Carter Myers is a junior at Western Illinois University (WIU). They are in pursuit of an English Major and three minors: Creative Writing, Professional Writing, and General Music.

M&L: What genre makes up most of your collection?

CM: My collection is made up of a variety of books. I have books from nearly every major genre. Most of my collection is made up of long-form fiction; I have eight, double-layered, complete shelves of standard novels, four double-layered shelves full of media tie-in novels, and an assortment of shelves, each dedicated to a more specific style of literature. I have one double-layered shelf each for graphic novels/comics, memoir, poetry and plays, nonfiction/academic literature, and large print media. I also have other books strewn throughout my apartment (attached in additional photos).

M&L: Which book is your favorite?

CM: I often say that my favourite novel is Lost Stars by Claudia Gray (although I just really enjoy this book). This novel is really not saying a whole lot, theme-wise; I often struggle to consume media for fun, but I hold this novel in a special, rose-plated nostalgia vault. I don’t often reread books, but I like to revisit this book. 

M&L: How long have you been building this collection?

CM: I have far too many books. I, however, adore annotating physical books for discussion. Technology often hurts my eyes. I wish there were a way to annotate books and reference without owning them. There are books that I’ve had since I was two or three.

M&L: Which book have you had the longest?

CM: Currently, the book that I have out that I’ve had the longest is my copy of Marcus Pfister’s The Rainbow Fish.

M&L: Which book have you gotten most recently?

CM: Yesterday (Wednesday, February 4th, 2026), I ordered a copy of Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl from eBay.

M&L: Which is your favorite fiction book?

CM: I quite like Lost Stars, but I also enjoy Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and Perfume by Patrick Süskind.

CM: I love nonfiction, but as I sit here writing, I struggle to think of a single ‘favourite’ book. I often preach the importance of reading timely literature, and I’ve read a lot of memoirs and nonfiction, but to pick a favourite, dissecting an individual’s life stories, feels incorrect. I have read the complete works of Melissa Febos, I enjoy Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle, and I wanted to highlight two recent books, which I had read for academia: Pageboy by Elliot Page and Discourse, Culture, and The Workplace by Jo Angouri.

M&L: Which is your favorite poetry book?

CM: I don’t often read poetry books. I enjoy consuming single poems, but they are not often found bound in paper. That being said, I do enjoy rupi kaur’s milk and honey. I also wanted to note that my favourite play is The Importance of Being Earnest (as there was no other segment to enter a “favorite play.”)

M&L: What makes your library/bookshelf unique to you?

CM: My bookshelves are unique to me because they are the only shelves in the world that are composed of the selected works that they house.