Ms. O’Brien

Principal Ms. Alanna O’Brien’s favorite read from 2022 was “The Lincoln Highway” by Amor Towles.

“It’s a story about two brothers and other characters that engage on this journey. They think they are going to California to find their mom who they’ve lost touch with, but they end up getting derailed and going to New York to go on this journey together,” Ms. O’Brien said. “It’s a modern-day journey’s hero story with these two brothers … they come across all these things that throw them off track and get back on track.”

“I anticipate that it will become a movie sometime,” Ms. O’Brien said. “I can see it being made into a movie pretty easily.”

When Ms. O’Brien’s family takes their annual camping trip, she always makes sure to have a good book, as it’s her favorite time to read. “I always try and save a good book for our week-long camping trip that we do, and I sit by the lake and read every day.”

For her that pick was “The Lincoln Highway.”

“It’s almost 600 pages long,” she said, “so it took me a little while to sink into it and to get to know the characters.”

She recommends the book to people who like fiction and contemporary literature, and she explained that the plot’s captivating qualities and the writing are two reasons she recommends the book.

For Ms. O’Brien, reading is critical. “I work in a field where a lot of things are coming at me all the time,” she said. “So it’s easy to feel frenetic at times, and reading allows me to, not calm down, but to shift into a more relaxed state.”

Reading usually occurs in the evenings for Ms. O’Brien. “It’s a nice thing to do. I typically read in the evenings— that’s the last thing I do.”

Her preferred genre is fiction, though she occasionally enjoys sci-fi, historical fiction, and fantasy novels from time to time.

“I like to read fiction, but I find it’s challenging for me to read fiction during the school year,” Ms. O’Brien said. “So during the school year, I’m often reading nonfiction books, particularly ones that align with the job that I have, but I love to read fiction in the summers when I’m a little bit more relaxed.”