No way! I know bunches of you have kids in school already, but I refuse to believe that summer is over. I guess that’s one bonus of not being a kid – I may not technically have all that time off, but I can decide when it’s over, school doesn’t tell me when. Neener, neerer!
Randy and I are heading out west in a few weeks and I want to get caught up on one of my new year’s resolutions to read a just-for-fun book every month. I had a spurt earlier this summer where I read a bunch of chick lit suggestions from Glamour magazine. Crazy, Rich Asians, The Bling Ring (written like a long article, but very interesting), The Interestings (not that interesting), The Engagements (actually engaging), and The Adventuress (eh…just kind of made me mad…no one should get ahead like that.) That was all in July. I currently have a stack of baby books and entrepreneur magazines and don’t want to take either with me on vacation, so here’s a list of books I’m thinking about and good places to find more book suggestions.
1984, George Orwell
I’m a big fan of science fiction when done right. It scares me more than a horror story ever could because it could come true. Or in the case of this book, it has come true?! Many thanks to this list from Buzzfeed that reminded me of books I never read in high school. (Seriously, how did I miss so many of these? I think I only read one or two and those were the other sci fi books.)
World War Z, Max Brooks
For many of the same reasons, I think this book would be good. No, I haven’t seen the movie, nor do I plan to. Brad Pitt never helps a story…he drags it down with his pretty hair. But I’m down with a little gore when I’m allowed to imagine it vs. having a movie producer do all the imagination for me. (See also, The Hunger Games series.)
This book was suggested to me from another Buzzfeed list (ah, maybe I should just read Buzzfeed lists) talking about books that will change your life. I haven’t read anything on this list yet (short of the Joy of Cooking), so I can’t confirm their hypothesis, but it’s worth a shot. Honorable mentions from this list: Life of Pi, Prodigal Summer, White Oleander, and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
The Repeat Year, Andrea Lochen
I always like to support local, even with authors. This Onmilwaukee.com article introduced me to Andrea Lochen and this book which has a thought-provoking concept that is still light enough to take on vacation. If you got a chance to repeat a year, what would you do differently? (The year I would pick is 2002…just saying.)
Bread & Wine, Shauna Niequist
I’m starting to worry about how much I turn to Jenna’s Eat, Live, Run blog. Her recipes are exactly what the doctor ordered and now I’m starting to use her as a book resource, too. And she does yoga, camps and canoes while looking beautiful and supports artists in Africa. Maybe I just want to be her when I grow up.
In the meantime, I will read every part memoir/part recipe book I can get my hands on, since I think this could be my gateway published book. This one even has short stories, making it a perfect quick summer read. I may buy this guy if the library doesn’t have it.
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So what have I missed? What books are you hoping to squeeze in before fall? Any on the list you think I should skip? I’ve been thinking about joining Good Reads, but that’s one more place to catalog my life on the interwebs and I think we can all agree I am on the verge (cough, cough) of doing that a bit too much.
Happy reading!
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