10 Great Reader Comments on Books

SUGGESTIONS PLEASE FOR SIX-YEAR OLD BOOKWORM (not me ha) I’m thrilled that I’ve produced a six-year-old bookworm in my daughter Anna (I fell in love with that name reading Anna Karenina in my 20s,) and I smile every time she’s using her free time blowing through books. She’s begun reading chapter books, but I don’t know what to pick for a six-year-old reading perhaps around an age 7-8 level – she’s currently reading the Ramona and Beezus series I read as a kid – any suggestions? I just want to open up her options! In my medium-sized city in Australia (I’m Canadian) there’s a huge focus on Australian authors which is of course understandable, but the libraries only seem to carry a small section for young readers, and there aren’t many bookstores in this city very sadly. Would love some fun series suggestions – since she’s just started graduating from picture books (but thankfully still enjoys them), I think she’d be open to anything – fantasy, girl power, books marketed for boys – anything!

Doing the Lord’s work, Meghan!

Loving my current read An Infinite Love Story by Chanel Cleeton 💕 Historical fiction recs: When Sleeping Women Wake by Emma Pei Yin Liberty Street by Heather Marshall The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai Red Clay by Charles B. Fancher The Forgotten Midwife by Laura Anthony This Here is Love by Princess Joy L. Perry Memoirs: Redeeming Justice by Jarrett Adams A Knock at Midnight by Brittany K. Barnett Finding Me by Viola Davis (highly recommend the audiobook!) What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo (the audiobook was amazing!) Know My Name by Chanel Miller American Radical by Tamer Elnoury Savor by Fatima Ali Romance: The Last Love Note by Emma Grey Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan Brighter than Before by Courtney Walsh The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston The Good Part by Sophie Cousens Thrillers: Steve Cavanagh’s books especially his Eddie Flynn series! Eddie is an ex-conman turned defense attorney 👌 My top 3 are Thirteen, Fifty-Fifty and The Accomplice Next of Kin by Kia Abdullah Heart of Glass by Jennifer Hillier Happy reading! 🤍

Just for fun we started a family reading chart, similar to Megan. Every family member, adults included, earns a star on the chart for books completed. Everything counts, as long as you finish it- audiobooks, picture books, novels- and two stars are awarded when older sibling reads to younger :) when we hit 100, the kids picked a fun outing. I thought it would be a fun winter doldrums activity but we have kept going strong- we are at 345 books for the year so far, have visited multiple trampoline parks as prizes, haha, and my kids have already set a goal to read 500 books in 2027. Sometimes you just need a sticker chart and group enthusiasm for the win!

I got turned on to Emma M Lion in the original post where you drew Lucy’s comment from and I’m currently finishing book 8! “Jane Austen meets Enola Holmes” was such a vivid and compelling description that it stuck in my head for a week until I finally went and tracked down the books. The audiobook narration is masterful.

Yay for more EML lovers! Gosh they are so good. I’m reading the series and planning a party for when the next is released!

Is anyone else obsessed with “The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion” series by Beth Brower? Did the COJ book lover community already discuss this? I recently devoured this series and found the heroine, Emma, to be exactly what I needed in this moment, funny, lovable, brave, and determined. The found family is heartwarming, the romance is exceptional, and writing sublime.

Ok, *slightly* off topic, but your comment about snuggling into bed early sparked something I want to share: my Frankenmuth Wool Comforter is the best splurge ev-AR. I chuckle contentedly every time I crawl into bed since the temps started dropping. My favorite reading memory has to be reading out loud to my kiddos when they were small… and even not so small! I loved reading them the books I had loved as a kid (they were super into Narnia, less into the Little House books) as well as books I first encountered as a grown-up (I read them most of the Discworld books! And yes, I paused to explain the jokes!)

My third grader has been tearing through the graphic novel version of The Babysitters Club over the past year, and I told her to just wait until she gets into chapter books because entire worlds will open up to her. The other night when I was tucking her in, she whipped out a chapter book and said, “MOM. You were right! I’m a chapter book girl now! I read it and imagine everything in my head! I have an amazing imagination!”

I just started American Hagwon the new novel by Min Jin Lee (she wrote Pachinko).

