Explore Reading Possibilities With Book Lists

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)

Enjoying Summer Reading as a Bookhead

Being the Bookhead I am, I enjoy seeing an emphasis on reading during the Summertime. Even if we are working during the Summer there is change of pace that opens up time for more reading. I noticed that our local library does not only have Summer reading programs for children but also for adults. Many magazines and newspapers have suggested reading lists for the Summer. Oprah’s Magazine in the July issue has a variety of books to read. The Writer magazine in the June issue has 25 suggested books from editors and writers. Here also are a few websites that also have good ideas for selections of books:


Harpers Bazaar
http://www.harpersbazaar.com/magazine/feature-articles/designer-reading-lists-books-0512#slide-1

GoodReads
http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/summer-2012-reading-list


The Blaze’s Summer Reading List
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/blaze-magazine-top-10-new-books-for-summer-reading/

Books for children and teens
http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/forparents/tp/summer_reading.htm

Also if you have children find creative ways to encourage reading. While traveling recently I came across the Summer issue of MASK magazine, maskmatters.org . They had some tips and information about Summer reading for children. The article spoke of the issue of summer brain drain that children can lose up to two months worth of reading skill during the Summer if they are not doing any reading. This makes sense as in any discipline – use it or lose it. So they suggest, which I fully support, being involved with your children in Summer library reading programs. They had some creative ideas as well, such as if you are taking a vacation have the children read up on the area you are traveling to. Or as new movies come out see if there is a book related to it and read the book together with them and discuss both. Also make use of electronic media such as e-readers. That keeps them reading in a format they are used to if they enjoy being on the computer.

During the Summer do reacquaint yourself and your children to your local library. I encourage supporting your local bookstore for books you really like and want to have in your collection. Unless you are rich you can’t buy all the books so that is a great thing about the library. On the receipt on my library printout, when I check out a book, it reminds me of how much money I have saved. Plus as you go through the shelves of books you can come across new books to expand your mind in new directions. Whichever direction you go in your reading this Summer put trying to be a Bookhead in your schedule.

Reflection: Look through a few lists of Summer reading lists. I give you a few list ideas above. See if there is a book that peaks your interest. Try reading something new from your regular style. Visit your local library and read a book from a new author or a non-fiction topic that is new to you.

Reading Impacts Your Self-talk Programming

Previously I brought up the issue of our self-talk. For the next few postings I want to look at a few factors that shape the programming of our self-talk. Being a Bookhead I want to look at reading first of all. Books, whether fiction or non-fiction, are expressions of ideas, concepts, facts, and stories. These ideas can have a positive impact on our mental attitude in our inner programming. Working with students I have seen the power of stories in getting ideas across to them.

Building a habit of reading is important in keeping the mind active and growing. Your reading can be a positive influence on your mental attitude. Beginning with reading topics of interest, helps in understanding and gaining new insights in your areas you enjoy. No matter how good we think we are in a certain area there is always room for improvement. When I do classroom assessments that have a rating scale 1-10 I remind students never give themselves a 10 as there is always room to grow during our journey in this life.

Reading about new topics may open new ideas to your life or challenge your viewpoints. By challenging our thinking we can think through and confirm on a deeper level what we believe and why we believe it. Read material from opposing points of view as that helps understand where others are coming from in their emotions and logic, (or lack of logic), on particular areas. Looking at life as a Christian, I have read Bertrand Russell, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Eric Maisel’s works promoting atheism. Reading their works has actually helps bolster my faith. Their arguments did not win me over and in certain cases their hatred for those who believe in a religious Worldview turned me off.

Magazines and newspapers are reading materials that offer news reporting and information on a wide variety of topics on a smaller scale than books. Reading these are a great way to keep informed on what is going on in the world. As with books if you have a personal area of interest, like flowers, traveling, cars, or cooking find a magazine related to your interest. If magazine subscriptions are too costly an idea is to put in your weekly schedule a time period to visit your local library and relax and read in their magazine room.

Once a student in my Student Success class mentioned to me that he did not like reading books but he researched a lot of his interests about computer networking and news information on the internet. He asked me if that was ok. We live in a computer and internet world. He had a deep passion for computers and I knew he devoured information off the internet. I mentioned to him and the class that there is a lot of bad on the internet but also a lot of good, (like my blog!). In thinking of our reading as part of our mental self-talk programming be questioning of any source be it paper or cyber based. Glean out the positives that will help you improve where you are going in your life journey.

I know electronic books are becoming more popular but I believe I will always be a hard copy book person. To me there is nothing like sitting at my desk turning the actual pages of a book as I read. Likewise, searching for books at a library or bookstore, being able to pull the book off a shelf and leaf through it, is much more satisfying than viewing a virtual image on a computer screen where you can only look at the two pages the publisher allows you to look at.

In thinking through how books and authors affect us, I appreciated a book in my library, More Than Words: Contemporary Writers on the Works That Shaped Them, by James Calvin Schaap. The editor compiled essays from 21 writers on the favorite authors that impacted their lives. The book helped me to think over the books that have shaped my life during periods of doubt and periods of growth in my thinking. I also in preparing this post looked through the internet searching for lists of influential books. I came across a number of interesting lists and websites. One website that may be of interest to fellow Bookheads, is Good Reads, http://www.goodreads.com/about/us. Goodreads is a social network of reading lovers sharing what they are reading and forming book groups. I am not a member but I fully believe in their mission: Goodreads' mission is to improve the process of reading and learning throughout the world.

I will close off with my list of ten favorite influential books in my personal life, (outside of the Bible which is a regular source of reading in my life):

1. Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis http://www.cslewis.org/

2. The Road Less Traveled, M. Scott Peck, M.D. http://www.mscottpeck.com/

3. What’s So Amazing About Grace? Philip Yancey, http://www.philipyancey.com/

4. Who Are You Really And What Do You Really Want? Shad Helmstetter Ph. D.
http://www.shadhelmstetter.com/

5. Choice Theory, William Glasser http://www.wglasser.com/

6. Man’s Search For Meaning, Victor Frankl http://www.viktorfrankl.org/e/indexe.html

7. What Color is Your Parachute? Richard Bolles
http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/

8. The Success Journey, John Maxwell (now titled Your Roadmap For Success)
http://www.johnmaxwell.com/

9. Write is a Verb!, Bill O’Hanlon http://www.billohanlon.com/

10. Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life, Richard W. Paul and Linda Elder http://www.criticalthinking.org/

Think over the books you have read. Which are books that have been influential in your life? Have they positively helped in your positive mental programming? Take time to write down a list of your top five or top ten favorite books.