A monthly interview with Bolinas Library readers
Emily Prince de la Cruz
Emily Prince de la Cruz has been living in Bolinas since the spring of 2018. She lives with her partner Mac and their two children - Leon (teenager) and Paz (toddler). She loves living in a rural place that has an art museum and she lives for summer when she can swim in Tomales Bay. Previously she lived in San Francisco, and prior to that she grew up in the Sierra Nevadas. For seven years she worked as a librarian for the David Rumsey Map Library, opens a new window at Stanford and she continues to work privately for David Rumsey to catalog the new acquisitions before they go to Stanford. Additionally, she's in her fourth year of study as an herbalist at the Berkeley Herbal Center, opens a new window.
What are you reading now? What’s in your pile of books? Do you read one book at a time or several? What’s the best book you’ve read this year?
I’m currently reading The Outline Trilogy, opens a new window by Rachel Cusk - I’m on the last one, Kudos, opens a new window. Her writing is precise like a surgeon’s knife.
I love one thing at a time in any context whenever possible so that’s how I read. And s l o w l y - as in it takes me a long time to get through a book - since I can often only read for 5 minutes a day, if I’m lucky. I prefer this slow way to when I used to gorge on books as a younger person and barely remember them afterwards, having read them too fast. The books resonate deeper when I read them in these little increments because I have a full day to process a few pages at a time. In addition to a novel I’m always referencing a stack of herb books but those take up a different part of my brain so they don’t distract from whatever fiction I’m reading.
My favorite book I read in the past year was 100 Boyfriends, opens a new window by Brontez Purnell. I love his casual way of expressing the profound - just how people really talk. Easy access and also searingly funny (adult themes/queer themes, just so everyone is aware).
And in the last five years some of my favorite books have been Heart Berries, opens a new window by Terese Marie Mailhot, Minor Feelings, opens a new window by Cathy Park Hong and anything by Tao Lin, opens a new window, especiallyLeave Society, opens a new window. I also enjoyed All Fours, opens a new window by Miranda July (I’m 44, so, of course). Plus, local and brilliant author/curator Jordan Stein’s Rip Tales: Jay DeFeo’s Estocada & Other Pieces, opens a new window was an exhilarating read because his mind is on fire. And I was mesmerized by my friend Sophie Appel’s book of poetry, The World’s Largest Cherry Pie, opens a new window.
Do you like to read paper or ebooks? Audio books? Dvds?
Paper! Occasionally an audiobook if the experience is enriched by hearing the author read it, like Between the World and Me, opens a new window by Ta-Nehisi Coates. That should be on every school’s required reading list. Be ready to weep. Another medium I’ve been getting into lately is Substack, opens a new window for its short-form and continuity - a favorite has been Kate Sweeney’s Diary of a Lifelong Space Cadet, opens a new window. She lives here in the Bay Area and shares her raw take on the challenges of adapting to being a single mother.
Are you a browser in the library or do you know in advance what you are looking for? Do you browse the library catalog or pick specific books? If so, how do you find out about them?
Typically, I know what I’m looking for. I like to read books recommended by authors I’ve already enjoyed, which usually comes up in author interviews. Browsing in a library sounds so luxurious and I usually feel too much in a hurry for that. A special treat is if my children are browsing independently in the library, then I can browse too for a few minutes and I go right to the herbalism, opens a new window section.
Do you have a favorite genre? Any genres that you never read? Have your preferences changed through the years.
Not a genre but I feel drawn to contemporary writers to help me make sense out of living in today’s world. Also I feel it’s important to expose myself to perspectives outside my own, that is: stories by people of color. I’ve never gotten into sci-fi but not due to a dislike; I’m just drawn to other things.
Yes, my preferences have changed as I’ve had more agency over my choices, compared to being a student and assigned the classics. Not that there aren’t timeless ideas in those books; I just prefer to feed my head with cutting-edge thoughts from people way smarter than me.
What was your reading experience as a child? Did you grow up with a lot of books? A favorite book?
I was an obsessive reader. One of my favorite things about summer vacation was getting a whole armload of books from the library and spending all afternoon reading them in the hammock. I love seeing my older child gravitate toward reading like this too. I remember enjoying authors with a sense of humor, like Roald Dahl, opens a new window. That tracks throughout my life - I can’t really get into a book if there isn’t some humorous streak, even if it has dominantly heavy vibes. Vulnerability, humor, sex - all these layers make a book feel more like real life with its multiple, messy dimensions.
Were there any books that made a big impression on you in your life? Perhaps a book that has impacted your consciousness a bit? (Maybe something you read at an impressionable age, 20s?)
