Summer reading is not just about the books you choose to read, but summer reading is also about where you choose to read them.
My reading place of choice in the summer is Paris. Unfortunately, not Paris, France, but my pretend Paris--the side garden at our house. For some reason, sitting in "Paris" reminds me of French cafes or the hidden garden of a chic Parisian home. The arch with the delphinium in bloom is almost a secret passageway into a place of contentment and quiet. A small statue of Buddha beckons me into stillness--turning a page is the only motion--and the fountain disguises the traffic noises. And, of course, the resident gardener has planted flowers in abundance, mainly white, as I requested. Yes, this is a good place to read.
I think about other summer reading places in my life: beaches where I stretched out on a blanket or colorful towel, the screen porch of the cabin in northern Minnesota where my family always vacationed, and the porch swing on the front porch of the home where we raised our family. More recently, our home in Madison had a large front porch, and I spent most of each summer day there writing and reading. We ate our evening meal there, too, and when the grandkids visited, the porch became their playroom.
Choosing where to read (anywhere!!!) is easy, but my pile of choices is massive, and I know there won't be enough summer to work through the entire stack. Here, however, are some possibilities. Let me know if you have read any of them.
Fiction
1. Death Comes to the Archbishop, Willa Cather. Quite awhile ago I started reading or rereading Cather's novels in chronological order. This is #8 on the list. I'm eager to revisit this classic.
2. Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro. I loved his Remains of the Day and think it is time to read something else by this winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
3. Enchanted islands, Allison Amend. One of the main female characters works for the Office of Naval Intelligence before WWII, and her top secret assignment is to marry a spy and move to the Galapagos Islands.
4. Behold the Dreamers, Imbolo Mbue. Our book club's selection for June. A Cameroonian immigrant family lives in Harlem, and the father is hired as a chauffeur for a wealthy business man.
5. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Arundhati Roy. I loved her The God of Small Things. Set in India as well, this book has been called a protest novel, a political masterpiece. Can't wait!
6. The Keeper of Lost Things, Ruth Hogan. An aging writer who has collected lost objects--things others have dropped, misplaced, or accidentally left behind--charges his assistant with the task of reuniting the objects with their original owners.
7. The Antiques, Kris D'Agostino. Three sibling reunite to plan their father's memorial and to sell his beloved "lesser Magritte" painting.
8. Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein. Recommended by my granddaughter. A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France in 1943. The pilot and passenger are best friends, but just one of the girls has a change at survival.
Who knows if I will read all of these or if I will get diverted to other choices, including books on my "requested" list at the library. Being led along new and unknown paths is one of the gifts of summer, after all.
Stay tuned for a list of nonfiction titles. Maybe next week.
An Invitation
Where do you like to read in the summer and what do you plan to read there. I would love to know.
NOTE: To read last year's summer reading list, go here.
I think about other summer reading places in my life: beaches where I stretched out on a blanket or colorful towel, the screen porch of the cabin in northern Minnesota where my family always vacationed, and the porch swing on the front porch of the home where we raised our family. More recently, our home in Madison had a large front porch, and I spent most of each summer day there writing and reading. We ate our evening meal there, too, and when the grandkids visited, the porch became their playroom. Choosing where to read (anywhere!!!) is easy, but my pile of choices is massive, and I know there won't be enough summer to work through the entire stack. Here, however, are some possibilities. Let me know if you have read any of them.
Fiction
1. Death Comes to the Archbishop, Willa Cather. Quite awhile ago I started reading or rereading Cather's novels in chronological order. This is #8 on the list. I'm eager to revisit this classic. 2. Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro. I loved his Remains of the Day and think it is time to read something else by this winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
3. Enchanted islands, Allison Amend. One of the main female characters works for the Office of Naval Intelligence before WWII, and her top secret assignment is to marry a spy and move to the Galapagos Islands.
4. Behold the Dreamers, Imbolo Mbue. Our book club's selection for June. A Cameroonian immigrant family lives in Harlem, and the father is hired as a chauffeur for a wealthy business man.
5. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Arundhati Roy. I loved her The God of Small Things. Set in India as well, this book has been called a protest novel, a political masterpiece. Can't wait!
6. The Keeper of Lost Things, Ruth Hogan. An aging writer who has collected lost objects--things others have dropped, misplaced, or accidentally left behind--charges his assistant with the task of reuniting the objects with their original owners.
7. The Antiques, Kris D'Agostino. Three sibling reunite to plan their father's memorial and to sell his beloved "lesser Magritte" painting.
8. Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein. Recommended by my granddaughter. A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France in 1943. The pilot and passenger are best friends, but just one of the girls has a change at survival.
Who knows if I will read all of these or if I will get diverted to other choices, including books on my "requested" list at the library. Being led along new and unknown paths is one of the gifts of summer, after all.
Stay tuned for a list of nonfiction titles. Maybe next week.
An Invitation
Where do you like to read in the summer and what do you plan to read there. I would love to know.
NOTE: To read last year's summer reading list, go here.
My summer reading happens either on the patio or on the couch, depending on the weather. Regardless of the weather or season though, I always read for awhile before bed. And that always happens on the living room couch. I have not read any of the titles you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteYou have a good writing habit.
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