BEST AUTHOR BEST : TORI AMOS

''Being a librarian is a fantasy of mine,'' says the singer-songwriter, whose first picture book is called '' Tori and the Muses.''

Writers who matter to her include Russell Baker, Hilary Mantel and Jane Mayer.

.-  What books are on your night stand?

''Medicine Cards : The Discovery of Powers Through the Ways of Animals,'' by Jamie Sams and David Carson. It's an interactive book and card set where you can pull a card and read about the healing properties that each animal embodies as it relates to mind, body and spirit.

Jamie Sams was of indigenous heritage, and I feel like some of it was passed down to her as a gift she has channeled for us all.

.-  What's the best book you've ever received as a gift?

'' Growing Up,'' by Russell Baker, which I got a few years ago from my friend Mary Ellen Bobb. I'd never heard of Baker and I couldn't put the book down.

The way he could tell the story of his life made me feel like I knew everybody in it by the time I finished. I grew up in Baltimore and he put the city in a different light for me, more like a shining city on a hill.

.-  What's the last book you read that made you cry?

'' Giving up the Ghost,'' by Hilary Mantel, broke me. I had to just be in my rocking chair and sob till my shirt was wet, it completely cracked me open. I had such empathy for her pain.

.-  The last book that made you furious?

There are two : '' The Road to Unfreedom,'' by Timothy Snyder - I've underlined so many things and have Post-it- notes in so many pages.

It gave me an understanding how we as a collective - unknowingly sometimes - are utilized to put authoritarians and dictators in power.

And '' Dark Money '' : The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right,'' by Jane Mayer, explained things that I didn't understand, though I knew some of it at a cursory level.

I certainly had no idea of the machinations that were going on when I was working the piano bars off K Street in Washington, D.C. and the liquid handshakes were occurring in front of my eyes as I played '' As Time Goes By.''

When a lobbyist would lower his hand down my back when I was 16 playing some of these swanky hotels. I had no idea what some of them were planning.

The Publishing continues to Part [2]. The World Students Society thanks The New York Times.