FAIRMONT – Samantha Godbey’s shelves in her office and at home are heaping with books.
And, like most people who enjoy turning pages, the Fairmont State University administrator – she directs the Civics Institute and coaches the debate team – can always relate the printed word of fiction to the real world of her decidedly nonfiction life.
Which is why she’s taking part in “Freddie’s Reading Challenge” this summer at her school. (Freddie being the name of Fairmont State’s Falcon mascot).
Derek Nuzum, a Fairmont State librarian, came up with the idea with Lindsay Morris, an administrator in the College of Liberal Arts, as a way to encourage reading in the university community over the summer.
Students and staffers are currently reading books and charting their progress, and their mini-reviews of the works, online.
The one who reads the most gets a pizza party in the fall.
“It’s just a way to engage the community,” said Godbey, whose debaters did just that this past fall, by arguing for, and against, the existence of Mountain State cryptids, such as Mothman and the Braxton County Monster.
Godbey these days is all about the existence and upcoming nuptials of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
You know: America’s uber-couple who may (or may not) be exchanging wedding vows this Fourth of July weekend at Madison Square Garden.
Or, somewhere else, Godbey said.
“She could be encouraging everyone to look over here while she does something over there,” the administrator said.
The singer-songwriter never fails to make Godbey look within, she said.
“Oh, yeah, I’m a Swiftie,” she proudly asserts.
Which is why she’s offering up her own Taylor-made reading list for the challenge.
For example, if you’re a fan of the song, “It’s Nice To Have a Friend,” she’s got the perfect accompanying book: “Project Hail Mary,” by Andy Weir.
“Never Grow Up,” is a tune, she said, that pairs nicely with T.J. Klune’s “The House in the Cerulean Sea.”
Sarah J. Maas’ “Throne of Glass” series would be a good companion to Swift’s “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me,” Godbey asserts.
And Swift’s “No Body, No Crime,” just might have its literary soundtrack-within-a-soundtrack via “The Housemaid,” the latest title from Freida McFadden.
Godbey reads everything from white papers to fantasy novels, meanwhile, and just finished Oyinkan Braithwaite’s “Cursed Daughters” on Monday morning, in fact.
“I love fiction,” she said. “I like to pretend I’m somewhere else.”
