Many students and teachers at Mount Pisgah like to read in their free time. Reading truly is for everyone, transporting people to other places and times, into stories that aren’t our own. 

Freshman Ellie Lottes gets lost in the pages of the Harry Potter series due to its plot twists and character development. 

“My favorite part is when Harry and Jenny turn to look at each other on the stairs in the last book knowing it could be the last time [they see each other],” said Lottes. 

English teacher Ann Gambill, who is a big fan of reading, is a huge fan of the classic “To Kill a Mockingbird”. 

“I love how it’s told from a child’s perspective and there is an innocence to that, that you are able to see people without judgement,” said Gambill.

Freshman Alex Crittenden is known for the giant books he enjoys reading. “The Ways of Kings” by Brain Sanderson, an epic fantasy novel and the first in the series of five books, is his all time favorite.

“‘The Way of Kings’ is probably my favorite book because it has in-depth worldbuilding and is really long, so it takes me a while to read it,” said Crittenden. “My favorite character is probably Shallan, because she has lots of internal conflict for what she is trying to do (steal a different magical artifact from said scholar to save her family) and she also learns a lot about the lore and magic, which is always interesting.”

History teacher Parker Durrance is a fan of “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoevsky. 

“It has a lot of good theological discussion, and how to find goodness in the world even when it seems evil,” says Durrance.

For me, at the moment my favorite book is “Nineteen Steps” by Millie Bobby Brown, a captivating historical fiction about the Blitz during World War Two. This follows a girl named Nellie Brown as she navigates love, adulthood and grief throughout the 1940s.