Monday, September 17, 2012

Emily Colin

Emily Colin holds a BA in Psychology, with a second major in Literature/Media Studies, from Duke University, and an MS in Family Studies and Human Services, with a specialization in Youth Development, from Kansas State University. She is the Associate Director of DREAMS of Wilmington, a nationally award-winning nonprofit dedicated to building creative, committed citizens by providing youth in need with high-quality, free-of-charge arts programming.

Her debut novel The Memory Thief is now out from Ballantine Books.

Last month I asked Colin what she was reading.  Her reply:
At the moment, I am reading several books simultaneously, more by accident than design. A small sampling: Staying overnight at an author’s cottage after my first reading for The Memory Thief, I discovered Marc Lewis’ Memoirs of an Addicted Brain: A Neuroscientist Examines his Former Life on Drugs. I’ve always had a strong interest in psychology and neuroscience—it’s what I studied as an undergraduate—and something about this book drew me. It’s an accessible combination of memoir and science, and Lewis’ style is both frank and captivating. Alas, I didn’t get to finish the book—I got about 50 pages in and had to return it to the overflowing shelves of the cottage—so now I need to hunt it down at our local library.

I’ve also just started Heather Gudenkauf’s novel, The Weight of Silence. This one I picked up in an airport bookstore, en route to a conference in Oslo. Despite the fact that it was released back in 2009 to critical acclaim, I hadn’t heard anything about it (perhaps I have been living under a rock). Still, the cover caught my eye, and I thought the title was beautiful. Plus, Gudenkauf’s use of multiple points of view appealed to me—as anyone who’s read The Memory Thief will understand. The kicker: one of the two seven-year-old girls who goes missing in this book is a selective mute—a phenomenon that’s fascinated me since, as a teenager, I read psychologist Tori Hayden’s Ghost Girl. Thus far I’ve only had a chance to make it through the first chapter—but at least I own this one, so I won’t have to give it back before I finish!
Visit Emily Colin's website.

--Marshal Zeringue