What Are You Reading This Summer?

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If it’s been a long time since you turned off the television and curled up with a good book, summer is the perfect time to fall in love with reading once again. It’s like taking a vacation right in your own living room. Any place you can imagine visiting can be found inside the covers of thousands of great books. You can travel down the Mississippi on a river boat with Mark Twain and be a kid discovering the world for the first time with “Huckleberry Finn.” Or you could backpack along the Appalachian Trail with Bill Bryson and laugh every step of the way. Bryson’s “A Walk in the Woods” is one of my favorite ways to backpack and still sleep in my own comfy bed.

What Was the First Book that Hooked You on Reading?

I fell in love with books before I ever went to school, thanks to a momma who read aloud to me hours at a time. My summers as a child were always filled with books. I’d load up once a week at our little town’s library and all eight of my selections would be devoured before the week was through. Back then my favorites were anything that had a horse in it. Louie L’Amor and Zane Grey were my favorites back then. I read in the car, the bed, the bathtub and anywhere else I could hide so momma wouldn’t find me to do chores.

What’s Your Favorite Old Classic?

If you still haven’t read “Gone with the Wind” because of its heft, you’ve got to take the plunge. It’s so much better than even the movie, which is one of my top movies of all times. Don’t be surprised if you just can’t put it down because you have to see what that Scarlett is going to do next. I know most see it as a love story between Scarlett and Rhett but I came away seeing the strong bond that grew between Scarlett and Melanie as the main plot to the story. I bought my momma a collector’s edition a few years back. It has a forward by Pat Conroy that’s almost as good as the book. His mother only had two books in the house — the King James Bible and a ragged copy of “Gone with the Wind.” Conroy said his mother lived that book and everyone in her life was either a Scarlett, Rhett, or Melanie.

A New Southern Classic You Must Read!

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Rick Bragg can take you “back home” again with his non-fiction classic “All Over But the Shoutin.” It’s the book he wrote about his mother and growing up in what some might consider poverty in rural Alabama. Bragg’s writing is absolutely delicious with a rich southern charm. Not a tale about feeling sorry for himself but one that depicts the richness of his heritage with unforgettable characters. This book is now available in large print for easy reading.

We’d Love to Hear About Your Favorite Books!

Tell us your favorites and who made you love reading. Spread the love by sharing the best you’ve ever read.

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