Make Your own Good Books Reading List

Every summer I hear the same thing – at least for a while – “I don’t have anything to do.”  I can fix that problem easily enough with a chore list, but another more fun approach is to create a reading list. Since I have children at a variety of ages I have a variety of reading levels to consider, so I make up different lists.  I have one Read-Aloud list for the youngest kids ages 5-7.  Then I have another Read-Aloud/Read-by-Yourself List for the kids 8-12 and finally I have a Discussion-Book List for the older kids.

Some of my favorites for the little ones include such timeless stories as The Little House series, The Wind in the Willows, Charlotte’s Web,  Gramma’sAttic Series, Five for Victory, Canadian Winter, Happy Times in Noisy Village, & Sign of the Beaver.

Some favorites for the middle group have been A Wrinkle in Time, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Anne of Green Gables, The Youngest Templar, Miss Mantle, Warriors, & Prydain Series.

Some favorites for the older group has been Hamlet, Macbeth, Flowers for Algernon, The Woman in White, pretty much anything by Jane Austin,  Uncle Tom’s Cabin, biographies and histories.

I have also discovered a new list which I’ll  call: Books by Catholic Author’s.  I refer these books to my older kids (if appropriate) or to other adult friends.  This list includes Ellen Gables romance stories: Emily’s Hope, In Name Only & A Subtle Grace, and other books she has worked on in some form or another –  Come My Beloved, Growing Up In God’sImage & Witness for the Atonement.  There is also Ann Marie Creedon’s romanceAngela’s Song and Erin McCole-Cupp’s science fiction (one of the best of new sci-fi in my opinion) Jane E Friendless Orphan.  Linda Rawlins put out a mystery Sacred Gold and there is a teen coming of age story by Michael Rahlfs, Simple and Pure.  One of the most erudite historical fiction books I have read recently is by Catholic author Julian Bauer, TheScholar’s Challenge (Be ready to think and be amazed!).  A missionary journey story through Latin America was very intriguing, called In the Shadow of the Volcano. Casting aShadow Over Rome is a Sister Gilmary thriller by Mary Klovers.

Of course there is my own work – a reflection on the Tolkien trilogy The Road Goes Ever On – A Christian Journey Through the Lord of the Rings which has an imprimatur and has received some pretty nice reviews.  My fiction work includes The Deliverance Trilogy –ARAM, Ishtar’s Redemption and Neb the Great.  I call these books historical fiction though they could also be classified as inspirational fiction, literary fiction or merely commercial fiction.  I like to think of the as “Stories to grow the soul – and have a little fun along the way”.  I am currently reading my kids my nbewest work – I’m not revealing the title quite yet.  The older kids are amazingly helpful critics and advisors – probably because they are so blunt and honest.

And along the way, after reading so many great stories some of my kids like to do a little writing of their own and we all sit around in the evening and hear the most recent chapters of their work.  Well, isn’t that the point of good writing – to inspire?

So when your child, or you hear a little voice in your head asking, What can I do?  Go for a book!  And enjoy.