I’m embarrassed to say nothing comes to mind for my childhood and early adulthood. Maybe because that all feels like another lifetime since I became a mother? Perhaps I’ve lost access to the internal life of that seemingly other person. The rebirth of motherhood has largely eclipsed what came before. So I will answer in terms of the impressionable postpartum period …
I haven’t read many parenting books since I’ve relied much more on my instinct and intuition. However, here are a few books that helped lay the foundation of my parenting - at least the conscious part: Unconditional Parenting , opens a new windowby Alfie Kohn, which unpacks the conventional approach of rewards and punishments, and inspired me to avoid these tactics with my children. The idea is to attain cooperation through connection instead. Also, books by Daniel Siegel,, opens a new window who encourages empathy as one of your greatest tools as a parent and says that developing your own mindfulness practice is one of the best things you can do for your children (naturally, this is something to aspire to on a daily basis rather than a switch you turn on once in your life). And Dr. Sears, who validates practices like sharing a bed with your babies and young children - this was a helpful antidote to the discouragement from normative culture, including some of my family.
How is my list of parenting books exclusively male authors? Again I’m embarrassed so I have to add that much of my parenting inspiration comes from observing mothers I admire, in real life.
What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves?
I have a little gay “romance” collection hidden away. Also all male authors but that’s how I like it.
Is there a famous author that you ever wanted to meet? Maybe back in time?
I’m too shy to want to meet a writer I admire (I’d be too intimidated to speak) but I’d like to eavesdrop on Joanne Kyger, opens a new window while she meets a close friend. I love her stripped down poetry and would be on the edge of my seat to imagine Bolinas through her eyes.
Wait - Miranda July, opens a new window makes her art out of being vulnerable so I could meet her. In that case I’d want to compare notes on being a mother and artist, as well as intimacy and obviously perimenopause.
I would also enjoy meeting a handful of herbalist authors - like Jill Stansbury, opens a new window - so I could ask them a million questions on their anecdotal experiences working with herbal medicine.
What’s the last great book that you read and recommended to a friend?
Sheila Heti’s Alphabetical Diaries, opens a new window. This is a book for anyone who has lived through time but also for a writer - because the form is key to the premise - so I recommended it to a writer friend. Heti put over a decade of her diaries in a spreadsheet, then organized the sentences alphabetically, and finally edited out a significant portion, leaving the remainder alphabetized. You witness so much repetition in her idiosyncratic patterns despite her vows (to herself) to change. And because it was originally written privately it’s stuffed with the kind of mundane and petty thoughts native to the mental landscape, and that makes it funny, particularly when the pettiness follows an epiphany. It’s very relatable.
What do you plan to read next? Do you plan?
A Life’s Work : On Becoming a Mother, opens a new window by Rachel Cusk. Once I find an author I like, I tend to read a lot of books by them all in a row. I’m looking forward to this one because I’m obsessed with reading about the transition to motherhood. I’ve heard it was controversial for its unsentimental take on motherhood, so that intrigues me extra because I expect it to be devoid of cliche.
Is there a book that you always meant to read but still haven’t. Any highly rated books that you thought were over rated?
I was excited to read Sally Rooney’s latest, Intermezzo, opens a new window, and then I could hardly begin it because I couldn’t get past the unnatural language she uses in this book. Too artificial-sounding for me; not enough like reality. But maybe I missed out!
What books do you return to? Are there any books you like to re-read?
Only books from my childhood when I read them to my children, like The Chronicles of Narnia, opens a new window (C.S. Lewis). I read these as a child, except for the last one because I couldn’t bear to see it end. But I finally read it a few years ago, encouraged by my older child - then around six - who wanted to know the ending. I read the series twice to him and then he read it once to himself after learning to read. I look forward to rereading it again to my younger one in a few years.
Do you have a collection of books at home. If so, where do you keep them and do you re-read?
These days I mostly just collect herb books because I need to refer to those over and over again in my work as an herbalist. I also love any picture book of flowers, medicinal or not. And otherwise, I prefer to borrow books from the library and have more open space in my home. After our last move - to our fifth place in West Marin - I finally passed along most of my books; it felt silly to keep lugging them around.
What kind of characters draw you in as a reader?
Characters with flaws like actual people.
When and where do you like to read? Describe your ideal reading experience.
I love to read in bed at night - it helps me fall asleep to get out of my own personal preoccupations. It feels like a reward at the end of a busy day - my version of watching TV.
Why read?
To feel connected. Reading can reveal that you are not alone. And on the other hand, it can help flex the muscles of empathy because you inhabit the feelings of another while you read their story.
Add a comment to: Bolinas Reads: February 2026