1 . For Grandparents Day or any day, a free and easy gift is to give one of these books to a beloved nana (奶奶) or grandpa and read the book together with the grandchild.

Zura feels nervous about Nana Akua visiting her school for Grandparents Day because Nana has permanent African tribal marks on her face. When the day arrives, Akua explains that she is from Ghana and the marks were a gift from her parents and she feels proud to wear them. She shows the class a quilt filled with other symbols from Ghana and each child gets to pick a symbol they love to wear on their face with face paint.

Celebrate the wonders of ordinary, small things as a girl and her grandfather take a walk to notice all the tiny and perfect things; things like a yellow leaf, a snail, a red bottle cap, a flower growing through a sidewalk crack…When they arrive home, the little girl excitedly shares about the wonders she saw.

The boy doesn’t like the city where Nana lives, because he thinks it’s loud and scary. Nana gives him a fancy red cape that makes him feel very brave. And he and Nana walk through the city, discovering all that is wonderful about it.

Rosie visits her nana, but she forgets Nana doesn’t speak English. How will they communicate? First, they start with food. Then they do art together and take a walk. Nana says a word in Spanish and Rosie says the word in English. No matter what, their love is a language of its own that doesn’t need words.

2 . Food books can bring a culture to life. The following food books are bursting with delicious food, as well as entertaining and engaging storytelling.

	Pierre Thiam’s latest book aims to share everyday, easy-to-cook recipes like baked ginger-chili plantain kelewele. He explains how so many dishes and ingredients from the American South and other regions can trace their origin to West Africa. The 80 recipes are accessible and present a range of traditional and modern takes on the cuisine.
	Fuchsia Dunlop’s book examines classic Chinese dishes, like mapo tofu, soup dumplings and Dongpo pork. This book includes history, philosophy, cooking techniques, and Dunlop’s on-the-ground research conducted over three decades to present a fascinating exploration of this ever-changing cuisine.
	Tamar Adler seeks to make leftovers more appealing and lower food waste in the process with her latest book, which contains around 1,500 recipes. This isn’t what you’d call a beautiful coffee table-style cookbook — it’s practical and the creative secrets within are truly mind-blowing.
	Natasha Pickowicz is an innovative chef. More Than Cake is her first cookbook, full of invaluable tips like how to build a layer (层) cake. Aside from great baking recipes, this cookbook tries to live up to its name by sharing how baking can provide so much more than just tasty sweets — it can give community, purpose, joy and love.

3 . Four Popular Books on Science

This book written by Graham Lawton is not about what happens when we’re ill with something serious to send us to the doctor. Instead, it focuses on many of mild, annoying illnesses, aches and pains which we can always put up with. It’s a mixture of science and history, with a light touch, and provides practical information about each illness for the reader.

In this deeply researched book, Professor Bobby Duffy provides a new framework for understanding the issues of the day: from culture wars to climate change and mental health to housing. Including information from all over the globe, and with powerful effects on humanity’s future, this big-thinking book will change how you view the world.

Introduced by Jim Al-Khalili, Eureka brings together 365 mind blowing questions, attractive facts and exciting experiments. If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if the moon disappeared, why cats always land on their feet, why we get morning breath, how to measure the speed of light with a chocolate bar, if you could surf down an erupting volcano and why songs get stuck in your head, this book would be a good choice.

Unthinkable takes us on an unforgettable journey through the human brain. Award-winning science writer Helen Thomson has spent years travelling the world tracking down brain disorders that are not seen very often. In Unthinkable she tells the stories of nine unusual people. From the man who thinks he’s a tiger to the doctor who feels the pain of others just by looking at them. Their experiences show how the brain can shape our lives in unexpected and, in some cases, alarming ways.

5 . When visiting a park, it is common to observe older individuals listening to audio (有声的) books instead of reading traditional books. Audio books have become quite popular these days.     1     Is listening to an audio book just as beneficial as reading a book?

    2     Reading needs us to focus all our attention on the words in a book. We also need to find time and a specific place to sit down and read. However, audio books provide flexibility and allow individuals to engage in other activities while listening. And it gives your eyes a break, too.

But the big question is, do we get knowledge from audio books as effectively as we do from paper books?     3     Volunteers in group one were asked to listen to an audio book while volunteers in group two read a book of the same content. Surprisingly, both groups recalled the same amount of information, whether they listened to it or read it.

