Did you know today is National Read a Book Day? Consider this your permission to stop what you’re doing and READ A BOOK! That’s what we’re going to do, because here at CLiF, we love reading and we love sharing our love of reading (and writing!) with low-income, at-risk, and rural kids in New Hampshire and Vermont. So we like to set good examples and read as much as possible. Here’s what we’re reading today…

 

Stephanie (Data/Office Manager)

Pictured above reading Princess in Black with daughters Tess and Ivy

 

Stephanie says, “Tess and I have been enjoying the Princess in Black series. Still cute on the 222nd reading. Other favorites include Green Eggs and Ham, some vintage Berenstain Bears, and anything Andrea Beaty or Julia Donaldson. Ivy really responded to Oh, the Thinks You Can Think. I also love reading All the World and Bubble Trouble to them. For myself I’ve been struggling to procure enough quiet time to finish a magazine article (about Britain’s Lake District, where Beatrix Potter raised sheep and had a retreat) for about a week.”

 

Duncan (Executive Director)

 

Duncan says, “I’m currently reading Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal to help me dust off my Spanish in advance of a trip I’m taking to Patagonia at the end of the year.  I chose this book because I know the story well. Consequently, whenever I come across words or phrases that puzzle me I can often figure them out based what’s happening in the tale. Plus, whenever you travel it’s always helpful to know how to say ‘newt’, ‘potion’, ‘unicorn’, and ‘bezoar’ in the local language.”

Erika (Communications Manager)

Erika is in her final semester of an MFA Program at the Bennington Writing Seminars. While her monthly reading assignments have lightened (a little) this term, she’s also reading scholarly texts for the thesis lecture she’ll give and rereading the books her lecture will focus on. This month, along with rereading The Vegetarian by Han Kang (translated from Korean by Deborah Smith) and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, she’s also reading the anthology The Madwoman in the Attic by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg and Florida, the latest story collection by Lauren Groff, one of her favorite authors. Erika says, “I’ve loved the flexibility of my MFA program in getting to choose your own books. And reading is my favorite kind of homework, since it’s something I love to do anyway. I’ve been reading a lot of short story collections, as that’s what I’m working on right now, but I am looking forward to getting to read whatever I feel like once I graduate.”

Meredith (Program Director)

 

 

Meredith is reading “One classic YA book that I had never read and one newer classic to mark the end of summer.”

Jana (Program Manager)

 

Jana highly recommends The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

What are you reading? Comment below!