September 8 is International Literacy Day — the perfect occasion to share our love of reading with some book suggestions for adults and children and an invitation to donate books for at-risk children through the Pajama Program.
Make Reading Part of Healthy Bedtime Routine
With the pervasive use of technology and interaction with screens throughout the day for most people, reading a real book (not an e-book) is arguably the most important part of preparing for a good night’s rest.
Settling down with a book in hand and pages to turn is a great way to physically wind down from the day’s activities and can help you separate from the stress and thoughts that can make it hard to fall asleep.
In fact, reading can lower the body’s cortisol, also known as the stress hormone. A recent study says reading for six minutes can reduce tension and stress levels by 68 percent, making it a faster and more effective way to relax than other activities.
Fiction for Adults
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng is a fictional novel about a seemingly-perfect family in an idyllic suburban town that is turned upside down by a bitter custody battle that uncovers secrets and motivations.
A Dog’s Purpose, a touching novel by W. Bruce Cameron, takes us through a dog’s four reincarnations to find his purpose as he remembers and links the people and events of each lifetime.
Black Book by James Patterson and David Ellis is a fictional novel about Billy Harney, a cop who was left for dead alongside his partner, but miraculously survives and finds he is charged with double murder and has to prove his innocence when he can’t remember what happened.
Non-fiction for Adults
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi is a memoir by a physician who received a diagnosis of Stage IV lung cancer at the age of 36 when he was on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon.
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is a #1 New York Times best-seller that was made into a major motion picture. It is a biography of Louis Zamperini, a former Olympic track star who became a World War II hero after surviving more than two and half years as a prisoner of war in Japan.
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann is a true-life murder mystery about one of the most evil conspiracies in American history that involved the Osage Indian Nation in Oklahoma and J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI during the 1920s.
Chapter Books for Young Readers
Critically-acclaimed The Fault in our Stars by John Green is narrated by 16-year-old Hazel Grace Lancaster who faces the reality of cancer and falling in love when she meets 17-year-old Augustus Waters at a cancer support group. The novel was made into a movie released in 2014.
A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park, is a Newberry Medal Award-winning historical fiction novel set in a small 12th-century Korea village. Tree-ear is an orphan living under a bridge with a disabled man, and he discovers big life lessons and adventure after he becomes an apprentice to a talented potter.
Recommended for ages 13 and older, Divergent by Veronica Roth is the first of a trilogy in the genre of young adult science fiction adventure and set in post-apocalyptic dystopian Chicago. Although similar to the popular Hunger Games series, many reviews by parents and teen readers of the Divergent series have said it is better. Insurgent and Allegiant are the other titles in the series.
Children’s Picture Books
In The Word Collector, written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds, Jerome collects not things but words in his quest to spread the beauty of language.
Grace for Gus, written by Harry Bliss and illustrated by Harry Bliss and Frank Young, is a graphic novel-style picture book. Grace’s class wants a new hamster so the spunky girl goes on a quest to raise money for it by busking, drawing and dancing.
The Day the Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers, will have your child laughing and looking at their crayons in a whole new way. Little Duncan just wants to color, but when he opens his box of crayons he finds complaint letters from the crayons saying they want to quit!
