We Should All Be Bookworms

The Cider House Rules takes a complicated subject (abortion) where there is no black and white answer and discusses it through an entertaining story with intelligence, grace, humor, and humility.

It’s fast-moving. It’s easy to read. And it’s packed with so much…. feeling. That’s the only way I can describe it. You just empathize so much with little Ender Wiggins, the child that is the story’s main character.

One of the things I love about this book is the voice – it’s so distinct that you really feel as if you’re talking with the heroine, that she’s a real, live, breathing person.

Long Way Down is Jason Reynold’s love letter to black boys growing up in violent, disenfranchised environments – which, unfortunately, in this country, is way too many black boys.

It’s a quirky little fairy tale that’s fun, magical and sweet. It starts off in dark, sunless place, but by the end of it, sunlight comes back to the world in a big, bright, beautiful way that will leave you smiling.

Movie tech needed time to grow to more adequately capture the awe and wonder and terror of the book. Many of the iconic elements of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th movies were already in play in this first book.

Stephanie Land, the author of Maid, never expected to be poor. So it shocked her that it only took an unplanned pregnancy and a bad breakup to plunge her into poverty so deep, that she couldn't see a way out for years.

Although the premise for The Round House, a family recovering from a brutal attack, is heavy, the reading experience is vibrant and rewarding.

The real story is about people, not zombies. The twist is that one of those people is an entirely new kind of person — something humanity has never seen before.

I love how even though the main character of The Good Earth, Wang Lung, isn’t the most likable guy, I still wanted him to win.

Eviction is rarely an isolated incident unique to an individual who doesn’t know how to budget. Matthew Desmond sheds light on this reality and shows us there’s an epidemic of evictions due to a structural problem that's baked into our system. 

In this book, Charlie gets a big IQ upgrade. But the smarter Charlie gets, the harder it is for him to make peace with our pretty screwed-up world that has trouble loving and accepting the outliers among us.

All of the characters in Tooth and Claw are dragons. Yes - big, scaly, fire-breathing Dragons who hoard treasure. But don’t let that scare you away! You’ll relate to these endearing dragons as they navigate strict societal rules in search of career success, family stability, and true love.

I first read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry when I was about 11 or 12 years old. It’s the book that introduced me to racism, and it deals with this tricky topic so…. humanely.  It’s clear and sharp and true - but also compassionate. 

Do you want to spend more time reading but aren’t sure what book to start with? Or are you a voracious reader looking for your next page-turner? Whether you’re a bonafide bookworm or a bookworm in the making, the WE SHOULD ALL BE BOOKWORMS podcast is for you.