Recommended Reading
As part of my efforts to promote literacy, I’d like to give a nod to some (just a few, mind you) of the literature I’ve enjoyed over the years. I like a broad range of subjects, but my favorite genre is mystery. I believe a good book has educational value or historical detail, is inspiring on some level, includes challenging vocabulary and, if it’s fiction, contains a moral to the story.
I encourage both avid readers, and the ‘bored-so-I’ll-try-anything-for-five-minutes’ folks, to explore various genres; don’t just stick with what you ‘like’ to read. For children and youth, magazines are an excellent way to develop good reading habits without having to commit to a full-length novel. My favorites growing up were National Geographic and Reader’s Digest. (However, I suggest physical copies, not digital, because it’s way too easy to get side-tracked on a device.) It probably shows I’m a total geek, but I also like to randomly read words in the dictionary. It’s fun! There was the time I told my youngest son (who disliked reading) to open the dictionary and read the first word his finger landed on. To his delight and amusement, he found the word penuckle.
Here are my two lists:
- The Bible of Clay (by Julia Navarro)
- Black Beauty (by Anna Sewell)
- A Christmas Carol (by Charles Dickens)
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (by Mark Twain)
- Deathwatch (by Robb White)
- Dracula (by Bram Stoker)
- Green Darkness (by Anya Seton)
- Harry Potter (series by J.K. Rowling)
- Heart to Heart (by Lurlene McDaniel)
- The Historian (by Elizabeth Kostova)
- My Sister’s Keeper (by Jodi Picoult)
- Outlander (series by Diana Gabaldon)
- Roots (by Alex Hailey)
- Sarah’s Key (by Tatiana De Rosnay)
- Scribbler of Dreams (by Mary Pearson)
- Seven Realms (series by Cinda Chima)
- Sigma Force (series by James Rollins)
- The Thorn Birds (by Colleen McCullough)
- To Kill a Mockingbird (by Harper Lee)
- Twilight (series by Stephenie Meyer)
- The Vow (by Carpenter, Carpenter and Wilkerson)
Fiction
- Betrayal (by the Boston Globe)
- Between a Rock and a Hard Place (by Aron Ralston)
- Cancer: Step Outside the Box (by Ty Bollinger)
- A Capital Scandal (by Robert Fife and John Warren)
- Darwin’s Black Box (by Michael Behe)
- Dead Wake (by Erik Larson)
- Genetic Entropy (by J.C. Sanford)
- Gotcha! (by George Bain)
- Iran Awakening (by Shirin Ebadi)
- The Lovers (by Rod Nordland)
- Lutheran Education: From Wittenberg to the Future (by Thomas Korcok)
- Quiet (by Susan Cain)
- The Road to Character (by David Brooks)
- Running Dry (by Stuart Kallen)
- What I Know For Sure (by Oprah Winfrey)
- The Witches (by Stacy Schiff)
- Working Stiff (by Judy Melinek)