Reader's Fave

Recently I interviewed Garrett Rad-cliffe for our ninth installment of Reader's Fave, a casual talk with someone who shares their favorite book. Garrett currently serves as a lieutenant firefighter for the Puget Island Fire Department. He and his wife have lived out on the Island now for about five years.

As we spoke, Garrett talked about the book The Martian by Andy Weir, a well-liked novel which also became quite the popular movie. What seemed to grab him with this particular book was the main character. "I felt like I related to the character," Garrett said. "He was facing all these struggles and challenges, but he didn't lose his sense of humor." Garrett discussed how in the fire department it all comes down to two things you can control: attitude and effort. He saw these similar attributes in the main character in The Martian.

One interesting thing I found out is that Garrett had watched the movie first before reading the book. He said when he was younger he'd sometimes do this and recalled watching all of the Lord of the Rings movies first. Later, his mom bought him the Lord of the Rings book set to read.

However, he did follow-up and made clear that it wasn't always this way. "I read the Harry Potter books first, then saw the movies," Garrett said. Either way, it was clear that he enjoyed books or movies where the main characters are in control of their attitude and are giving it their all to accomplish their goal.

Today, Garrett finds himself reading more non-fiction books. He enjoys The Daily Stoic, by Ryan Holiday and the book Can't Hurt Me, by David Goggins. Both books reflect achieving what one wants by having a good attitude and giving it their best effort, a theme similar to the fiction books Garrett mentioned earlier.

When asked who had influence on him becoming a reader, he mentioned his parents and a teacher in high school, 'Coach Joe,' who both taught and coached sports. Garrett recalled reading in Coach Joe's classroom the book Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, finding it a fascinating tale about the school-age boys who had endured a plane crash and were left alone on an uncharted island. That similar theme about attitude and effort popped-up yet again.

As we ended our talk, Garrett reflected how, as a kid, he frequently walked to the library near where he lived. "Libraries are awesome for communities, and not just for books," he said. "You should join anything that will help out your community." Perhaps that's something to think about as we wrap up this edition of Reader's Fave. May you wonderful Wahkiakum readers enjoy a good book.