Books we like

As a family: We try to read the Book of Mormon. We didn’t quite follow through with President Hinckley’s challenge a couple of years ago, but we continue to plug along with our daily reading of the Book of Mormon. Currently, we have been more off than on, but we are trending towards a greater frequency. We started the Phantom Tollbooth together a couple of weeks back, but haven’t picked it up again. The kids all have different tastes and we haven’t read a book together for some time. We did read Chronicles of Narnia, books 1-3 together a couple of years back. We read more as individuals and pairs than anything else right now.

Elizabeth: She loves picture books. Hasn’t appeared to show any favorites yet.

Hyrum: He enjoys Dr. Seuss, train books, and any books that can promote a conversation and exploration. His current favorite, for example, is an ABC book that prompts the reader to find objects with certain characteristics on the page (Can you find a B that is round?) He does request that Dad read in funny voices often times. He really enjoys sounding out words now, too.

Anna loves to read, and for her this is a social activity. She gets at least 30 minutes (usually more) with Mom for Nancy Drew original mysteries. Both Anna and Mom love these and have a hard time putting them down. Anna won’t let Dad subsitutute for Mom, either, as I don’t know what is going on in the story. She loves to read Dr. Seuss books to Elizabeth and Hyrum. For over a year she has been listening to books on tape while falling asleep. Her current preference is anything in the Judy Moody series. She has worked her way through Harry Potter 1-5, many books in the Magic Treehouse series, Junie B. Jones books, and a bunch from the A to Z mystery series. She has settled into the mystery genre. She will often want to read Encyclopedia Brown and try to solve the cases there. This proves difficult, as those were written some time ago, and the solutions are pretty time specific to the era in which the books were written. Anna does have an amazing memory; she recalls details that I had either forgotten or never gleaned in the first place.

John and Reed. We can tackle their tastes together, like with most things in life. They’ve been through the Captain Underpants craze (ugh) and re-visit that from time to time. They’ve also read most of the Magic Treehouse Series and A to Z Myseries. They were hooked on Hardy Boys for some time, but seem to have lost that interest. They never got into Harry Potter, though they tried to start. Reed often will start large books like Harry Potter or Eragon, but can’t hang onto the story line for long. They listen to books on CD prior to bedtime, just like Anna. But, unlike Anna, they fall right asleep. This might be a big reason they haven’t lasted through Harry Potter and such. Right now they are hooked on any Stink books, he is the younger brother of Judy Moody. They’ve also read a number of Star Wars Young Jedi Series books. They both really enjoy to read Lego magazines, Tennis magazines, and Real Salt Lake program guides. They can spend hours with these pamphlets, memorizing names, faces, and facts about all the players. They’ve always had a fascination with faces and names. When they were 3, we discovered this and made them flashcards by laminating and cutting the pictures from the centerfold of the Ensign conference issue. I am not exaggerating to say they had over 100 general authorities names memorized. I remember being in line in the grocery store once. Reed joyfully declared, “That’s Spencer W. Kimball!” pointing to an old man in a tabloid who did resemble the former prophet. Back to reading. . . John and Reed faithfully read at least 30 minutes each night, usually more.

Patricia loves to read but doesn’t have the time to do so very often. She enjoys her time with Anna and Nancy Drew. She will get hooked on the yearly Harry Potter thriller. She recently flew through the Artemis Fowl series. Her favorite nonfiction author is Mary Ellen Edmunds.

Aaron likes to read and listen to books on tape in the car. Favorite books on tape are those by Brian Jacques (Redwall series) because they are read by a full cast and are a lot of fun. Favorite authors include Terry Brooks, Garth Nix, JK Rowling, Phillip Pullman, Eoin Colfer, Jonathan Stroud, and Orson Scott Card. For nonfiction, he likes anything by authors associated with the Arbinger Institute, Alfie Kohn. I don’t read enough doctrinal commentary, but have enjoyed in the past Nibley, Largey, Maxwell, and pretty much anything I’ve read from any general authority.
There you have it. A quick run-down on the family reading. Goals include reading the Book of Mormon more often, and reading a leisure book as a family from time to time.