The noiser podcast of Pride and Prejudice and Emma read by Dame Julie Andrews has been getting me through the work days!

It is still early (about 6 months in) but I texted a group of friends and started a silent reading club. I may have read about the idea on COJ, we all get together once a month for two hours and read our own books. Usually we chat for the first hour (sometimes depending on who shows up it, we chat the whole time) and then read for the second hour. I love a low stakes standing hang out and we usually at least talk about the books we are enjoying/authors/trade books. It is great!

Thanks to your post, I just ordered a personalized T-shirt that says, “Can you steer me, please, so I can keep reading?”

Yesterday I called my 10 year old son to ask how his day was going. He answered in the most happy, proud voice – like he just won a football game – “Mom! I just read for like 40 minutes and it was like no time passed at all! It was so cool!” What a joy to raise a voracious reader.

I’ve been working on a few of those “best of” lists for a couple years now — the PopChart 100 Essential Novels scratch-off, which I got as a gift in Dec 2024, and the New York Times 100 Greatest Novels of the 21st Century list, which debuted in Fall 2024 as well. I alternate between picks from each of those and books that are based on my own personal proclivities. It’s a good way to keep your worldview open and try new things! I also am in a book club that chooses a different theme every month. Sometimes it feels like a juggling act trying to get it all read, but I luckily have a very long commute by train :)

One of my greatest pleasures as a mom is that my son, now 9, has inherited (absorbed?) my love a reading. There is no greater question than: “Can you come snuggle read?” whereby we wedge into the corner of the section under a cozy blanket and read our respective novels side by side. We still read aloud every night. The current selection is “The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be” by Farley Mowatt. Team: It’s a banger! The “old fashion” cadence and vocab are a delight to read aloud; it reminds me so much of my late grandfather’s story telling.

I’m sorry Meghan but if you host a read-a-thon I think you’re legally required to reward them with Pizza Hut.

I so relate to the challenge of getting adolescent boys to read. In this respect my Dad was a life saver. Dad’s advice was to get hold of an anthology of short stories and some non fiction books and to just leave them lying around so that my son when bored or finding himself with some time on his hands would just pick them up and before he knew it would be reading. The back of the toilet, the coffee table near the TV and a bedside table were all spots Dad recommended. I also found that leaving a book or two on the side of the desk where my son did his homework was a good spot-read anything to avoid actually doing mandatory homework! The second part of Dad’s recommendation is CRITICAL! Under no circumstances should one notice much less comment on the fact that you have observed any indications that there is reading happening!!! This sounds scary but remember you are already directing consumption because you are choosing what is lying around to be read. Finally I share my own stroke of genius as a method for finding books that are not junk and might appeal. There was a very good boys prep school near where I lived and by going on their web site I was able to find the reading list for their summer reading requirements! Another summer when the list was behind a students only pay wall I was able to get the lady at a nearby bookstore to share the list with me. Mothers have to think strategically! Almost everything was available at my local library!

I read my first Alice Hoffman book over 30 years ago…I had jury duty , and picked up a copy of Illumination Night at a bookstore near the courthouse. I was enchanted with her imagery, making the ordinary magical ! About 5 years ago, I had an out patient surgery . COVID protocols were still in place, so my husband couldn’t wait with me. I brought along my Kindle and re read Practical Magic , and was amazed how comforting the words were…like an old friend sitting there, holding my hand! Hoffman’s books are a huge part of my life…a new book from her is a major look forward to!

+1 to books by female comedians, Bren! Listening to them on audiobooks so they are reading their words is the absolute best. Tina Fey’s voice describing her dad is so good I can hear in my head as I type this, many many years later.

I just found that they loaded moby dick on apple podcasts, it opens with Tilda Swinton reading the first chapter “Call me Ishmael” – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moby-dick-big-read/id561715706

I am reading the Annotated Pride and Prejudice (annotated by David Shapard) and it is an absolute delight. I have read P&P an embarrassing number of times and this annotated version has so much extra information. Highly recommend.

I find that in the age of everything-immediately-accessible-all-the-time, leaning into the library holds helps me learn to enjoy the need to wait for a well loved or popular book. Or choose something older that is available and has stood the test of time. Everytime it feels like a little antidote to modern life.

