Mary Hamilton

Mary Hamilton it an optician, teacher, and writer living in Chicago. She is the co-host and co-founder of the QUICKIES! reading series and she blogs about Inspirational Sports Movies at inspirationalsportsmovies.blogspot.com.


what are you reading now

I read Newsweek on the bus. I have a subscription to The New Yorker that I got as my reward for renewing my NPR membership, but those issues are stacking up without being opened. I'm currently carrying The Mezzanine around and, when I get a spare second, I read a page or two of that.


classic you’ve been meaning to read

Lolita.


last book you finished in a single sitting

Jesus' Son. It was a long time ago, but I remember not being able to put the book down and then, I was done and it was four or five in the morning and I had to leave for work at nine, so with a few hours to kill I just started reading it again.


most treasured book in your collection

I guess the Collected Poems of Robert Service. I don't remember the last time I've opened the cover and I'm not sure that I'd even still like the poetry. But it reminds me of when I was first, "oooh, words!"


book you borrowed and never returned

The Science of Superheroes because I didn't finish it and I want to and now I don't know where it is. Maybe I did return it? I stole Aesop's Fables from my elementary school library in the 6th grade, but I also don't know where that is. When I was in high school I told the library that I lost my copy of the Collected Poems of Robert Service and I paid a $12 fine, but I hadn't lost it, I just really liked the book and the cool green cover. So, technically, I never "returned" that book to the library. And I do know where that book is because I'm looking at it right now.


last reading you attended

We had my book release for the chapbook the other night and I had the mad pleasure of watching/listening to Caroline Picard, Natalie Edwards, and Jill Summers.


favorite book from childhood

The Monster at the End of This Book. It's amazing. It tells you what's up in the title. The whole book is pretty much setting you up for the end, the most obvious foreshadowing ever. And still, every time, it's a huge surprise that there is, indeed, a monster at the end of the book!


book you’ve planted on a coffee table to impress someone

I think my huge stack of New Yorkers looks pretty pretentious and I assume a visitor would think I put them there to impress. Really, I worry more about the records and CDs that are on display.


if you could subscribe to only one literary journal

I know this isn't the answer to the question you're asking, but I think it would be great to buy a massive encyclopedia and receive a random volume once a week. What about that Time/Life series about aliens and home improvements?

This is also my way of cheating and not choosing just one.


best thing you’ve read online recently

This


most anticipated upcoming release

Daddy's by Lindsay Hunter and The Universe in Miniature in Miniature by Patrick Somerville


recommended reading list:


Book/Stories/Poem/Song That I’ve Read/Listened to Several Times, But Am Still Surprised by the Ending


- The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone and Michael Smollin

- “The Dress” by Dylan Thomas

- “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver

- “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O'Connor

- “The Cremation of Sam McGee” by Robert Service

- “A Good Idea” by Sugar