Thursday, May 21, 2015

Lori's Pre-Summer Reading

I know--it's still the middle of May and summer doesn't officially start until June 21.  But for all intents and purposes it's summer in Oklahoma (well, except for today; it's freaking cold today!).  So I've been thinking about books that make me feel summery.  Not my official Summer TBR list, but definitely something to think about in the meantime.  My pre-summer reading, if you will.

Here are a few that I've come up with:

1.  Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion  This book of essays would be a fantastic one to take just about anywhere you might go this summer--the beach, a road trip, the pool, the backyard.  One of the things I really like about essays is that they're really accessible and you can read one in one sitting or read them all or whatever.  She really covers the gamut here--writing about writing, profiles of celebrities, and just generally writing about life in California in the 1960s (and who doesn't love reading about that?).  I've read a couple of Didion's essays in this collection, but am looking forward to diving in and reading more.




2.  Ruby by Cynthia Bond  I've got this one in my purse as I sit at Starbucks writing this post.  I plan on diving in after I hit "publish," even though I should be studying for the LSAT.  This one takes place in Texas.  Inexplicably this setting just makes me think of the heat.  This one has received a lot of attention, particularly since it was selected as an Oprah Book Club read, but don't let that deter you.  I've heard that it definitely lives up to the hype.





3.  Walden by Henry David Thoreau  I always want to read this when it warms up, especially if I'm spending a lot of time at my grandparents' house.  I love the thought of completely getting away from it all and seeing what you really and truly need.  I've spent a lot of time this spring getting rid of the clutter that has been choking me.  Summer is known for diving into fiction.  But I think that it is also a perfect time to dive into a slow-moving (though short) memoir.  Maybe.  Hopefully.  :)






4.  The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas  Summer seems like the great time for a nice, plotty adventure, you know?  This book is supposed to be sheer entertainment, with tons of swords fighting and rescuing the damsels in distress.  I think this will be a fun and light read by the pool.  Plus, I am excited to read about the character who is supposedly the ultimate badass female villain.






5.  The Unwitting by Ellen Feldman  Lastly, summer is the perfect time to read a thriller.  It's hot.  People are irritable.  Passions rise.  Read a thriller.  About a disappearing husband.  Who keeps big secrets from his wife.  This one takes place in 1950s Manhattan amongst the literary elite.  It has Cold War goodness and intrigue.  And the mystery of what on earth happened?  Definitely looking forward to that.







What books do you have on your shelves that are making you think of summer?

4 comments:

  1. I don't have a set TBR for summer, just that I want to lower my tbr down greatly. I haven't heard of any of these books:P

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  2. I don't have any specific summer books - just tackling my immense TBR pile is enough! (Plus I'm southern hemisphere, haha, so summer is way off for me.)

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  3. The Three Musketeers is sooo much fun. That was one of my most frequently read books in high school. (Not sure how I'd feel about reading it as an adult, which makes me want to do so immediately.) I do remember the female villain being incredibly sexy.

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  4. I look forward to reading some books from my TBR stacks including my first Angela Thirkell and the next Alexander McCall Smith in his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. My husband and I read each book in this series as it comes out, it is set in Botswana and has a wonderful female main character. Plus I am reading lots of travel / moving abroad books, like Victoria Twead's Two Old Fools in Spain series.

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