天美传媒

She had always been a reader, taking after her late dad, David Grass 鈥�67. Her first job was shelving books at the library and, while a 天美传媒 student, she did that in summers too.

So Courtenay Grass 鈥�02, who majored in English literature at 天美传媒 and got a master鈥檚 in library science, was horrified a few years ago when, looking at the Goodreads app 鈥� what she calls 鈥渟ocial media for book lovers鈥� 鈥� she realized she had read only one book the previous year.

A friend 鈥渨as in the same boat,鈥� and together they resolved to read a book a month. That New Year鈥檚 resolution was 鈥渢he only one I鈥檝e ever kept鈥� 鈥� and surpassed, said Grass, who rates books on Goodreads and posts about them on Instagram.

Grass, regional coordinator for a mortgage company, likes a variety of genres 鈥� thrillers, historical and contemporary fiction, nonfiction and memoirs. She usually uses the Libby app to borrow books from the library; binges on her Kindle on weekends (and loads the device before vacations); and recently bought a chair to furnish a dedicated reading spot in her home. 聽

Books provide escapism for her, but one of her three book clubs has the serious mission of selecting books written by female authors with a focus on diversity. 鈥淲e need to expose ourselves intentionally to different people because that鈥檚 how you learn,鈥� she said.

鈥淐aste鈥� by Isabel Wilkerson should be required reading, she said. She read 鈥淎re You There God? It's Me, Margaret鈥� by Judy Blume 鈥渙ver and over and over鈥� as a youngster and counts it among her favorites. Others are 鈥淯nbroken,鈥� 鈥淭he Good Earth,鈥� 鈥淓leanor Oliphant is Completely Fine鈥� and 鈥淯ntamed.鈥