Getting to Know You: A Few Words by and about the Volume 9 Staff

Since we are a literary journal and surround ourselves with stories all day, what better way to get to know the staff than by asking them about their literary preferences? Zach and Anna asked the staff, and each other, to talk about their favorite and least favorite genres, their favorite book, and a song or album they would associate with that book. Here’s what the staff had to say:

Hannah
Managing Editor
Hannah’s favorite genre to read is contemporary fiction. She enjoys being able to relate to the things she reads and finds that there is a “lower barrier of entry than having to set [her] mind in historical points or a fantasy area.” While Hannah has great respect for horror writers, it’s her least favorite genre to read. Hannah’s favorite book is Kids of Appetite by David Arnold, who also happens to be her favorite author. Arnold’s writing style is one Hannah draws great inspiration from in her own writing. She associates Counting Crows’ album Hard Candy with Kids of Appetite, citing the album’s bittersweet romantic lyrics as reminiscent of a plotline in the book.

Taya
Managing Editor
Taya has a great appreciation for nonfiction and poetry. She enjoys reading about other people’s lived experiences and finding connections to them. Nonfiction is a unifying genre because “oftentimes we get caught up in our own experiences and we don’t realize that, you know, we’re not alone.” Reading nonfiction allows us to find connections with other people’s stories. While Taya loves nonfiction, she states her least favorite genre as being “textbooks.” Her favorite book is The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater; she also loves Warsan Shire’s poetry. The song she associates with The Raven Boys is “Heroes” by David Bowie. Taya views the song as being from a young perspective and explains, “It’s about people sort of beating the odds and . . . being younger, like a teenager, within, you know, the adult world and learning about everything but still choosing to be a strong force and a forward progressive moving force and being like ‘we can be heroes, we can be great, we can be a big deal even if everything seems crushing and horrible.’ I think the characters in The Raven Boys have a lot of odds stacked against them, but there’s still a lot of strength to be found in those characters.”

Gus
Fiction Editor
The genre that Gus enjoys reading most is fantasy because he considers it to be “explorative and a melting pot.” He thinks that there is much more flexibility in fantasy writing than others and says that it’s a great outlet for creativity. Even while he praises the fantasy genre for these reasons and likes it more than other genres, he doesn’t have a specific genre he dislikes the most or is absolutely opposed to. As far as favorite books, Gus accredits Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling as the series most meaningful to him because it was the catalyst for him as a writer. Gus also mentioned Maximum Ride by James Patterson and Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan as memorable due to their impact on him in his childhood. Regarding the soundtrack that he associates with Harry Potter, he believes that the score for the movies was done extremely well. Gus listens to a lot of fantasy instrumentals (he has hours-long playlists with this type of music), so pointing out a singular song for the other two books is challenging.

Hope
Fiction Editor
Hope’s favorite genre to read is fantasy. There is a mythical and fantastical element within fantasy that other genres don’t possess. Hope likes to vividly imagine the world and characters inside of her head, and fantasy is a genre where there is much to explore and imagine. She also loves when fantasy novels get adapted into movies so she can compare and contrast the ideas and images she had in her head with those on screen. Readers’ interpretations and hopes don’t always come alive in screen adaptations, but Hope doesn’t mind this at all. Her least favorite genres to read are horror and mystery. They’re dull to her, and she isn’t a huge fan of the fact that she thinks something is going to go wrong. Hope believes that it’s easy to foreshadow plot twists or wrong goings, but she still experiences anxiety in the anticipation of something going awry. As far as favorite books, Hope loves The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and more specifically points towards The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Hope loves this book because readers of this novel (which came out years after the trilogy) can see a different, more mature voice in Collins. When it comes to songs or albums that she associates with this book, Hope believes that the soundtrack made for the movies fits exceptionally and that the sound effects, like the mockingjay call, are very fitting.

Keegan
Copyeditor
Keegan appreciates and loves reading all genres, but she finds herself reading mostly fantasy and books that have romance in them. She sort of reads depending on her mood and how well the books are able to capture her and pique her interests at the time. She loves how well-written fantasy can be and feels like it’s real and lived in while also feeling distant. As mentioned above, Keegan likes all genres and doesn’t necessarily have a favorite or least favorite, but she finds herself reading horror the least because she doesn’t like to read to be scared. Currently, The Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer is Keegan’s favorite. When it comes to a song that fits this series, Keegan says that “Battlefield” by SVRCINA perfectly fits the series’ themes. Thesong is about banding together and rallying up, echoing much of the series. The song’s tragic tone parallels The Lunar Chronicles, especially in later books.

