Next time you stay at a participating Country Inns & Suites By Carlson, in the U.S. or Canada check out the complimentary lending library! Through the Read It & Return program, guests are invited to choose a book from the lobby bookshelf and return it at any Country Inns & Suites hotel once they’re done reading. You’ll find a variety of books, including mysteries, fiction, non-fiction and children’s books. These are a few of our favorites—check out the full list of titles!

Sight Hound
by Pam Houston
Dog lovers in particular will be charmed by Pam Houston’s debut novel (she has previously published short story collections). Rae is a Colorado playwright who is learning about hope, love and faith from an unlikely source—her Irish wolfhound, Dante. Though Dante is diagnosed with bone cancer and loses a leg, his strength and serenity impacts everyone in Rae’s life.

Each chapter is narrated by a different character in the story, including animals. Rae’s complicated life is anchored by Dante and, in his own chapter, he offers insight into how he wants Rae to learn to trust love and keep hope alive in a world without him.

Crashing Through: A Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man Who Dared to See
by Robert Kurson
Mike May lost his sight at age three, but thanks to a revolutionary stem-cell and cornea transplant, he regained his vision at age 46. After decades of blindness, he embarks on a physical and emotional journey as he adjusts to his ability to see.

Although this is a true story, May’s life seems at times unbelievable. He was a CIA analyst, champion skier and entrepreneur before ever undergoing the procedure. As he weighs the physical risks of the transplant, he also struggles with how his identity and self-image are changed.

Shem Creek: A Lowcountry Tale
by Dorthea Benton Frank
If you’re in the mood for a good narrative, try this one from Frank’s Lowcountry Tales series. Linda Breland is a single mother who decides to pack up and move, along with her two teenage daughters, from New Jersey to Mount Pleasant, S.C. Her sister Mimi is waiting with open arms and endless advice for the three women.

Linda is hired to work at a local restaurant, and the owner seems like a refreshing departure from the men she left in New Jersey. The story unfolds as the likeable cast of characters all learn to depend on one another and find a new life together in this small Southern town.

More than 90,000 books will help promote learning and literacy in Greater Kansas City.

I’m so excited to tell you about some great news from Country Inns & Suites and how we have extended hospitality beyond the four walls of our hotel and out into the community.

If you’ve taken advantage of our Read It & Return Lending Library^SM, you know we see reading as a vital everyday activity – either by yourself, or with the family. So we’re thrilled to be able to share our surplus books last week – all 90,000 of them! – with the United Way of Kansas City, for distribution to its more than 50 partner agencies.

The donation, which was announced at an event last Tuesday, included selections of fiction, non-fiction, mystery/suspense and self-help, and titles including Moon Over Manhattan and Show Boat, along with family books like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Nancy Drew Mysteries. But the key was seeing how grateful the partner agencies were to receive the donation and to hear stories of how the books will be used.

You can read more in this story by the Kansas City Star.

I Love this Country!

“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” - Dr. Seuss, “I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!”

(more…)

Through its unique lending library and partnerships with schools, publishers and educational programs, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson is promoting literacy. The hotel brand also supports teachers with a special educator discount.  By Mark Caskie

(more…)