I missed posting on my blog last week as I was in the research trenches attending my Capella University PhD Colloquial. Hopefully in a year I will be at work on my dissertation. Back to the main business of sharing thoughts on personal growth ideas. Before leaving to Dallas for my Colloquial a Facebook friend had a post about a list of movies everyone should see. Movies are an important medium for entertainment as well as development as I believe many have been helped through cinema therapy which is using movies or segments of movies in Counseling therapy. While I looked at the list my being a Bookhead got the best of me and I started looking for booklists of recommended books.
Here are some of the lists that are out there for finding new book possibilities for Summer and reading throughout the year:
Book suggestions for children under 10
http://flavorwire.com/416006/50-books-every-parent-should-read-to-their-child
Book lists for teens from the American Library Association to encourage reading for teens –
http://www.ala.org/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklists
Here is a general book list for everyone to think of new book ideas -
http://flavorwire.com/398812/the-50-books-everyone-needs-to-read-1963-2013
Here is a book suggestion list for men from Goodreads-
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/14016.100_Must_Read_Books_The_Essential_Man_s_Library (Where is the list for Women? I am sure one is out there. You women are smart enough to search for what you are interested in. We men sometimes need help in pulling away from the remote and Sports channel).
Here are some ideas for books to read that include literary classics. How many have you read or is it time to re-read one -
http://www.listchallenges.com/50-books-to-read-before-you-die
Since I look at life from a Christian worldview I even found a list of suggested Christian books from Goodreads –
https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/christian
I have mentioned book lists for a variety of ages and lists that show literary classics so there are ideas for everyone.
As a Bookhead I present these lists to encourage you in your reading to look into new ideas and possibilities of books for yourself. You may want to create a list of your own top 100 books that you want to read in your life. Connect the list of books to your personal bucket list or dream list.
Another reason for emphasizing these books lists is to encourage you to be involved in your Summer Reading programs with your local public libraries. As I mentioned in my book, Living More Than OK, reading became an interest of mine when I was in elementary school through the Summer reading programs at the Barberton Public Library. I can thank those reading programs for helping me progress early on in my academic life and my critical thinking skills. Reading expanded my view of the world and the desire to explore new ideas while affirming for myself my values and why I believe in my worldview while being respectful of other’s worldviews.
Since one reason of placing these booklists here is to help with ideas for Summer reading I was curious about what was going on in my local library Summer reading program. I went to the New Braunfels Public Library reading program’s website: http://newbraunfels.libguides.com/SRP to look over there program. Their theme is “Fizz, Boom, Read” with a focus on Science reading at all the age levels. For children they are emphasizing reading in 20 minutes segments for their reading logs. That is a good idea as reading in short segments is an effective way to get young people interested in reading. It is a helpful reminder for adults too in our busy world who say they do not have time to read. Just do one chapter a day or 20 minutes to start off in your reading regimen.
New Braunfels library has reading categories in their program for children, teens, and adults. I noticed they have prizes for each of the age groups as well. I am fine with incentives to encourage reading whatever gets people into books is important. Not everyone is a Bookhead like myself who enjoys reading for the sake of reading.
Looking over the New Braunfels website for their Summer reading program made me think about my home town library back in Barberton, Ohio. So I went to their website http://www.barbertonlibrary.org and right on their homepage is the announcement for the Summer “Fizz, Boom, Read” reading program. Seeing their website brought back good memories of reading books in their program and working at the library when I was in High School. I noticed they are using prizes as well to encourage reading which again I am all for as people are often motivated if given an external prize to aim for and hopefully in the process reading will become more of a personal habit. On the Barberton Library website there is an encouragement in the notice to “Sign Up The Whole Family”. What a great idea! Don’t just send the children or teen to the reading program. Adults need to be involved as well. Reading is better caught than taught so parents need to be examples in being seen as reading instead of being glued to their cell phones and tv all the time.
One concern I have with Summer reading programs is when Summer is over so is the reading. When Fall comes keep your library card handy as in the lists I presented there is much more reading for you to keep your mind active and growing throughout the year!
Reflection: What book are you reading right now for the Summer? (If the answer is none, get out of the recliner and head to your nearest library to sign up for the Summer reading program)
No comments:
Post a Comment