Santino
Comics/Art/Graphic Editor
Fiction is Santino’s favorite genre to read. He doesn’t necessarily have a least favorite and considers himself willing to read all genres. Historical fiction is the genre he reads least, though there isn’t a particular reason why. He told us it’s kind of funny that he reads the least in this genre because, unlike others who hate historical fiction, he thoroughly enjoys history and everything there is to offer and learn about it. Santino mentioned that The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is his favorite book. When asked about songs or albums, Santino mentioned “A Wizard, a True Star” by Todd Rundgren, though this isn’t a song he would necessarily associate with the book.

Mena
Creative Nonfiction Editor
As one of the two nonfiction editors, we find it fitting that Mena’s favorite genre to read is nonfiction. She especially loves memoirs because she can learn “through people’s experiences and backgrounds.” Mena’s least favorite genre is fiction; she does not find it relatable. Some of Mena’s favorite books are Becoming by Michelle Obama, Daring to Drive by Manal Al-Sharif, and Untamed by Glennon Doyle. Untamed explores a divorced woman’s journey of finding her voice and exploring her sexuality while also having children. “Finding your voice as an adult woman is something that most women don’t think they have to go through because they’re adults . . . I think it’s beautiful to explore a whole different life while you’re older.” The song Mena associates with a lot of memoirs is one by Rhama Riad that translates to “A Promise to Myself.” Mena explains that “This song explores the singer promising that she will not, kind of, be fooled by people in her life and she’ll kind of stand up for herself.” The idea of standing up for oneself after going through something is one that is often explored in memoirs. Memoirs bring up “human universal themes” that Mena believes “we all should be practicing or be thinking about.”

Anna
Creative Nonfiction Editor
While Anna enjoys editing nonfiction, she finds herself reading mainly romance and contemporary fiction. She loves happily ever afters but also appreciates worldbuilding and tension. Her least favorite would have to be horror only because she gets scared easily and likes to sleep at night. Some of her favorite books include Beach Read by Emily Henry, In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado, and The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake. As someone who lives and breathes books, Beach Read is a top-tier comfort read for her. It doesn’t hurt that it takes place in Michigan. A song she associates with this book is “From the Start” by Laufey. This is a bit of a spoiler for the book, so proceed with caution, but the song narrates a friends-to-lovers relationship. The love interest in Beach Read has been in love with the protagonist since college and she’s been completely oblivious to it. Again, Anna is a hopeless romantic who loves a happily ever after, so the idea of loving someone “From the Start” is one she’s quite fond of. Anna loves Emily Henry’s books because, yes, they’re romantic, but they’re so much more than that. They’re nuanced and vulnerable, which some other romance novels simply aren’t.

Zach
Poetry Editor
Zach tends to find himself with contemporary fiction most of the time he reads (with the exception of books for school). He finds this genre the most enjoyable, followed closely by thrillers. He absolutely hates scary movies and is even surprised that he can read thrillers; however, he has found a recent admiration for them. The genre that he is quick to point out as his least favorite is fantasy. There isn’t one particular reason he finds so much distaste for this genre; it simply does not agree with him. He has tried multiple times to get into fantasy, but the out-of-this-world elements tend to be a bit too much for him. Or, he just hasn’t found the right book to introduce him to the genre. One of Zach’s favorite books (although he has a few and has a surplus of recommendations) is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This book is beautifully written and so intriguing in such a way that he hasn’t really felt in a while. He says that “you know it’s a really good (or really bad) book when you think about it so long after you’ve read it.” For this occasion, the book falls on the really good side of that scale. One song that he associates with that book is easily “The Lucky One (Taylor’s Version)” by Taylor Swift. Both the song and book talk about fame and the glamor of Hollywood, and he thinks that for the show adaptation they should include this song in the soundtrack.

Rachael
Poetry Editor
The genre that Rachael loves to read most is contemporary romance, whereas her least favorite to read is historical fiction because “it doesn’t interest [her].” Rachael discussed how it’s interesting that her most read genre now is contemporary romance because she didn’t used to read it as often, reason being that “[she] was just judging it too much.” She points to a friend giving her The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood as a Secret Santa gift as the reason she is so into contemporary romance today. As far as one of her favorite books, she gives the title Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Rachael was interested in Ishiguro’s writing style. She mentions that in the story, “something is wrong, and you need to figure out what. It’s normal but it’s odd.” Rachael doesn’t associate songs or albums with the books she reads so much as she tends to associate the songs with the action of reading itself because she typically listens to music while she reads. When Rachael read Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun, she often listened to the song “Golden Hour” by JVKE.