What Books Do You Enjoy?

Question:

At our first All Staff Meeting, right before the pandemic started, you mentioned how much you love reading.  Would you like to share with us what you are reading, what you really enjoyed reading in recent weeks, or what book(s) you gifted the most? – Nori Gardner

Answer:

Dear Nori,

I love reading and talking about books, so thank you for your question! I’ve been reading a lot lately to distract myself from the reality of this pandemic (and since there is nothing good on television!). I love to read all types of books, but my favorites are fictional novels based on history. Two recent books I love are The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer and The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate. Lisa Wingate also wrote Before We Were Yours, another terrific historical novel.

On the more educational side, The Forest Ranger by Herbert Kaufman, which is a study of administrative behavior (I can see some of you yawning now), and The National Parks, America’s Best Idea by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns are two books I turn back to often. The latter explains the history of how national parks became an American priority and the process early parks pioneers went through to help set aside and preserve these national treasures.

In general, I love science based books, science-fiction, professional self-help books, business how-tos, mysteries, and books about religion. Pretty much anything that has words! Another favorite book from this past year is Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. This book is set in the late 1960s in the marshlands of North Carolina. While the story was wonderful, I loved the focus on the natural world that the book includes, educating the reader about the marshland habitat and the creatures that make their home in that setting.

Finally, books that I am gifted the most have to do with nature, science and history. My family members (my mom, sisters and aunts) all love to read, and we trade books whenever we see each other.