The Bookworm

Thanks to Carol Mosier for posting these vintage Summer Reading Program certificates on the Facebook group, "You know you're from Pratt, KS..."

I don't NEED prizes to get me to read. I was way ahead of the era in which bibliophiles earned mini pan pizzas from Pizza Hut just for reading. I have loved to read since my brain made the connection between lines on a page and a wonderful story to unfold.

Not long ago, someone posted photos of Summer Reading Program certificates from the Pratt Public Library on the Facebook group, "You know you're from Pratt, KS."

Those bookworms filled in with green stickers struck a chord with me and with several others in the Facebook group. I remember carefully sticking those green circles on the bookworm as I finished book after book. 

Old habits die hard. This summer, I've been participating in the Hutchinson Public Library summer reading program for adults and another for my local library, the Nora Larabee Memorial Library in Stafford. In this newfangled age, I keep track of my reading for the Hutchinson contest through a Beanstack app on my phone. I still use pencil and paper for the Stafford library version. At the Hutch library, they randomly draw names from those who've read books that week and award prizes throughout the summer. Not long ago, I got a phone call from the library, saying I'd gotten a prize. Next time I was there, I picked up my $10 gift certificate from the Hutchinson Chamber of Commerce. 

I still use the book bag I won a couple of years ago in the Hutch library reading contest.

 

Even if I hadn't won anything, I'd still believe I won the lottery with the services provided free of charge at public libraries. 

 

But who doesn't like to win? (I still get a little thrill from entering things in the county fair, too, you know.) My summer reading prize this year may not have been a trip to the Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty, like I earned one year during the summer reading program at the Pratt library. But it was a nice treat anyway!

During my Covid cleaning days, I found a prize from what I'm guessing was my first reading award. It was a book by Robert Louis Stevenson.

These days, I may not read 230 books a year, like I did in second grade. However, I still usually read around 100 books a year. (They may be slightly longer than the ones from second grade.)

This was how I looked on the first day of 2nd grade. I probably didn't look a whole lot different at the end.

When I weeded out books on the office shelves, I found a couple of other books awarded as year-end reading prizes. I got "Best Friend" for reading 166 books in third grade and "Anne of Ingleside" for reading 47 books as a 4th grader. (I guess I was a slacker in 4th grade or the books got longer - probably the latter.)

Kim's 3rd Grade Class - Byers Grade School

As you can see, I didn't have to "beat out" too many readers in the third grade at Byers Grade School.

My fourth grade class dwindled to three people. (So you can take my award-winning ways for what they are worth!)

The following year, when I was a 5th grader, Byers joined Skyline Schools, a rural consolidation. Either books weren't awarded as year-end prizes or I was no longer the "champion" reader. I'm kind of guessing it was the former.

Just for a little perspective: I also found some report cards and notes from the same teacher who awarded the reading prizes. She sent math flash cards home over the summer, with a note to my parents that I needed to practice my math skills. So I certainly wasn't winning any math awards in grade school (or high school, for that matter! Thank you, Mr. Bisel for getting me through Algebra and Geometry!)

"A Child's Garden of Verses" has beautiful illustrations. One of the poems talks about where books "take" you. "At my dear land of storybooks," I can forget the world and get lost among the characters I picture in my mind. Reading can transport us away from our everyday lives.

They can help us think "Happy Thoughts."

We all could use a little of that, don't you think?

 

***

 

It's time for another round of book recommendations. As I say every time I do this, everyone has their own taste in books. I take photos of book covers and send them to Jill or to my sister, Lisa, thinking they'd like particular books. But I always find it a bit risky to recommend books to others. 

I read. Randy golfs. I am a much better reader than golfer.

But here goes. Maybe someone else looks for recommendations from someone they actually know. If you like them, let me know. And, if you don't, that's OK, too. Everyone has different genres, authors or other preferences. So find one you like and read it. And be sure and tell me: I might like it, too. At my age, I've decided that if I don't like a book after I've given it a fair shot, I move onto the next. As the old saying goes: "So many books. So little time."

I've given an Amazon link for each one. That's not to encourage you to buy it. I don't get a cut from sales. It just gives more of a synopsis than I've given. I'd encourage you to find the books at your local library. Or support a local bookstore and purchase locally. I occasionally buy secondhand books through the Thriftbooks website. I also enjoy going to Bookaholic for second-hand books when I'm in Wichita. But, the vast majority of books I read are from my public libraries, including all the books below.