Another study published in the Journal of Neuroscience further supported the result above. In the study, researchers scanned (扫描) people’s brains when they listened to and read books.     4    

Some people still believe that they learn better from reading paper books. One reason might be that when we listen to audio books, we are often multitasking. If you’re trying to learn while doing two things, you’re not going to learn as well.     5     It is important to avoid it while listening to audio books to ensure best learning outcomes.

6 . At 8 years old, Danay Ferguson is the youngest business owner in Fresno, California, where the literacy (识字) rate is shockingly low when compared to the rest of the United States.

“I wanted to share my enthusiasm for reading with other kids, so I asked my daddy if I could open up my business,” Danay says, adding that her father, Dwayne Ferguson, asked her to prove she was serious about taking on such a major project. “He said I had to invite all of his friends on Facebook to the fan page he made for me,” she says. “It took me two days to invite my dad’s 4,000 friends to ‘like’ my page, one by one.”

With the help of her family and team of over 40 volunteers (mostly consisting of kids), Danay strengthened her literacy support in 2014 with her very own no-profit (非营利的) organization named Reading Heart. Danay has worked hard to raise awareness of her organization’s task by giving talks at schools, meeting with city officials and hosting board meetings.

“Her main line is ‘How about you get a book and read it and then share the book with somebody else, and do it again?’ instead of, ‘I give you a book and keep it,’ says Dwayne. “She’s starting a movement on ‘I will give everybody books, but you have to read and share them.’ And she’s trying to do this worldwide.”

And Danay also hopes to break the Guinness World Record for most books collected in a 24-hour period. Danay has a goal of beating the existing record (set at 274,325) with 500,000 donated books, which she is now making possible with a speaking tour that covers 130 schools encouraging kids to read. So far, Reading Heart has collected 90,000 books and given out over 20,000 books, having gifted used and new books to kids in schools, hospitals and in poor areas. “It is the most amazing thing to be a part of,” Dwayne tells us. “My wife and I have to remember that we are her parents because we have great respect for her.”

7 . Increasing your reading speed is a journey that combines technique, practice, and a patient mindset. By following these strategies, you’ll improve your reading speed.

Active reading involves engaging with the material rather than passively absorbing words. Techniques such as underlining key phrases, quickly taking down notes in the margin (页边空白) and asking questions about the content can significantly enhance your reading speed.     1    .

A substantial portion of reading involves the movement of your eyes across lines of text. By expanding your peripheral vision, you can take in more words with each glance. Practice widening your focus to capture groups of words rather than focusing on one word at a time.     2    .

Subvocalisation, or the habit of pronouncing each word in your head as you read, can be a major obstruction to reading speed. Subvocalisation is a natural part of early reading development.     3    . Train your mind to get rid of this inner voice by consciously focusing on visualising concepts and ideas rather than saying each word internally. This change can lead to a fast reading experience.

Like any skill, increasing your reading speed requires consistent practice. Mix up your reading materials to expose yourself to various writing styles and subjects. Whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, academic articles or industry reports, diversifying your reading content enhances your adaptability and speed in processing different types of information.

    5    . Gradually increase the complexity and length of the material, challenging your brain to read faster while maintaining comprehension. This intentional and varied practice is key to training your newfound speed-reading skills.

8 . Upcoming Book Fairs and Festivals

If you’re an author, you owe it to yourself to check out this list of book fairs and festival s that authors can attend.

Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, October 14—15, San Diego, CA. The World Mystery Convention is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization which holds an annual convention in honor of Anthony Boucher, the distinguished mystery fiction critic, editor and author. Bouchercon is their annual world mystery convention, where every year readers, writers, publishers, editors, and booksellers gather for a weekend of education, entertainment, and fun!

The Appalachian Writer’s Conference, October 28, Berea, KY. The conference is a literary workshop that offers beginning writers a chance to sharpen existing skills and learn new techniques from award-winning, seasoned novelists, non-fiction writers, memoirists, and poets. The guests will stay at Historic Boone Tavern Hotel and have a chance to meet Kentucky Artisans.

Kansas Book Festival, November 10—12, Topeka, KS. This event, designed to celebrate the best of Kansas literature, arts and history, will offer a variety of activities for Kansans of all ages, including meet-the-author sessions, panel discussions, book signings and sales, and a special tent with projects for children. This event is free and open to the public.

Indie Book Fair, November 19, Orlando, FL. The Indie Book Fair’s mission is to create a space to allow independent authors to sell and showcase their work, build their readership and make everyone aware of their brand. The vision is through multiple book fair events that are FREE to the public and will include virtual buying for readers who cannot attend. The fair will be held 3 times a year.