Stay cool with summer reading
With hot weather settling in worse than a scratchy wool coat, it’s the perfect time to grab some air-conditioning and lots of good books and read, read, read.
If you are searching for titles for your to-be-read stack, trust me on this: Stroll through your wonderful cool neighborhood library. Caddo, Bossier, DeSoto and Webster Parish libraries are pulling out all the stops with summer programs, craft classes and lots of great books you didn’t even know you wanted to read.
On a recent visit to a library (practicing what I preach), I came out with nine books – in a variety of genres. This, to me, is one of the always pleasurable things about the library—trying on different authors for free. I checked out an enjoyable novel I’d never heard of, “The City Baker's Guide to Country Living” by Louise Miller; a nonfiction fitness book, “Running Past Fifty: Advice and Inspiration for Senior Runners” by Gail Waesche Kislevitz (which I enjoyed so much that I ordered a copy for my brother in Stonewall); and four home decorating books, which give me gumption to work on the house during summertime.
Now I’m into another book I checked out, this time as an e-book: “Flying Solo,” the second novel by Linda Holmes, about a woman about to turn 40 who goes back to her small Maine hometown to help clear out a great-aunt’s house. Holmes’ first novel was “Evvie Drake Starts Over,” a NYT bestseller that I really enjoyed, in part, I confess, because it had a baseball plotline.
If you prefer to own books, I see where Barnes & Noble Booksellers is having a big summer sale on hardback bestsellers, so you might visit the store on Youree Drive or look at www.BN.com.
And if you’re wrapping up summer with a vacation, practice book tourism by stopping into an independent bookstore. Don’t just look, though; buy a book. I’m trying to do this everywhere I go to help keep these small local businesses alive. Plus, you’ll see regional books you might have otherwise missed.
Centenary Book Bazaar scheduled
Calling all book lovers: The 35th annual Centenary Book Bazaar, a used book sale in a league of its own, will be from 4 to 9 p.m. Sept. 9 and from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Sept. 10 in the college’s Fitness Center, 2911 Centenary Blvd, Shreveport.
If you want to donate books (to make room for all the great buys you’ll find at the sale), you can drop donations off at the “Bookhouse,” in the Centenary Square building at the corner of Woodlawn and E. Kings Hwy., across the street from the old George's Grill. Volunteers are there on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. At other times there is a large wooden bin in front of the building where books can be dropped off.
Devotional book features local pastors’ wives
A group of wives of pastors, including local participants, have released a 40-day devotional book, “Strength and Dignity,” to encourage women in their walk with God. The book “is for every woman struggling to balance her beauty and her brokenness. The woman whose fear sometimes trumps her faith. The woman who longs to know that she is enough.”
The collection includes a dedication to the late Norma J. Blake, who was married to the late Dr. Harry Blake for more than 60 years. Together they led Mount Canaan Baptist Church in Shreveport for 52 years. For more, see www.strengthanddignity.info.
Short story collection has local flavor
I wrote recently about “Mixed Company,” a Jenny Shank short story collection I enjoyed, and local author Reece Lewing contacted me about his collection of short stories, “Nightstand Companion: Short Stories for Sleepy Readers.” (Don’t you love this title?) This collection has varying themes, with local flavor and a touch of the supernatural. It’s available in paperback from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Nightstand-Companion-Stories-Sleepy-Readers/dp/1686902433
Stay cool and keep reading.
More Judy Christie: Collection of short stories has feel of Shreveport neighborhoods
Columnist Judy Christie is the author of 18 novels and nonfiction books. With NYT bestselling author Lisa Wingate, she co-authored “Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children’s Home Society,” the nonfiction sequel to Wingate’s novel “Before We Were Yours.” For more about Christie, see www.judychristie.com or follow her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/JudyChristieAuthor.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Judy Christie: Stay cool with summer reading
