On December 9, 2020, there was the MHRD Title Talk, where Morris Knolls students and teachers went around recommending books that they enjoyed. The event lasted around thirty minutes and started at 2:00. The titles that the attendees mentioned were from a range of different genres including autobiographies, memoirs, realistic fiction, romance, dystonia, fantasy, and mystery. Some of the books mentioned were: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, The Truth Commission by Susan Juby, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins ((The Hunger Games #0), Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand,  Frankly in Love by David Yoon, The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji, Every Day by David Levithan, and Beartown by Fredrick Backman. 

Jamie McLemore, a junior who attended the event, recommended the Reese’s Book Club pick of September 2018, which is Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. She explained  “Where The Crawdads Sing had a perfect balance of mystery and romance. It had a breathtaking setting, and really made me feel like I was going through the struggles of the main character.” Where The Crawdads Sings follows the wild and independent Kya Clark as she searches for a place to belong and happiness, all the while the town suspects her of killing Chase Andrews, the town’s golden boy. Victoria Tang, the co-editor of The Quill who also attended the event, recommended Educated by Tara Westover. Both Where The Crawdads Sings and Educated are #1 New York Times bestsellers and Goodreads Choice Award winners of 2018. Educated is a memoir; in it, Tara Westover writes about her experience with education and the importance of it. Westover was isolated from the rest of the world by her survivalist family until the age of 17 when she left her family to go to college. At university, she learned for the first time about the Holocaust, the Civil Rights Movement, and other well known pivotal moments in history. After the MK Title Talk, Victoria Tang was asked to summarize why she thought Educated was a good book to read and she said, “It’s really eye-opening to lifestyles within America and also human capabilities. The book gives you a change in perspective and understanding of what kind of people exist in the world and even within this country. It’s also an interesting read because it’s putting something we do and have every day in a different perspective and the author’s stories are really captivating.”. 

There will be more MK Title Talks in the future. The next one will probably be in February and the hope is to do it every other month but to do so, people will need to consistently attend them. So if the MK Title Talk is something that intrigues you make sure to keep your eyes open for the next event and if you have any questions reach out to the MK Librarian, Ms.Petersen.   

Overall, the event was a very pleasant experience, where people got together to talk about the books that they love. Reading is an activity many times done alone, but what makes the experience even more enjoyable and profound is talking about the book(s) you love with others.