My nineteen-year-old son recently discovered the joy of reading. It’s not that he didn’t enjoy reading before, he just didn’t do much reading beyond what was required in school. Since deciding to take a gap year between high school and college (thanks Covid!), he has more time to read what he wants, when he wants. Within the past month, he has read the following: Carrie, Salem’s Lot, and The Shining, by Stephen King; Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park: The Lost World, The Andromeda Strain, and Sphere, by Michael Crichton; and The Wandering Earth, by Cixin Liu. I offered to take him to the bookstore today to replenish his reading material (but also because I had ulterior motives). He chose Frank Herbert’s Dune and Stephen King’s The Stand. Those should keep him occupied for a few weeks. I hope!
Here are the ulterior motives I mentioned:
Concrete Rose, by Angie Thomas, follows a young Maverick Carter, whom fans of The Hate U Give will recognize as Starr Carter’s father. Children of Virtue and Vengeance, by Tomi Adeyemi, is the sequel to Children of Blood and Bone, which I read over the summer. And Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors. Unsheltered was published in 2019, so it is one of her most recent books. If you have never read a Barbara Kingsolver novel, please do. I highly recommend The Poisonwood Bible. I first read it about 20 years ago, and it has stuck with me since.
Have you indulged in a book binge lately? What’s on your to-read list?
Books and Bloom 