My 2021 Favorite Books

 

I'll give you my top five:

1.  Crow Lake by Mary Lawson

2.  Count the Ways by Joyce Maynard

3.  The Sabbatical by Michael D. O'Brien

4.  The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah.  

5  A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines

Reading to Children

It's a wonder that my children grew up to be happy, productive, and good people.  I don't remember censoring reading and screen time when my children were growing up.  I paid attention to crude language and inappropriate sex, but that's it.  But with my grandchildren, I am aware of the behavior of the main characters.

When my oldest grandchild was in first grade, she got into trouble doing some mischief.  She got the idea from Junie B. Jones.  When I heard what she had done, I remembered that that was what we had listened to on the audiobook.  We listened as I drove her to school.  We laughed and thought it was funny.  There really wasn't time to discuss the book.  We just listened.

Ever since, I've been careful about what we listen to,
or read, together.  I was just about to start the Harry Potter series when I heard someone say that the children in the series aren't good role models.  They don't obey authority.  They are constantly circumventing the rules.

I know.  I drive myself crazy.  The thing is: critique takes time, critical reading necessitates time, love and reading take forever.  So I guess my choice of reading material depends on how much time I have.