Book News: An Essay on Reading, Books to Remember 9/11, and a Few Last Summer Reads

To begin this week, an essay from my (relatively) new find, The Millions: Author Steve Himmer discusses the connection between book availability and readers being made. The first lines should grab you:

"One recent morning, my almost four year old daughter started crying out of the blue. I asked her what was wrong, and she wailed, 'I don’t have a library card!' So with a proud paternal bibliophile’s heart swollen in my chest, I strapped her into her car seat and we set off for the library in search of a library card and — at her request — in search of Tintin books like those I’d told her were my favorite stories at the library when I was young."

From The Atlantic this week, a gripping piece by musician Rhett Miller, who began keeping a diary on September 11, 2001. "About That Day" is a personal narrative that speaks from the heart, and is especially poignant as we near the ten-year anniversary of 9/11.

Also in honor of that day, Salon has posted a list of nonfiction books to be released this fall related to 9/11. They call it a list of "books to enlighten, and help us remember" (via The Book Bench).

Summer is quickly coming to a close. I know this better than most, as my summer break ended this week with the start of a new school year. NPR's Three Books... series speaks to a need to extend summer reading just a little bit longer. Their new piece "Three Travel Logs for Your Summer Staycation" offers three books that will take you across America, to the island of Kiribati, and to Australia.

Book News is short this week with good reason. Most of my time and energy has been poured into getting lesson plans and my classroom ready for my students in morning and evening, and then teaching during the day.

I started listening to Jennifer Egan's A Visit From the Goon Squad via Audible, and I have to say: it's every bit as good as everyone says it is. If you've been putting off reading it because (like me) you hate to pick up a book simply because it's been hyped, throw that aside! From what I've read (heard) so far, it's worthy of all the praise it has received. I'm also about to begin Patti Callahan Henry's new book, Coming Up for Air.

Have a fabulous, lazy end-of-summer weekend and happy reading!