The Beginning of the Book Club

I know what you’re thinking. Why on earth is Kolt writing about books? Partially, it’s to spark more conversation than what I see on my Facebook feed that is “Drop good books below” and people aimlessly regurgitating their libraries (guilty as charged.)

I really enjoy reading. Of course, when I was in school, it was nowhere near cool to enjoy such a thing. I spent some years apart from books. I’m VERY certain that Melanie Kindell, the world’s coolest third grade teacher, will attempt to take credit for my literary love after reading aloud the classic Wizard of Oz and my longtime favorite The City of Ember. I suppose I can give her that win. After all, I still advocate that everyone should read those books.

Classes taught by the fantastic Jeannie Arnold presented opportunities to read great works like The Giver and Edward Bloor’s Tangerine, among many others. Mrs. Arnold made sure we always had a book in hand. Although sometimes in those years, it was a chore to read.

My High School English teacher Anne Eley gets the credit for reminding me that I actually enjoy reading. Aside from the cursed Shakespearean play that shall not be named and the monstrosity that is Beowulf, that senior year English class presented opportunities to read classics like Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies.

But, that didn’t do it for me totally. I read those books and enjoyed them. But, I still wasn’t reading in my spare time.

That changed after I started driving. During my year in Lima, I had too much music. I was working at the radio station and would listen to music on my drive to school, listen on my drive to work, listen at work, and listen on the way home (to make sure the station was on the air – a required task in the business.) I started listening to talk radio. It was less music and the inner radio geek wanted to learn their format. I found a quick home on Columbus’ flamethrower WTVN. I also started listening to podcasts produced by my now employer, as well as Town Hall Ohio, produced by Ohio Farm Bureau and hosted by fellow WKTN alum, Joe Corenly.

I haven’t really recovered from my music overdose, but that’s another story entirely. When I came to Columbus and was spending more time on the road, walking to class, or on a campus bus, I was exhausting my podcasts. So, I turned to audiobooks.

Best. Decision. Ever.

You want a three hour drive to breeze by? Put on a good book. If you have trouble finding the time to get into a book (that’s a lame excuse right now, but life is sure to resume at some point) and really enjoy reading, I highly recommend giving audiobooks a try.

I took a class in the fall called Cultural Proficiency with Dr. M. Susie Whittington. There are several great things to come out of this class, but one of them is a weekly book club where peers share their favorite reads. So, Dr. Whittington gets some of the credit in this digital book sharing adventure.

So, in the posts that follow, I’m going to share the books I’ve read, a little about them, and my thoughts. Just like any opinion, I’m probably not going to line up with everyone’s view. Hopefully someone finds a good read out of this project.

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