reading list part 1

I am often asked about recommended books for different aged students. I have some thoughts about how to choose books to read generally.

• My first recommendation is to go to a library and just start pulling stuff off the shelf. Does the cover look attractive? Is the blurb interesting? Read the first page. Browsing and sampling is what most readers do.


• Choose a genre and start working your way through it. I recommend mysteries, or spy novels, or westerns ... whatever you are interested in.


• Ask friends what they've read, and try out those books.


• I find the Amazon sites useful for finding new books. If you enter a book you like, look at the 'Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought'  listings for more ideas. Also, Listmania! allows Amazon users to make lists of books they like or that fit some category in which they are interested. For instance, I like Boy by Roald Dahl, and I found a list called 'Children's Books I could read forever' put together by a teacher in Norway.

In part 2, I have some links for some interesting and useful online reading lists.