I read Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott several years ago. I really like her nonfiction books.

A good memoir is like living with a friend, Operating Instructions was like that for me. My cousin and I have a shared note where we write the books we read and a brief rating out of five. Her ratings are the funniest thing. After I recommended she read ‘The Hearts Invisible Furies’ she wrote: The hearts invisible furies – actually very lovely despite dire content and personal tragedies within (4/5).

I LOVED the Emma M Lion books, as have all of the many people to whom I’ve enthusiastically recommended them. My advice is to not be deterred by book 1, as it’s the least engaging of the bunch, and to consider the audiobooks because the narrator does a brilliant job. The audiobooks are not on Audible, so it’s a great motivation to switch to a non-Amazon platform (I love libro.fm, which funnels certain proceeds to an independent bookstore of your choice). AND they’re lovely and engaging while avoiding triggering topics so they’re a perfect distraction when you’re going through something (break up, grief, IVF etc). God, what can’t these books do?!

It’s banned books week in the United States and we’re currently 8 hours into a 12 hour read out at our university library and I love all this book love!

Janelle, just here to say that I love Operating Instructions. I have read it a number of times at different points in my own life and it always delivers.

Add Jessi Klein to your list of female comedian’s books to read! If you are a mom you H A V E to read I’ll Show Myself Out, you will never again feel so seen or laugh so hard— I’m talking side stitches from laughing. And you absolutely must do the audio because Jessi narrates it herself and her delivery is the pinnacle of comedy!

Operating Instructions is such a beautiful book! I also picked up Waiting for Birdy by Catherine Newman recently. As a mom to young children, I love reading about mothers and how they experience motherhood. But I decidedly do not like parenting books! I also really enjoyed Great with Child By Beth Ann Fennelly, which Jo recommended many years ago!

I’ve recently retired and have more time to read. I missed not having enough time while I was working, commuting, raising a family, etc. My son and his wife bought me the Elena Ferrante 4-part Neopolitan series beginning with “My Brilliant Friend”. I don’t know how I missed these books that span the 60-year friendship of two women. They are fantastic! I’m going to watch the HBO miniseries after I’m finished.

There is no better feeling than being addicted to the book I’m reading. My husband and I were just joking that while we know it is better than doom scrolling on social media, it is no less of a time suck

I just read a banger of a book that I loved: Under Story by Chloe Benjamin. You have to squint a little and not consider every detail of the feasibility of the imagined world, but I thought it was so creative and thought provoking and lovely.

The comment about Sour Patch Kids made me think of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, “happy as only a little girl could be with a fine book and a little bowl of candy”

I am currently reading one and listening to another on audio while driving. Bedtime read is unexpectedly awesome: The Pillagers Guide to Arctic Pianos by Kendra Langford Shaw (she’s a Billings, MT county councilwoman! That’s just a fun fact, lol). The audio book is a genre I usually avoid like the plague: WW2 and who knows how I even came across it, but the rec must have been compelling and, in fact, I am really engaged. It’s about a group of women codebreakers and the intersection of their lives and work during this war: The Rose Code by Kate Quinn (narrated very well by Saskia Maarleveld). On another note, I work with children and am looking for the best, age appropriate book rec for a 14 teen I work with who likes the horror genre, something I know nothing about. Somehow she landed on an absolutely horrible book that I am not even going to name here but it is a popular “dark sex” trilogy. “Dark romance” theme – not sure why anyone would want to read that (think: rape fantasies then marrying the one who plays that out – yuck and not appropriate for anyone, let alone a newly 14 year old.) I convinced her it was not appropriate for children and she thankfully let me dispose of it after flipping through a few pages and agreeing with me. Does anyone know of something that might suit her interest in dark themes? I wondered if The Handmaid’s Tale might work (haven’t read it myself yet or seen the series but understand the basic gist.). Anything thoughts? Thank you! Can anyone suggest something

When I meet up with friends, we often start fuming about politics. So I’ve started conversations instead with ‘What are you reading? Any recommendations?’ It is a kind of therapy for us both. Books bring joy!

