Summer Reading

I've had a lifelong love affair with books and words and writing. I've gone from typing jibberish for hours before I even knew how to read, to inhaling the Babysitters Club and Christy Miller series, to what I hope is now a slightly more sophisticated taste in literature. Somewhere in there I even got paid to work with books.

Being in the middle of too many books at once overwhelms me, so I'm usually reading one fiction and one nonfiction. With fiction, I typically stick with the classics. After avoiding them most of my childhood, I have a lot of ground to make up. There are so many quality, classic books I haven't read, that I find it tiring to spend too much time with most modern fiction. In the words of C. S. Lewis, "The more up-to-date the book is, the sooner it will be dated." Agreed. The main exception to this is the New York Times bestseller list - when I worked in publishing I tried to stay up-to-date on what was popular, and the habit has stuck.

I'm a bit looser with non-fiction - I'll read most any nonfiction book that comes highly recommended.

And children's books. Oh, how I adore children's books. Clint jokes that our children are going to have a reading list as soon as they come out of the womb. It's not a joke - the list is already made.

I'm hoping to do this periodically, but here are the books I’ve been reading lately (and it includes way more fiction than usual!):

What I’ve read so far this year:
Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky – Recommended by my husband, and my first venture in the world of wordy, leeeennnnggthy Russian novels. Also the reason I haven’t read more books lately – this one took me four months to get through. Glad I did it, but I think most of the symbolism went over my head. If you’re up for a thousand-page novel, I think Ayn Rand is a much easier read. If you want to be well-read but don't have the stamina for a thousand-plus-page novel, read the two most famous chapters - "Rebellion" and "The Grand Inquisitor" - and you'll have plenty to chew on.

The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger – A welcome respite from Russian ramblings. Fresh and entertaining, but a tad too sexual for my taste. Beware.

The Tenth Circle, by Jodi Piccoult – The second and likely last book I'll read by Ms. Piccoult. She's a talented writer and I appreciate her attempts to address complex issues, but about halfway through I'm ready for the book to be over. I'm just not convinced the issues are quite as complex and dramatic as she makes them out to be, and I'm not sure I'll ever forgive her for the Lamest Ending Ever in My Sister's Keeper.

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett -  Words cannot express my deep affection for this book. At a minimum, the best book I've read in the last twelve months. Well-written, thought-provoking, with endearing, mischievous characters who resemble people you probably know. Set in Jackson, Mississippi, in the 1960's, The Help is a stick-it-to-the-man story, with a heroine in love with writing. It's the new "it" book, and it deserves all the attention it gets. I recommend this book to readers and non-readers alike.

Currently in the middle of:

Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott - A book on writing by the irreverent, hilarious author of Traveling Mercies. I'm not sure I'm willing to put in the time she recommends to improve my writing, but she makes me feel normal for getting frustrated and distracted and for writing ten sentences for every one I end up with. And her sense of humor is pee-in-your-pants funny, which alone makes the read worth it.

Sit Walk Stand, by Watchman Nee - A short book on Ephesians. Nee splits Ephesians into three parts that describe our relationship with God (sit), each other (walk), and the devil (stand). The book is not at all an in-depth study on Ephesians, but it's an insightful, practical perspective on practicing the Christian faith.

On My List:

Superfreakonomics, by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner - Freakonomics made me feel modern and educated in an unpretentious way, like I could contribute at grown-up dinner parties and understand that the economic issues we all feel so strongly about and that the media argues in such a flat, sound-byte manner are often attributed to random influences we could never predict until we have the clarity of hindsight. Of course I'm following up with the sequel.

Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte – A classic chick-book that I got for Christmas and don’t know a thing about. But it may have to wait until I read...

The Well-Educated Mind, by Susan Bauer - A book on how to give yourself a classical education, primarily through reading. The book I'm the most excited about, and probably the next one I'll pick up. It talks about what to look for when you're reading, what questions to ask, how to journal about it, and what order to read the books in. Jane Eyre is third on her list.

Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis - In his own words, "I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and only reading it once."

The Beginning of Wisdom, Leon Kass - An intimidating tome on Genesis written by a Jewish scholar who wanted to study the book as a guide to wisdom. After reading through Genesis a few times this year, I want to spend the summer digging in deeper to what I learned to the year.


What are you reading?