The spreadsheet of books I've read so far this year is kinda sparse compared to the last two years. And the summer months, my dependable downtime for reading, have been busier than usual: I'm cranking out pages on a new project, taught for a few weeks in June, and have gone out of town for several long weekends. I've also been reintroduced to my love of badminton, which, as you may know, requires serious training and dedication.*
I've managed to read 16 books, less than half of where I was last year at this time. (Alas, this is just not going to be a 70-book year.) One book I finally finished is Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. It's a biggie. I renewed it from the library five times. They will be glad to have it back.
So: soon I'll be taking a break, and I'm looking for suggestions for summer reading. I nearly always pack too much to read on vacation, and so far am thinking about Chuck Palahniuk's Choke, Elinor Lipman's The Family Man, and Sarah Dessen's YA novel Dreamland. But there's room for more: mayhaps something lighter than Wolf Hall (2.5 lbs!) and heavier than Sweet Valley High** (do carrot sticks, like, weigh anything?).
What say you?
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*The round robin tournament is sporadic and ongoing. Now booking court time and future tournament seedings. Serious inquiries only. Please keep in mind that my crowning achievement in high school was being the individual badminton champion of ninth grade gym/1st period.
**I read all the SVH books growing up. Obsessively. Over and over. I received 100% on this quiz. Don't hate.
OMG. Steph and I were talking about SVH the other day. I asked if it was catty and terrible, and she said it was before catty and terrible was trendy! I, on the other hand, adored Fear Street by R.L. Stine. I coughed up $5 every month when a new one came out ...
ReplyDeleteAdd LHOTP (Little House...) to that SVH list. Quick, danger at every turn, and will make you crave pumpkin, apples and maple candy. Best book I've read this year was The Little Stranger. It's big, but a page turner with the most beautiful sentences to boot.
ReplyDeleteSteph nailed it, Evan. I don't know what's more amazing: $5 books, or that a new one came out each month. Teri, will have to check out The Little Stranger. Thanks!
ReplyDeletemy sister read all the SVH on her exercise bike in her room.... yeah we used to break on her....
ReplyDelete(am doing some big summer reading this wk--fave so far: DJ's Nobody Move (don't know why he waited so long to do a real crime novel)