I feel the love language! I’m reading The Sympathizer and listening to history books on the Vietnam War. Thank Dog for podcasts! And yet, I can get into audiobooks, it’s bizarre. I’m jealous of people for whom that works. Although the other day I heard some tweens talking about audiobooks they “read” and assumed they were being tongue in cheek, but they assured me audiobooks are reading. This is wild to me—they could be illiterate and get through their books just fine. I’m not clutching my pearls about it, just think it’s bizarre and has me wondering about the ramifications.

My daughter was learning to read last year in first grade and would get frustrated she wasn’t reading as quickly as she wanted. I kept repeating that reading is one of the greatest pleasures in life and once she was over the hump she would agree. This year all I hear is,”let me finish this last page!”

Erika- best wishes on your IVF journey!! I read only light hearted books and it definitely helped to escape! (Also silly shows, cozy video games) He’s a keeper!!

I just finished a read aloud of Mrs. Frisby & the Rats of NIMH with my kids and they loved it. We read aloud at meals a lot, to avoid chatter and guide conversation. If you have kids (or kids you care for), I’d love to know what you’re reading together!

I realized I was falling in love with my then-boyfriend-now-husband early on when I went home without him for the holidays. We’d call each other every night and he’d read to me over the phone until I fell asleep. He still reads out loud to me more than a decade later.

Love this post. I am currently reading Orbital, The God of Small Things, A Different Kind of Power and the Finest Hotel in Kabul amongst other things. I read a lot together but it is so fun. I get my love of reading from my mother and brother who are avid readers.

man, sometimes i tear up about how much reading has saved my life. i feel like i’ve learned so much from peering into someone else’s world via a good (or even bad!) book. what a delight to the soul.

I went to high school in the rust belt in the 90s and in all my schooling since (I’m now a professor myself) my all-time favorite class was year 4 of Spanish. There were only 5 of us in the class, it was elective, and we spent the entire year translating Don Quixote, word for word, line by line. Each day when we met in class and we’d all work collaborativly and on the weekends we’d divvy up the chapters and review them with each other on Mondays. Our teacher would be next door teaching another class and would periodically check in on us, but we were largely on our own. We would howl with laughter at our translation attempts “he’s fighting….a windmill?!” (I’d never read magical realism-adjacent stuff before…) and now, years and years later, I’m studying Spanish again. I have a nearly 300 day streak on duolingo and I’ve just reached the point where what I’m currently learning surpasses my vintage high school foundation. I spent my honeymoon in Spain 10 years ago and while there, I sent my former high school teacher a postcard, but really I can’t ever thank her enough for that beloved class. I loved that book!!

I have a three year old daughter who cannot get enough of books. She will sit in her room with a stack of books next to her and just “read” them one by one. I’m also loving reading my childhood favorites to her like the Berenstain Bears, Owl at Home, Magic School Bus, Beatrix Potter, and have a running list of all the books I can’t wait to introduce her to when she’s old enough. Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, the Narnia series, Ramona Quimby, Boxcar Children… the list goes on. Because of all of this, I feel like I’ve been more in touch with who I was as a little girl and it feels good! It’s inspired me to get back to reading for fun!

My favorite book memory is how my three high school best friends and I used to pass books around to each other and how obsessed we were with being able to hang out and talk about them. The ones I remember are: Edie: An American Biography (we all wanted to be Edie); Girl by Blake Nelson (we all thought Portland, OR sounded so hip); Drugstore Cowboy (we loved the movie, loved the memoir); The Handmaid’s Tale and Cat’s Eye; What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, which started out as a short story in Sassy, which of course we all read; Go Ask Alice; and all the books written by the girlfriends and lesser known women of The Beat Generation, because we weren’t into most of the male ones, but the women wrote some excellent memoirs – Joyce Johnson’s and Hettie Jones’s were my faves. These friends were basically my kindred spirits at the time, and we got through all the high school b.s. by really bonding over our taste in books and movies.

@Meghan: bravo. i LOVE this!

libby on my kjndle for the win!

