National Book Month: Whatcha reading?

Whatcha reading?                      Photo by luci / stock.xchng.com

October is National Book Month. I think this is great. Reading, as the Nation’s past time is certainly shrunk, in my opinion. I remember as a teen I was an avid reader. Once I discovered the genre I liked, you couldn’t keep me away from some authors; Stephen King being one of them. Reading became my guilty escape.

In today’s ever persistent ‘face lane’ there barely seems enough time for reading. Personally, I still read a lot but it’s rarely for pleasure only. I just finished reading (for pleasure alone) The Shack – it was excellent. Normally I’m reading to help increase my knowledge on this topic or that, which is still a good reason for reading, and one reason we all read … from the earliest of ages.

Denise Witmer, in her column on reading tells us, “A person who can read, and read well, is more likely to:
• graduate from college;
• get a higher paying job;
• experience the joys of learning new things;
• and enjoy the stress-reducing entertainment of a good book.

I’ve no doubt of this, but still, getting some teens to read is as the saying goes, “like pulling teeth”. The first thing we have to discover, and sometimes the teens need to discover this too, is what kind of book will your teen love. This means trips to the library or book stores. If you have no books around the house for them to read - then it stands to reason they won't read; so get some books!  Of course if you are buying books during this discovery mode, I recommend the used book stores. In Concord, my two favorite stores are Bay Books and Half Priced Books; both an excellent source for all kinds of books. Bay Books will even perform limited searches for you. If your local library is too boring, do what Ms. Witmer suggests and try going to a different library. College Libraries are a good alternative: First the trip will introduce your teen to a place they may be seeing a lot of in the near future, and second they are so much more than your average library.

Take the time with your kids to encourage reading. Ms. Witmer suggests a one on one trip to the book store, or how about a picnic designed for a reading ‘get away’. Start a family book case collection, or start a parent / teen book club. There are any number of things we can do to support reading by our children.

Read any good books lately? Let me know!