Thanks to you, Sandy Ebner, I have added some novels to my “to read” list for the summer!  In the mean time, I’m finishing a couple of non-fiction books that I’d recommend to anyone.

The first is “The Millionaire Next Door” by Stanley and Danko.  I read it a long time ago and found it interesting then, but now that I’ve lived a while, worked, and tried to raise responsible kids, I found different parts more interesting.  If you haven’t read it, you may find a lot of surprising facts in it.  If you haven’t read it since a different era of your life, it may be worth re-visiting.

Next, a book I wish I’d read eighteen years ago, “NurtureShock” by Bronson and Merryman.  Fascinating.  Boy, would I ever do differently if I could go back and raise my kids all over again.  (And I have some pretty great kids.)  This isn’t one of those “if you do this, your kids will be perfect angels” books.  It discusses and blows some pretty major holes in popular beliefs about raising and teaching children.  If you have kids, if you care about kids in general, or if you are a teacher, this book has a lot of food for thought.  It will definitely be in the next baby shower gift I give.

I promise that I will blog about writing rather than books in my next post.  In the mean time – write, read, and write some more!

Have a beautiful and blessed Easter.

Mary

In a world where we scan magazines, get our news on the internet, and order from icons on menus, I can’t help but notice it when someone is completely engrossed in reading something. 

Today I saw my neighbor sitting in a lawn chair, enjoying the sunny weather and devouring a book.  A real book.  One made with paper and ink.

Just the sight of someone reading makes me curious; I always want to know - what is it that they’ve devoted their precious time to, what has caught and held their attention, and should I be reading it too? It doesn’t matter if they’re holding a newspaper, a magazine, or a book – I want to know what they’re reading.

Rest assured, I did not charge up to my neighbor and interrupt her reading.  It took a ton of willpower to refrain from asking, but I walked by without a word. 

Lately, I’m reading books on economics and economic theory.  I want to learn about the subject for my own edification and to enable me to offer my students new information.  But this summer, I’ll be reading Ken Follet’s World Without End.  I can’t wait for summer.

So what are you reading?  What do you find time to read every day?  What do you save for vacation?  What have you read more than once?  And what are you likely tell a friend that they’ve got to read?

Have a great week,                                                                                                                                                                        Mary