic, totally not overrated in my opinion. I have a small collection of different editions.
If you had to declare yourself an expert in one extremely specific genre, what would it be?
Dystopian fiction for sure.
What is your go-to book recommendation?
The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Station Eleven by Emily St. John and The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin.
What book changed your worldview in some way?
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. And the book I’m reading right now, Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl by Harriet Jones.
Why reading?
Why not reading! It’s the greatest escape.
What’s at the top of your TBR or wish list?
A lot of cookbooks surprisingly enough! I’ve also been doing a lot of research on the middle class/wealthy African-Americans who lived during the 19th century, so any books related to that subject. My Amazon cart is full!
