What books would you want to read again (and again) stuck on a desert island? | Abilene Reporter-News

Every parent and teacher who’s heard a child say,  “I hate books,” got the perfect comeback handed to them Saturday, thanks to an Abilene High School librarian by Loretta Fulton, Special to the Reporter-News. 

James Ward Lee (left), this year's A.C. Greene Award winner, listens to a speaker during Saturday morning's panel discussion with 2018 winner and West Texas Book Festival founder Glenn Dromgoole. Oct 5 2019
Photo: Greg Jaklewicz/Reporter-News

“No, you hate the books you’ve read so far,” Chrissy Adkins said, offering a  phrase that she no doubt has uttered many times in her career, first as a teacher and then as a librarian.

Adkins was one of five panelists Saturday as part of the 19th annual West Texas Book Festival, sponsored by the Friends of the Abilene Public Library.

Title of the panel was “Ten Books for a Desert Island,” with each author offering ideas that covered a wide variety of genres, from children’s books to poetry to novels. The festival concludes from 2-4 p.m. Sunday with a local authors showcase and reception at the Abilene Public Library south branch in the Mall of Abilene. Admission is free.

Panelists Saturday were Adkins, James Ward Lee, Mary Helen Specht, Damon Parker and Glenn Dromgoole, moderator. During the Boots & Books luncheon Saturday, Lee received the A.C. Greene Award, presented annually to a distinguished Texas author for lifetime achievement...

Specht, an Abilene native, is an associate professor of creative writing at St. Edward’s University in Austin. Her novel, “Migratory Animals,” was winner of the Texas Institute of Letters Best First Fiction Award and was selected as a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice. 
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Source: Abilene Reporter-News