While many self-improvement enthusiasts love seminars, videos, workshops, CDs, blogs, websites etc, for me nothing beats a good old fashioned self-help book. Books form the core of my personal growth program. In fact books have always been essential long before I discovered the world of life coaching. It all started with my being a voracious reader. To quote esteemed African American publishing veteran, Haki Madhubuti “…books have defined my life.”

October is National Book Month and for all of those books that saved and changed lives, we must give honor and celebrate. The National Book Foundation, which sponsors the annual National Book Awards, embraces National Book Month as part of a national effort to promote reading.

Below are some fun book related activities for you, your friends and family:

*Introduce literature during game night. Add a little variation on some old favorites. Play "Charades," "Name That Book", or "Win, Lose, or Draw." with books and book titles.

*Take a family trip to the local library. Everyone in the family must check out at least one book.

*Have a Family Reading Night. Set aside one night a week to read and discuss a book.

*Recreate scenes from your favorite books.

*Read to your children or to a pre-school class.

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Below is a listing of National Book Award Winners and Finalists for Middle and High School Students for National Read Aloud Day which is October 22nd.

Books for Middle School Students

*An American Plague: Yellow Fever 1793, Jim Murphy (Finalist 2003)
*Holes, Louis Sachar (Winner 1998)
*Hush, Jacqueline Woodson (Finalist 2002)
*My Brother Sam Is Dead, James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier (Finalist 1975)
*Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred Taylor (Finalist 1977)
*The Tiger Rising, Kate DiCamillo (Finalist 2001)
*The Trolls, Polly Horvath (Finalist 1999)

Books for High School Students

*A Long Way from Chicago, Richard Peck (Finalist 1998)
*The Great Gilly Hopkins, Katherine Paterson (Winner, 1979)
*To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee (Finalist 1961)
*Storm Catchers, Tim Bowler
*King of the Mild Frontier, Chris Crutcher
*The Battle of Jericho, Sharon Draper
*The Big Burn, Jeanette Ingold
*The First Part Last, Angela Johnson
*The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd
*Twists and Turns, Janet McDonald
*Acceleration, Graham McNamee
*Big Mouth and Ugly Girl, Joyce Carol Oates
*Vote for Lary, Janet Tashjian
*House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros

Visit www.nationalbook.org for more information and to test your knowledge of modern American literature.