Three Books

I am a huge fan of NPR. All of Team Lawson is, actually. It's a bummer of a Saturday if we somehow miss Car Talk. Sloane keeps hoping something odd will go wrong with one of our cars so she can call in and talk to Click and Clack. We've actually been late to appointments because we were sitting in the parking lot listening to the end of a piece. My shelves are full of books somehow affiliated with National Public Radio. Some of my favorite children's books ever were discovered listening to the radio. I cried as I listened to the last This I Believe a few weeks ago. I cried because this amazing series was no more.

I told you, I love NPR. But, this post isn't intended to be an homage to NPR.

It's about books. And, I absolutely love NPR's series called Three Books. Modern authors share three books they love, linked around a theme. These aren't reviews of the sort you might read in the New York Times. They are teasers. In my classroom we call them book commercials, and we all take turns giving them about books we love. The other day I heard Augusten Burroughs' talking about books for summertime. Books to make you feel like a kid again.

He said: So, if you suddenly find yourself feeling altogether entirely too grown up, do this: Take one of these three books, open it up and begin reading while you suck on a red hot Atomic Fireball, which, by the way, you should always have in your pocket.

Once you've finished reading his recommendations, maybe you'll try mine.

Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The bees came the summer of 1964, the summer I turned fourteen and my life went spinning off into a whole new orbit, and I mean whole new orbit. Looking back on it now, I want to say the bees were sent to me. I want to say they showed up like the angel Gabriel appearing to the Virgin Mary, setting events in motion I could never have guessed. I know it is presumptuous to compare my small life to hers, but I have reason to believe she wouldn't mind; I will get to that. Right now it's enough to say that despite everything that happened that summer, I remain tender toward the bees.

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jane Birdsall

There was a loud oomph in the backseat. Rosalind glanced around to make sure violence hadn't broken out, but it was only Batty struggling with her car seat--she was trying to twist herself backward to see Hound. Jane was jotting in her favorite blue notebook. So they were both all right. But Skye was blowing out her cheeks and imitating a fish, which meant she was even more bored than Rosalind had feared. They'd better find this cottage soon.

The Inn at Lake Devine by Eleanor Lipman

My older sister and I often rowed past the Inn at Lake Devine, and studied it as best we could from offshore. It had a very green lawn, broad and sloping to the water, a white flagpole, and a chalky string of buoys marking off its swimming area. Closer to us, a raft covered with teenagers floated on shiny black oil drums. My sister and I had only each other for company, and a dock with no wading area, but here there were kids our age from what had to be a dozen families, swimming and diving as well as if they were on teams.

Instead of writing a little commercial, I thought I'd borrow an idea from my friend, Ms. K. The selection above is simply a teaser; a random selection straight from the book itself.

Happy reading.
And don't forget the Atomic Fireballs.



Radio image by YalvaS. Check it out, this picture has a very interesting story behind it. I found out about Teaser Tuesday here. I love it! Here's how to play along: Grab your current read & open to a random page. Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page. Be sure not to use a spoiler. Give the title and author.