Summer Reading
What are you reading this summer?
Let’s give each other some summer reading suggestions.
I tend to be a non-fiction reader and these are the books I’m reading.
Reading Lolita in Tehran (Azar Nafisi)
Night (Elie Weisel)
Dispatches from the Edge (Anderson Cooper)
Disposable People (Kevin Bales)
The Secret Message of Jesus (Brian McLaren)
I’d love some fiction recommendations, though! 🙂
Comments open (though on moderation because of spam so I will get to them today and then release them). Don’t panic if the comment doesn’t appear right away.
Dear Julie,
I read these two books and I think you would really enjoy them. First, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less), by Terry Ryan. There is also a movie. It’s a fast read,only 346 pages, I thought it was very well written and interesting.
The other book is Marley & Me, by John Grogan. Its the life and love with the world’s worst dog. It’s more then just the dog, it’s about love, life, and relationships.
Quote from Heather, “May your life be filled with dreams as happy as a puppy”
Enjoy,
Bonnie
Hi Julie,
I’m currently reading Bitter Pills by Stephen Fried. It looks at the way legal drugs are monitored and not monitored in the US. This book grew out of an adverse drug reaction his wife experienced several years ago after taking an antibiotic. I had the pleasure of hearing Stephen speak at a recent writer’s conference and was very impressed by his honesty. Stephen also writes the Heart of a Husband column for Ladies Home Journal.
I’m also slowly (okay, very slowly) working through Don Quixote, by Cervantes. While I’m enjoying it, it has made me realize how impatient I am as a modern reader and how as writers we now have to “get on with the story” because our readers are probably not going to have patience with us.
I recently read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. It’s a novel told from the POV of a young man with Aspergers. I have no experience with Asperger’s, so can’t comment on the veracity of that aspect, but it was an engrossing read.
Ds and I are also doing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as a read-aloud. I love Jules Verne!
Thanks for starting this discussion. I’m looking forward to all the great book ideas.
Renee
As far as fiction goes, I do indulge myself in Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin naval series. These books have made me laugh like no others. I suppose it is the blend of historical fiction and the highly-developed description of the friendship of Cpt. Aubrey and Irish-Catholic-naturalist-spy Dr. Maturin that make it so enjoyable for me. I highly recommend them for excellent writing, great adventure, wonderful character development and humor. Of course there is the downside of sailor language. At present I am on book 15, The Wine-Dark Sea. The recorded versions read by Patrick Tull are excellent. Because the series is so popular, most libraries have them in book and audio forms.
Dana
Pre-reading medieval/renaissance lit for next year. Right now it is “The Discarded Image” by C.S. Lewis about medieval world-view and “Beowulf” comparing the versions by Heaney and Chickering. And just-for-fun – I am working my way through the Stephanie Baron series of Jane Austen murder mysteries.
I highly recommend the children’s book Each Little Bird That Sings. I intend to buy each of my kids a paperback of it, read it together and have them highlight similes, metaphors and figurative language they enjoy. I had to have a box of tissues toward the end, but the book has much fodder for discussing character issues, consequences and unconditional love. A unique perspective for children on death and loss.