Finding good books to read

LIKE all good libraries, your cyber library strives to teach research skills, encourage reading and encourage participation in community service. Today we examine the reading you should be doing for pleasure, personal development and school.

Reading helps you to develop personally and academically by targeting empathy skills as well as comprehension and analytical skills. The question is, where to find good books to read.

Personal recommendations are always a good way to discover books. Ask friends or students in your class, your teachers and parents what they are reading.

Browse through local bookstores and ask which books are most popular. They will offer many Caribbean choices, along with best-sellers and award-winning books.

Paper Based in the Normandie Hotel, St Ann's, has a Facebook page with book reviews and information about new arrivals.

Apply your research skills and look for book reviews from places like the UK Guardian or, in the US, the Washington Post and the New York Times.

You can also ask bookstores to order books that you are interested in. Google best Young Adult fiction to find sites that offer suggestions for teen reading.

If you’re an avid reader, check Project Gutenberg for classics that are in the public domain. Amazon.com often offers classics for free or less than US$1.

Audible.com offers a variety of subscriptions to audio books. Some of the narrators are amazing. There are also Audible originals with theatre-style performances. If you’re easing into reading, audio books might be a good place to start. They also have the advantage of helping you to hone your listening skills.

Read a variety of literature, fiction and nonfiction and make sure you read Caribbean literature. This gives you the opportunity to understand your culture and support our Caribbean voices. Reading Caribbean books encourages publishers to offer more regional books, and this keeps our Caribbean voice alive.

Caribbean Young Adult (YA) literature is growing, thanks to the CODE Burt Award for Caribbean literature and writers who are taking an interest in writing for students 14-18 years old.

Ask your bookstores for CODE Burt award-winning books. One of my favourites is Girlcott, about a 16-year-old girl who participates in Bermuda’s 1959 theatre boycott. Historical fiction tends to be popular with teens.

If you’re now taking the plunge into reading, I suggest trying short stories. They offer all the literary elements of a novel and give you practise in identifying theme, analysing characters and conflicts several different ways in one book.

Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Bentley is a new collection of short stories to check out. Jamaican writer Olive Senior writes novels and short stories, like Summer Lightning and The Pain Tree. Home, Home by Lisa Allen-Agostini gives readers the opportunity to understand depression, explore self-identity and fitting into a new culture – all themes that resonate with teens.

Poetry presents ways to explore feelings and understand elements of literature like figures of speech. If you’re now delving into poetry, I suggest starting with Mervyn Taylor. His books capture the essence of Trinidadian culture and bridge the cultural gap between Trinidad and New York. His narrative poems present vivid imagery. Poetry can sometimes be intimidating, but Taylor's books are always welcoming.

UWI's biography series offers short biographies of important Caribbean people in the arts and literature. They are a fascinating introduction to Caribbean biographies, which serve as a model for writing academic papers. In them you can also see how and when to use in-text citations and bibliographies.

If you like history and want a light read, try Brown Sugar and Spice by Betty Peter. The story of a Harriet, a British girl navigating her way through life during World War II, it's set in Grenada, St Vincent and St Lucia. This historical novel bridges upper elementary and lower secondary schools.

History and science offer some of the most exciting writing you can find right now in literature. Many people tend to forget that nonfiction is literature too.

It is important to check the reading level of books that interest you. Amazon.com offers reading levels, or you can google the reading level of a book title you are interested in.

Reading is one of the best ways to explore the world and build your academic skills during the Christmas vacation.