  

Hello Beautiful

by Ann Napolitano 

This book has been one of my favorites of the year so far. Like Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women," it tells the story of four sisters. It's also the story of William Waters, who grew up in a very different kind of family than the Padavano sisters. William meets the oldest Padavano sister, Julia, when he moves away from home to attend college on a basketball scholarship. They marry, and the book explores the family dynamics as Julia and William make a home together and interact through the decades with her three sisters. But it also touches on the precarious ways mental illness impacts individuals and families. Does tragedy tear people apart or bring them together? It's a wonderful story, but it's also beautifully written. 

***

Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421

By T. J. Newman

 

This is another favorite of the summer. It was one I had trouble putting down, and I read it in a day. I liked T.J. Newman's first book, "Falling," too. It's mystery, family drama and thriller, all in one. Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the Pacific Ocean. During the evacuation, an engine explodes and the plane is flooded. Those still alive are forced to close the doors, but the plane sinks with 12 passengers trapped inside, including engineer Will Kent and his 11-year-old daughter Shannon. 

Among those working on a rescue is professional diver Chris Kent, Shannon’s mother and Will’s soon-to-be ex-wife. The clock is ticking as the plane perches on an unstable, underwater shelf and the oxygen in the plane dwindles.  It's an edge-of-your-seat thriller.

 

***

The House of Eve

By Sadeqa Johnson

 

This book is set in the 1950s and centers around the lives of two young Black women: Ruby is a hard-working student in Philadelphia determined to become the first person in her family to go to college. Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, to attend Howard University, where she meets William Pride. He is from one of the city's well-to-do families and his family thinks she's all wrong for their son. The two women's lives collide in an unexpected way, which will change both of them and their families forever.

 

*** 

I Will Find You

By Harlan Coben

It's always a good day when I discover Harlan Coben has a new book out. This one did not disappoint. David Burroughs was once a devoted father, raising a 3-year-old son, Matthew, with his wife, Cheryl. But that all changes when David wakes up to discover Matthew had been murdered while David slept just down the hall. David says he didn't do it. But he's convicted of the murder and is serving his sentence in a maximum-security prison. Then Cheryl’s younger sister, Rachel, makes a surprise appearance during visiting hours and shows him a photograph. It was taken at an amusement park, and someone in the background looks like Matthew. How can David prove his innocence? 

 

***

 

 

You Were Always Mine

By Christine Pride and Jo Piazza

Cinnamon Haynes works hard as a career counselor at a local community college, living with her husband in a small beach town. Taking lunch breaks at a nearby park, she meets a young girl named Daisy. She doesn't know her well, but Daisy seems to time her trips to the park to overlap with Cinnamon's. Then, one day, Cinnamon discovers a baby left behind the bench where she typically sits for lunch. Cinnamon had no idea that Daisy was pregnant, but Daisy leaves a note, asking her to take care of the little girl. But while white couples often foster or adopt Black babies, it's much less socially-acceptable for a Black woman to foster a blue-eyed, blond-haired little girl. Both women are challenged when Daisy's grandparents take Cinnamon to court to get custody of the baby. It's a well-written story, and it makes you think. That's a winning combination, in my book (pun intended).

***

 

 

Yours Truly

By Abby Jimenez

 

You'd think that life as a doctor would be smooth sailing. But it isn't for Dr. Briana Ortiz. Her younger brother needs a kidney transplant, and she isn't a match. To top it off, she thinks she's about to be overlooked for a promotion in favor of a new doctor at the hospital, Jacob Maddox. They have a run-in - literally and figuratively. To apologize, Jacob writes Briana an old-fashioned letter. Briana writes him back, and they begin to correspond via the written word - not texts or emails. Jacob ends up being a donor match for her brother. Is there a catch? This one isn't War and Peace, but it's a good, well-written light read.

 

***

Books by Viola Shipman

A Wish for Winter

Famous in a Small Town

The Recipe Box

I've read three books by Viola Shipman this summer. They are in a similar vein as Yours Truly. They are light reads, but they were all engaging stories. Since there was a dash of food in a couple of them, they appealed to me. They are written by a man, using a pseudonym inspired by his Grandma Viola. 

Viola Shipman has written a number of books. I will keep adding those to my book list to pick up at the library.

***

Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen

by Joe Drape

I'm a football fan - high school, college and NFL. And while I don't read a lot of nonfiction books, I enjoyed "Our Boys: A Perfect Season." It tells the story of Smith Center (KS) High School's Redmen, coached by Roger Barta. During the year in which the Redmen were seeking their fifth straight state high school championship title, a New York City sportswriter - Joe Drape - moved his family to Smith Center to follow the team and became part of the community. If you're anxiously awaiting football season and Friday night lights, this book may tide you over. As is often the case for coaches, Barta was looking to develop good young men - not just great football players:  "Respect each other, then learn to love each other and together we are champions." Roger Barta