I am dabbling in community organizing for the Palestinian community in Arizona. I caught wind that author Hannah Assadi was coming to town to tour her new novel Paradiso 17 (inspired by her late father’s Palestinian refugee experience). The beautiful book also takes place prominently in AZ, so I knew I had to bring her to our group. She was more than willing. Nervous to perform as a good event facilitator, I attended her more formal bookshop event two days before the one I held. I sat in the front row, smiling, waiting. A gentleman sat next to me, leaned over, and boasted the author was his niece. He then looked at my face and we recognized each other. He was an old friend of my father’s! It was a reminder of how small our world is–that books are connectors. Our event turned into a family affair!

My oldest son came after many years of trying and IVF hell.. He came out and I felt like a missing piece of my soul has showed up.. since he was a baby, he has loved reading.. now that he is ten and those pre teen moods sometimes makes me miss him even when he is sitting in front of me. To keep our connection feeling alive, we have created a book club..we take turns picking booking and we go to a cafe and read together. Currently reading his pick. Space case by Stuart Gibbs. a Who Done It novel based on the moon.. Its been such a dream to be able to read things together still and stay connected.

Commenter Sara said “I can’t wait to forget it enough to read it again,” and I FEEL that in my SOUL. Sometimes I’ll pull gently at the thread of a memory to see how long it is, It’s a lovely day when I finally remember just the FEELING of a treasured book and not its details. I can read it again for the very first time.

It is so wonderful to see that Emma M Lion keeps getting more and more shout outs on COJ and elsewhere… it feels like the little indie book series that is finally getting the praise it deserves! Love the audiobooks and I’m rereading the series a second time after having read them last year, they are that cozy and wonderful, a perfect autumn and winter read. Aside from that I am rereading Northanger Abbey for the first time since I was 16 years old, still as charming and lovely as ever! And I am holding off reading American Hagwon for a few weeks (although I desperately want to read it) because I plan to have it be the main book I read while in China and South Korea. Anyone else pick books that are set in the places they are traveling too? I love doing that, it really can help with getting a sense of a place!

A real treasure to read is “Down A Garden Path” by Karla Dornacher with beautiful illustrations. A delight for the soul as well as a feast for the eye. Given to me as a retirement gift; it is one if my truly special possessions!!!

I saw a clip going around on instagram of Helen Mirren hoping to work with Genevieve Gaunt (the narrator of the Emma M. Lion audiobooks.) She really IS that good! It was delightful to see her reaction to Helen mentioning her.

Yes to Amanda! Bless librarians and the work they do to keep our kids reading. My own children are big readers but it takes so much time to keep them with it… the library visits, finding new books, tracking the holds, poring over lists of recs you’ve already read or seen for new ideas, paying for the ones that get lost haha. I’m a high school teacher and was recently asking my sophomores for book recs for my 6th grader at home and they all piled around gushing about their favorite series (Percy Jackson! Dragonwatch! Land of Stories! Hunger Games!) and when I asked if they still read there were crickets. One commented that he felt like he’d read all of the ones that interest him. How sad! It takes some work to find the next great read, even for us adults, and harder still for kids who are still figuring stuff out, so I am so grateful to adults who are nudging kids along so they can hold onto an interest that brings such richness and joy and wonder to their lives.

I recently re-discovered the library hold system (i know! i know! but i’m not a patient person!). I have to laugh at how fast and furious my books are rolling in. The sympathetic librarian reminded me that our system does not charge for overdue books, so the due date is more of a suggestion? Nope! i’m not going to be THAT person. i’m determined to get those books read on time and back in circulation (currently reading The Magician by Colm Toibin–a Jo suggestion)

sorry but unrelated – did anyone else love “the drama” movie as much as i did?

I love how being known as a reader amongst my friends and colleagues means they often come to me with their latest reads, or asking for recommendations. One friend said she thought that encouraging people to read was “my calling” and I was so touched by that. If all I end up doing in life is connecting people with books they love then I think that might be a life well lived.

Wow Meghan! Way to inspire. My TBR stack is too high, so even though I want to read “East of Eden” and “Sense & Sensibility” for the TV adaptations, I’m not. Currently reading “The Astral Library” for book club, which is OK.

Somebody I love reading poetry to me. Oufh, I miss this so much, now that I read about it. It is crazy how often I think I am in a more or less stable life equilibrium and then I read a thing like that and pang!, yearning reaches a new high. But thank you anyway, it is good to feel again what the heart truly wants.