WHY I READ: SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN COLUMNISTS TELL WHY THEY LIKE TO READ

There's nothing like a good book to pass the time.

Reading is a way of life in my family. My parents' home in Kirkwood is crammed full of books, and my house also is filled with them.

The library was a regular Saturday stop for our family, where we would browse the shelves and check out another stack of books.

As a youngster, I saw reading as a wonderful adventure. I still do.

I love to read all sorts of books, as well as magazines and newspapers.

There's nothing better than sitting back and reading the Sunday newspaper.

Naturally, I read the Southeast Missourian, but I also read the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

On vacations, I pick up daily newspapers. I love to read what's going on in Nashville, St. Paul, Memphis, or wherever I travel.

Some of the best writing is done by newspaper columnists.

I love the off-the-wall humor of Dave Barry and the storytelling ability of Bill McClellan, who relishes life's little ironies.

Author Garrison Keillor of "Prairie Home Companion" fame has a way with words.

His quirky short stories are works of art. He can say more in a sentence than some people can say all day.

I love murder mysteries. Erle Stanley Gardner's "Perry Mason" books are wonderful to read. There's nothing like reading "The Case of the Daring Divorcee" or some other "case of" in a worn paperback while lying on a Florida beach.

I have a number of books about the Civil War. It's a part of our nation's history that fascinates me.

I love poetry too, with their working words of wisdom.

As the father of two young children, I have less time to read these days.

These days, children's books occupy much of my reading time.

I love Dr. Seuss books -- "The Cat in the Hat" and any others like that.

Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault aren't household names, but their book is a hit with children and parents alike.

The book is "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom," a rhyming, alphabet of a book.

"A told B and B told C, I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree."

My oldest daughter, 5-year-old Becca, loves this book.

Her favorite passage: "Skit skat skoodle doot. Flip flop flee. Everybody's running to the coconut tree.

"Mamas and papas and uncles and aunts, hug their little dears, then dust their pants."

You can't help but like a book like that.

Television and radio can be entertaining, but they'll never replace the beauty of the written word.

There's nothing like a good read, even at the top of the coconut tree.