A Librarian with a ‘Hunger’ for Literature

Here we introduce Molly Wetta, services manager for the Santa Barbara Public Library and a co-founder of the Indy Book Club. The librarian reviewed Roxane Gay’s Hunger in this week’s issue of the Independent.

How did the Library and Indy team up to create the Book Club? Indy staff who were big readers and library users had the idea, and we were totally on board! When we started brainstorming, Emily [Cosentino Lee], Caitlin [Fitch], and I all realized we had really eclectic taste in books and read widely in all sorts of genres, and settled on the idea of a community book club that would encourage folks to expand their reading horizons by checking out new genres and subjects.

What books have you read during the pandemic to help you forget about the world for a while? When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey and Luster by Raven Leilani. How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell really prompted a lot of reflection in how I wanted to emerge from pandemic life.

Where and how do you like to read? Quietly at home? At a coffee shop? Paperback or hardback?  My favorite place to read is lounging with my Kindle in my hammock in the palms on Cabrillo Boulevard. When it’s not too crowded, you’ll often find me on the Satellite patio with a sunshine spritz and a library book. I don’t discriminate between e-book or paperback, hardback or audiobooks — I use all formats.

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