The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction

Today is #WorldReadAloudDay. And reading aloud is not just for kids, you know. As for me and my house, perhaps my husband and I will read from The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction by Meghan Cox Gurdon after our exciting trip to Home Depot this evening. Very meta, with a new kitchen faucet on the side for good measure.

No, actually, we will probably curl up with another episode of The Morning Show. But! I was happy/surprised to find this book on our shelves while dusting this past weekend. I forgot that I had purchased it as a lead-up to the first event I produced, Book Covers: A MetroWest Read-Aloud Series, in 2019. Yes, I was bold enough to call it a “series,” and I’m happy to say that I’m planning the 3rd Book Covers for this fall as part of @metrowestreadersfest.

Hearing books — stories — read aloud, even as adults can be soothing, educational, interesting…and fun! Here’s a sampling of what’s been read from at these events, by authors and “regular” community leaders alike:

{The theme was “Home” for these:}

* An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones

* Property, by Lionel Shriver

* The Age of Light, by Whitney Scharer

* Behold the Dreamers, by Imbolo Mbue

* The House of the Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne

* Everything Here is Beautiful, by Mira T. Lee

* Giovanni’s Room, by James Baldwin

{The theme was “Fate” for these:}

* The Stationery Shop, by Marjan Kamali

* The Body Papers, by Grace Talusan

* The Alchemist, by Paolo Coelho

* The Murder List, by Hank Phillippi Ryan

* The Queen of the Night, by Alexander Chee

So, got any ideas for a good theme for Book Covers 3.0? #readaloud


originally published on instagram

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