Summer 2007 Reading List

[Mango]

:scratch: MMMM...interesting Mango...let me know.

I also have Stone 588 by Gerald Browne which my mom gave me to read and The Pact by Jodi Picoult from my sister. Each say the book they have given me is "interesting". I think they are both rather dark...but thought prevoking.

The book sounded kind of like a Pans Labryinth to me which I watched the other night, so I figured I'd give it a shot. If I can't make it past the first 10 pages, I'll break out the Robbins.

 

[potatovixen]

I've got quite a list going, and a big stack of books I haven't even gotten to yet. I've been on a quest to work my way through some of the classics.... you know, the ones we were pretty much forced to read in high school.

Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness
Ernest Hemingway - A Moveable Feast
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
J.D. Salinger - The Catcher in the Rye

As for some more recent ones, the new Harry Potter is definitely on the list, along with a re-read of What a Carve-Up! by Jonathan Coe.

 

[iwishiwasthere]

:scratch: MMMM...interesting Mango...let me know.

I also have Stone 588 by Gerald Browne which my mom gave me to read and [I]The Pact[/I] by Jodi Picoult from my sister. Each say the book they have given me is "interesting". I think they are both rather dark...but thought prevoking.

I read Vanishing Act by Jodi Picoult a while back. Enjoyed it, but her other books seem darker.

 

[potatovixen]

Also, if you have a bunch of books you need to get rid of, I know of a really good website. BookMooch gives you points for the books you list to give away, and you can cash in your points for other books you want that other members are giving away. The only thing you end up paying for is postage when you mail to someone else.

 

[supermom262]

We had our book club last night and had read Body Surfing. It was my pick; I really enjoy all of her books. It was a good summer read, not too deep but able to knock off in a short period of time. I like her reoccurring house in most of her stories. My favorite by Anita Shreve is the Last Time They Met. Unbelievable ending! I literally screamed out.

We are reading the Thousand Splendid Suns and Kite Runner for our next meeting and Slaughterhouse 5 for the the one after that. I have One Mississippi by Mark Childress on my night stand waiting for me, which I hope to get to soon! March, Red Tent, Kleopatra and Shadow of the Wind were my favorites from last year if you haven't read them. Shadow of the Wind is a true book lover's book!

 

[scooterbug44]

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling - already on order at amazon.com!

Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present - a little slow, but very illuminating. Those do not remember history are definitely doomed to repeat it!

I also highly recommend:
Water for Elephants - hilarious quick read - several copies on the shelves at Ceruleans

Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone

There are a lot of great books at the library and for those who don't have a card or want paperback beach reads w/ no overdue fines check out the yellow tag section!

I also recommend donating your books to them when you're done with them. They get a lot of scooterbug airport fiction purchases!

 

[Camellia]

"What is the What" by Dave Eggars is an amazing first person ficitional/autobigraphical entwined narrative by one of the lost boys of Sudan which imparts the reality of life in Africa and in refugee camps, but is intriguing, personal, whimsical, well written and with profound insight about how it feels to be transported to America.
Another book I just read, "City on Fire" is an interesting historical account of a huge explosion in Texas City in 1946 and the petrochemical industry, also recommended.

 

[Paula]

I love this thread. I just bought several books for summer reading, some new ones and some I learned about on last year's SoWal summer reading list and am just getting around to reading this year. We have a great and grayt summer ahead for vacationing/reading. Lots of time for relaxing and reading. I'm going to love this summer.

Kabul Beauty School - haven't read it yet but bought it. It's about a woman who gets divorced in Michigan and then goes to Kabul to provide service and then opens a beauty shop with/for the women and it's life through the eyes of those women. I'll be buying a Thousand Splendid Suns too.

Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) - I bought this to read for work because I teach MBAs. It's supposed to be a fun and relevant book about why human beings tend to deny their own mistakes and the consequences of doing so. I'll let you know if it's worth reading after I read it (For me it's job related and possibly a good beach read as well).

Life Expectancy by Dean Koonz - I read this book last summer and thought it was hysterical. A good mystery and a fun read -- I laughed out loud a few times.

The Kite Runner (recommended on SoWal.com in the past)
Middlesex (recommended on SoWal.com in the past)
The Tender Bar (recommended on SoWal.com in the past)

I order used books on amazon.com because you can get some of them for about $1.00 plus 3.95 postage and handle -- most end up costing me about $5.00 a book (not the newer books, especially hard covers, though).

 

[Allifunn]

Peapod turned me on to this book last summer...it was awesome!!!
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert...
and now I see they are making a movie with Julia Roberts as Gilbert!!!



A celebrated writer's irresistible, candid, and eloquent account of her pursuit of worldly pleasure, spiritual devotion, and what she really wanted out of life

Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned thirty, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want?a husband, a house, a successful career. But instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief, and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, and the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be.
To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world?all alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year. Her aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. In Rome, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the twenty-three happiest pounds of her life. India was for the art of devotion, and with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise cowboy from Texas, she embarked on four uninterrupted months of spiritual exploration. In Bali, she studied the art of balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. She became the pupil of an elderly medicine man and also fell in love the best way?unexpectedly.
An intensely articulate and moving memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment and stop trying to live in imitation of society?s ideals. It is certain to touch anyone who has ever woken up to the unrelenting need for change.

 

[scooterbug44]

That book sounds great! I am adding it to my list!

Apparently people are now having quarter life crises in their late 20s/early 30s in addition to the ol' mid-life crisis!