Summer is the best time to read. I'm hard-pressed to think of anything better than setting the ol' lawn chair in the sun with some tunes, a cool drink, and a great book. I have spent many summer days in the backyard, inhaling book after book, while enjoying the beautiful MN sunshine. I have also read some of my favorite books during the summer. I love when you read something so amazing that it's actually an "experience" you remember for years to come.Here are some of my top picks for good summer reads and also a look at my reading list for the season.
My top summer picks:
1. East of Eden - John Steinbeck
2. The Help - Kathryn Stockett
3. A Visit From the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan
4, The Art of Fielding - Chad Harbach
5. Patty Jane's House of Curl - Lorna Landvik
6. Song of Solomon - Toni Morrison
7. The Hunger Games trilogy - Suzanne Collins
8. Lamb - Christopher Moore
9. Beneath a Marble Sky - John Shors
10. The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
11. Let the Great World Spin - Colum McCann
12. The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
13. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
14. Wicked - Gregory Maguire
15. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
My summer 2013 reading list:
1. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz
2. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
3. Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
4. Mrs. Kimble - Jennifer Haigh
5. Admission - Jean Hanff Korelitz
6. The Red Pyramid - Rick Riordan
7. The Sherlockian - Graham Moore
8. The Postmistress - Sarah Blake
9. My Antonia - Willa Cather
10. The Columnist - Jeffrey Frank
11. Always Looking Up - Michael J. Fox autobiography
12. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
13. Beautiful Boy - David Sheff
14. The Birth of Venus - Sarah Dunant
15. The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver (**I've tried to start this one about 8 times and have never been able to commit. BUT, my 3 book group pals have all read it and loved it. I feel left out, so sheer competitiveness might get me to read this one...)
Some of these are recommendations, some are award winners,and some are $2 wild cards from the bargain bin at the half price bookstore. I'm sure the list will change significantly as the summer progresses, but that's half the fun.
Move The Red Pyramid to the top!!! ;-) Also, I think I made you leave Summer at Tiffany's at mom and dad's. Sorry! The few pages I read were good ...
ReplyDeleteI KNEW you were going to say that (and perhaps "subtly" suggest the whole trilogy should be my top priority) :) I did remember the book from mom and dad's. That one will be a good filler in between some of the heavier stuff on my list!
DeleteYour reference to "Lamb" made me smile - I had completely forgotten some of those quotes...I still have days where I would love to "smite the bejeezus" out of things.
ReplyDeleteAlso, stick with "Poisonwood Bible"...I tried multiple times as well and then finally got into it. It takes about 100 pages or so.
Have you read "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"? That was another one that took me forever to get into, but I'm glad I stuck with it.
Miss you so, and wish we had some lawn chairs propped up right now somewhere...
I thought of you when I put Lamb down as well - oh smiting. So delightful. Let's be real, I'll probably succumb to the peer pressure and take down TPB. It is helpful to hear so many people stuck with it and ultimately enjoyed it. And, I haven't read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo yet. It's on my shelf. So many books, so little time.
DeleteI think of our 2005 summer of awesomeness often. We'll have to try to repeat that again someday (even if just in a mini version)! Miss you too!
I love those $2 bargain bin books that end up being real winners! Snow Flower and The Secret Fan by Lisa See is a recent one of those for me!
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