Literacy for Life kicks off

The Nevada Appeal is kicking off its third annual Literacy for Life series, aimed at drawing attention to efforts in the community that promote reading.

As in years past, we will take a look at the members of our community who struggle with reading - both native and non-native speakers, children and adults - and the resources available to them.

We understand that a literate community is a well-informed and better functioning one.

This year we also will focus on the traditional reader. Whether you always have a book on your nightstand or read only the occasional novel recommended by a friend, we want you to participate.

Reading can broaden your understanding of the world and inspire you.

Don't take that for granted.

We will start with some of our own recommendations, but we want to hear yours, too.

Send an email to tvance@nevadaappeal.com with the name of a book you recommend and why.

We will publish your suggestions during the four-week series, to run on Fridays.

The Literacy for Life campaign will culminate with the Literacy for Life Golf Tournament to benefit literacy in Northern Nevada. It will begin at 9 a.m. Oct. 14 with a shotgun start at Thunder Canyon Golf Course. It will be a standard scramble format, with hole prizes and a raffle.

Funds raised will support community programs created to teach reading skills, as well as providing newspapers to area schools.

The cost is $120 and includes cart, shirt, goody bags with balls, towel and other gifts, and lunch at Thunder Canyon.

Call 882-2111 by Sept. 30 to register, or visit nevadaappeal.com/golf.

Crack open a book (or fire up your Kindle) and join us for the next four weeks.

Nevada Appeal Recommendations

"A Short History of Nearly Everything," by Bill Bryson.

"It's the most fascinating exposition of people who made scientific advances I've ever read. It's interesting. It's humorous. It's informative. It's accessible, and it covers a lot of ground."

- Mark Raymond, interim publisher

"Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," by Seth Grahame-Smith.

"It defies categorization, and it will provoke your mind like nothing I've read in the last five years."

- Dennis Noone, editor

"Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist," by William R. Maples and Michael Browning.

"I find it fascinating. If you're interested in pathology and criminal investigations, it's just so informative."

- F.T. Norton, crime reporter

"Anne of Green Gables," by L.M. Montgomery.

"I must have read this book a hundred times when I was young. I listened to it on tape as I traveled this summer to Prince Edward Island, where it is set, and fell in love with it all over again. Mark Twain called Anne Shirley, the book's main character, "The dearest and most moving and delightful child since the immortal Alice." I agree."

- Teri Vance, education reporter

"Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business," by Neil Postman.

"It's a good insight into how much our lives are based on entertainment. We've lost value in other things."

- Sally Taylor, features editor

"Any of the Harry Potter books (by J.K. Rowling). I love Harry Potter. I read them all."

- Darrell Moody, sports reporter

Send your book recommendations to tvance@nevadaappeal.com.