Happy National Read a Book Day!

Reading has always been a part of my life.  I was fortunate enough to be born into a family who made reading a priority (and who was patient with my bookworm ways!).  My mom is an elementary school principal who believes very strongly in the cognitive, social, and emotional benefits of reading to children from their earliest years.  She wears a lanyard which says “Read 20 every day,” encouraging parents to read to their children for at least twenty minutes.  Just yesterday, while babysitting my two-year-old niece, we read no less than ten books together.  And the really neat part is: she LOVES it and seems to think there’s something magical within the covers.  Her parents read to her all the time, so she will probably always have a love for reading.

I strongly believe that the benefits of reading are just as huge for adults.  It keeps our minds active, calms us, opens our eyes to new worlds, piques our interest, gives us something to think about, and, often, it changes us.  There are books that have altered the entire way I view the world.  Books give us empathy, whittle away at our prejudices, let us walk in someone else’s shoes.  Then there are humorous books that lift our spirits and have us altering our bleak outlook and realizing that everything is going to be okay.  And finally, there is the sheer enjoyment value.  There’s nothing like a really good book to spark the joy of living.  And the best part is, if you don’t have a background as a reader, it is absolutely never too late to start!

And so, in honor of all of this, I thought I would give honorary awards to books that have meant something to me.  Here we go!

Best Young Children’s Book:
The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats

Best Intermediate Children’s Book:
The Doll People, by Ann M. Martin

Best YA Book:
Stormbreaker (The Alex Rider Series), by Anthony Horowitz

Best Historical Christian Fiction:
A Bride Most Begrudging, by Deeanne Gist
Ties with
The Lady of Milkweed Manor, by Julie Klassen

Best Modern Christian Fiction:
Surrender Bay, by Denise Hunter

Best Christian Suspense:
Shadows of Lancaster County, by Mindy Starns Clark

Best Mystery:
The Lord Peter Wimsey Series, by Dorothy L. Sayers

Best Mainstream Historical Fiction Biopic:
America’s First Daughter, by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie

Best Perspective-Shifting Book:
The Blue Castle, by L,M. Montgomery

Most Heart-Changing Book:
Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers

Most Hilarious Book:
Now That You Mention It, by Kristan Higgins

Best Mainstream Historical Romance:
Bath Tangle, by Georgette Heyer

Best Literary Romance:
Persuasion, by Jane Austen

Best Historical Biography:
Thomas Jefferson and the Art of Power, by John Meacham

Best Historical Non-Fiction
Flyboys, by James Bradley

Best Nonfiction Relationship Self-Help:
Who’s Picking Me Up from the Airport (and Other Questions Single Girls Ask), by Cindy Johnson

Best Book on Prayer:
Open Mind, Open Heart, by Thomas Keating
Ties With
Discerning the Voice of God, by Priscilla Shirer

Let me know which books your awards would go to!  Happy National Read a Book Day!

-Tara