Great Escape: Take a Break to Read and Relax

We try to get our kids to read as much as possible.  Our mission is to instill in them a life-long love of books, hoping they’ll choose a story over a video game.  When was the last time you settled down with a really good book of your own? 

I’m not talking about reading Pinkalicious to your best little girlfriend before bed or following along with Percy Jackson and the Olympians for a book report.  Carve out a few hours to read a real book, one that makes you think.  Then go talk about it.

The Kings Park Branch of the Smithtown Library offers a monthly book discussion group.  The group meets from 11 a.m. until noon.  Books have been selected for the March and April meetings.  If you like nonfiction text, crack open No Ordinary Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin by Monday, March 7.  This read looks at the lives of FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt during their time in the White House.  If fiction is more your speed, gear up for an April 18th discussion of the novel Brooklyn by Colm Tiobin.  The protagonist Ellis is an Irish immigrant who finds herself in 1950’s Brooklyn.  The story does justice to character analysis and is universally captivating. 

Copies of each book are available at the circulation desk.  Either selection is an upgrade from the reading rut we moms can find ourselves in.  Practice what you preach.  Twenty minutes of page turning a day—now that's an escape.