Summer Reading
Posted by Well Read Hostess at 6/1/2008 12:02 PM and is filed under WRH,Parent of the Year,On the Nightstand 
I shall now make a general statement of opinion as though it were fact:
If you don't encourage your children, no matter how old, to read for pleasure, you are handicapping them in every way for the rest of their lives.
For little kids, even non-readers, the best way to encourage reading for pleasure is to do it yourself.
Here are some suggestions, many of which I've already mentioned and also many of which are pilfered from Sunday's NYTimes Book Review. I'm a bit of a one-trick pony; I'm learning to live with it.
When You are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris.
Re-read The Last Single Woman in America by BFF Cindy Guidry so that you are all prepped for the HBO pilot, which, I have on good authority, is written and ready to go.
New England White by Stephen Carter, haven't read it, haven't read anything by him, so if you hate it, don't blame me.
The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III. This is a risky recommendation because Dubus is, despite being a masterful writer, one seriously DARK DUDE. His cousin is James Lee Burke, however, which only raises him in my estimation.
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard, which I have not read and am ashamed not to have.
Do Travel Writers Go To Hell by Thomas Kohnstamm. I heart travel writing and this critique of the travel writing industry is like meta-travel writing. So I heart it that much more.
No Man's Lands: One Man's Odyssey Through "The Odyssey" by Scott Huler. I'm not sure how I could NOT read this.
Of course, J. Maarten Troost's Lost on Planet China: The Strange and True Story of One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation; or, How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid. If you have not read The Sex Lives of Cannibals, you must do so immediately.
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis. I've been meaning to write something about this for some time. Reading this novel in high school is one of the most memorable reading experiences I've ever had. Probably largely because my teacher used to make the faces that the protagonist would make during the course of the story. Kingsley Amis is a genius. It's an easy read, and you won't be sorry. Especially if you try to make the faces, too, as you read.
Away by Amy Bloom. I heard an interview with Bloom on NPR that made me want to drive right to the bookstore.
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. Because she's one of the best contemporary writers out there.
Careless in Red by Elizabeth George. Start at the beginning of the series, and read your way through all forty gazillion books to here. It might take a while, but you'll be glad you did.
If you don't encourage your children, no matter how old, to read for pleasure, you are handicapping them in every way for the rest of their lives.
For little kids, even non-readers, the best way to encourage reading for pleasure is to do it yourself.
Here are some suggestions, many of which I've already mentioned and also many of which are pilfered from Sunday's NYTimes Book Review. I'm a bit of a one-trick pony; I'm learning to live with it.
When You are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris.
Re-read The Last Single Woman in America by BFF Cindy Guidry so that you are all prepped for the HBO pilot, which, I have on good authority, is written and ready to go.
New England White by Stephen Carter, haven't read it, haven't read anything by him, so if you hate it, don't blame me.
The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III. This is a risky recommendation because Dubus is, despite being a masterful writer, one seriously DARK DUDE. His cousin is James Lee Burke, however, which only raises him in my estimation.
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard, which I have not read and am ashamed not to have.
Do Travel Writers Go To Hell by Thomas Kohnstamm. I heart travel writing and this critique of the travel writing industry is like meta-travel writing. So I heart it that much more.
No Man's Lands: One Man's Odyssey Through "The Odyssey" by Scott Huler. I'm not sure how I could NOT read this.
Of course, J. Maarten Troost's Lost on Planet China: The Strange and True Story of One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation; or, How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid. If you have not read The Sex Lives of Cannibals, you must do so immediately.
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis. I've been meaning to write something about this for some time. Reading this novel in high school is one of the most memorable reading experiences I've ever had. Probably largely because my teacher used to make the faces that the protagonist would make during the course of the story. Kingsley Amis is a genius. It's an easy read, and you won't be sorry. Especially if you try to make the faces, too, as you read.
Away by Amy Bloom. I heard an interview with Bloom on NPR that made me want to drive right to the bookstore.
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. Because she's one of the best contemporary writers out there.
Careless in Red by Elizabeth George. Start at the beginning of the series, and read your way through all forty gazillion books to here. It might take a while, but you'll be glad you did.
Thanks for the reading ideas.
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I am taking The Odyssey to Germany to re-read!! I have in my go pile already.
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Holy crap. Thanks so much for alerting me to the new David Sedaris book. I had no idea. But how do you get children to actually leave you alone so they can actually see you reading? Is there a magic spell? Gah!
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I love Elizabeth George. When she killed off Inspector Lynley's wife I moped for days even though I knew before I read it. I have got to read Careless in Red but I an not on What Came before he Shot Her.
Great Books. I need to check them out too.
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