Reading is Good

photo by the San Jose Library

Few people would disagree with the title of this post. But have you ever stopped to think about why you think reading is good?

Reading is far from the passive endeavor it appears to be. Reading of all kinds--long, short, print, online, fiction, non-fiction--develops the imagination, critical thinking, and memory.

The National Endowment for the Arts conducted a study with surprising results about the lives of readers vs. non-readers. Dana Gioia, head of the endowment, explains in a video here.

Do your civic duty and read, and encourage others to do the same!

For what other reasons do you think reading is good?

Summer Reading for Young People

photo © Chibi for openphoto.net CC:Attribution-ShareAlike

Can you stand more on summer reading? (I just started The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, by the way.) "ShelfTalker," a blog I read regularly, is by 2 women who run independent children's bookstores. One of them wrote about the dismal state of student's summer reading lists. Most of the lists she saw were classic titles by dead white men. So she asked her readers what books they would include on a summer reading list for young people. Click here for the result. Even if you are more young at heart than young, you might like to try some of these.

As for classics, yes, there's a reason they are classics. Two classics that I loved as a young person were Heidi and Black Beauty--both by dead white women. What classics did you love as a young person?

More Summer Reading

Most newspapers have drastically reduced their book sections, so I was pleased to see our local paper feature summer reading recommendations. These are especially interesting because the books are recommended by local professionals in a variety of fields, not just librarians, book sellers, or reviewers. Many of them were titles I didn't know. Click here for the list and find some potential new favorites.

What are you reading this summer?

Unusual Facts about Best Selling Authors

I'm on vacation, so I'm sending you to Mental Floss to read Ethan Trex's article, "Surprising Facts about 15 Bestselling Authors." Click here.

What fits & starts did you encounter on the way to your current success?

You Matter

Photo by D Sharon Pruitt

Where does your light shine? Where does your presence loom large?

How do you make a difference in the world? Click here for a list by author & presenter Seth Godin.

What would you add to this list?

I'm sure you fit into at least one of those categories. You matter. I'm glad you're here!

You CAN Go Home Again

This week, I'm privileged to be a guest devotional blogger on Diane's Women to Women: Sharing Jesus . Stop over and see the devotionals others have written there, too.

Summer Reading!

Summer reading is underway! I passed a yard where a girl sat in a tree reading a book. "Beach reads" some call novels released during the summer, as if any of my landlubber friends or I will likely loll by a beach anytime soon. Or loll at all, for that matter. Still, the idea of more time to read in the summer persists, the activity squeezed in between yard work, house work, and oh, yes, the job.

Here are some suggestions for your beach, mountain, back deck, recliner, whatever reads this summer:



FICTION

Nevada Barr's latest national park mystery, Borderline, is set in Big Bend National Park, on the border of Texas and Mexico. This time, ranger Anna Pigeon and her husband are on a rafting vacation that quickly turns deadly. It's up to Anna to figure things out--if she can get anyone to listen. In the meantime, she must also keep a newborn baby alive. Balancing border issues, park politics, and Texas politics keep Anna busy and the plot suspenseful.

Diane Mott Davidson, creator of the Goldy Schulz caterer mysteries, has Goldy contend with catering a Bridezilla's reception and embedding herself and her friends at a spa whose owner seems up to no-good in her latest, Fatally Flawed. In addition to the usual cast of characters, Goldy's godfather is a main character. When he has an induced heart attack, the search for the killer becomes personal.

Sandra Dallas once again mines Colorado's history and hits the mother lode with her historical tale of the strength of women, their friendships and secrets in a high-mountain mining town. In Prayers for Sale, elderly Hennie befriends young Nit and helps her (and us) learn mining camp ways. They and their quilter friends share life stories until one last secret is revealed at the end.

Alexander McCall Smith is back with another "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" book. This series set in Africa is catagorized as mystery, but the books are much more about life and human nature than suspense of any sort. Teatime for the Traditionally Built is another gentle addition, where Mma Ramotswe gets involved in a potential football (soccer) scandal, her assistant fears her fiance's potential unfaithfulness, and her husband replaces her beloved little white van.

NONFICTION
A really hot day may be the best time to read The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin. A sad episode in history, the blizzard of 1888 suddenly blasted the upper Plains states, killing hundreds, including many school children trapped by the storm. Laskin's excellent writing and meticulous research show the dramatic, devastating effects of the storm as well its weather and societal causes.

The animal lovers among you will appreciate Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog by outdoor writer Ted Kerasote. Merle found Ted when Merle was about 10 months old and Ted was hiking and camping in Utah. Ted documents what is actually a love story between him and Merle and gives evidence for dogs' higher cognitive powers than science admits to.

I hope some of these interest you, and I hope you will share some of your latest favorites with me. Happy reading!