Poet and writer Gwendolyn Brooks succinctly wrote that, “Books feed and cure and chortle and collide…” Her brilliant short poem (see below) titled, Book Power gets right to the heart of the necessity of reading and the basic sustenance literature can provide in our lives. While I believe in the nourishment factor, it’s the colliding that gets me lately.

Reading is so much fun.  Super-Grouping titles is a great way to get so much more out of reading. One great book can lead to another and another and soon you have learned SO MUCH about the original subject (plus, any of these groupings wrapped-up together would be a formidable gift for someone you really, really like).

Reading on the beach? Sure thing! Best time of day for beach reading is late afternoon when the bright sun is not directly overhead. I always try to avoid high sun hours when I can. However, whenever you hit the sand, bring a good sunhat and your prescription reader-sunglasses – or else double up (sunglasses over readers), like I do. It’s a little nerdy, but I like to think I pull it off.

Some of the Super Groups below take on some big topics (ie: WW2, Hitler, Slavery), so the groupings will not even come close to covering what is necessary to read. The titles I have chosen, however, are great books on (or around) the subject and each has some sort of connection to the other. For some books, the association is obvious. Others, you will discover the relationship upon reading. There is something that links them together, thus making them interesting to read in proximation.

Some books below also cross-over into other groups, spanning subject matter once again in an interesting way. For example, “The Boys in the Boat” is a great action-filled sports story which also accidentally provides an eerie advance-look at Hitler in the early years of his rise and well-before WWII. What does Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” have to do with WWII? Read “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr to find out – !