My Summer Reading List

Friday, 6:23 pm

By Kate

Aug

01

2008

We could probably all agree that I haven’t been around the blog much this summer. You see...I did purchase that Amazon wireless reading device called a Kindle. It arrived on my doorstep somewhere around the 6th of May and it took all of about 15 minutes for me to decide that it was the best invention since sliced bread. It has, evidently, galvanized my reading lust.

Reasons why I love my Kindle:
1)It’s easier carrying it wherever I go, than lugging a heavy book or two or three with me. (I don’t have to decide which book I want to take with me...I can take them all on my Kindle and read what I’m in the mood to read. I also have a newspaper subscription on it.)
2) It’s easier reading it in bed than trying to juggle a large book and a cup of coffee (yes, I drink coffee at bedtime...then go to sleep).
3) It’s easier to read...I can select my own font size.
4) Since life seems to be composed of waiting in line for too many daily tasks, I can read my Kindle rather than fuss and fume about having to wait.
5) I can download a book in about 5 seconds flat wherever I am...in bed, standing in line, sitting in the car, etc.
6) I can download a chapter or two of a book that I’m not sure yet that I want to buy. For free.
7) The classics are cheap...Pride and Prejudice was a whole 25 cents. I’ve spent a total of $50.32 for 12 Kindle books.
8) Kindle books take up a lot less space than a shelf full of dead tree editions. And I can carry all of them with me wherever I go.
9) Amazon keeps a copy of all my Kindle purchases so if my Kindle ever fails, my library is still intact and preserved.

I still use the public library extensively—for books that I am not sure that I’d choose to permanently add to my own library or for books that I can’t purchase on Kindle. If, after reading a library book, I decide that I’d like to add it to my library, my Kindle is ready and waiting for a download.

The point is...I’d much rather read a book on my Kindle now. And I have been. A lot.

So. Between Kindle and the library, I’ve had a very bookish summer, so far.

Books I’ve Read This Summer

Thomas Hardy
 Jude the Obscure (♥ L)

I’d ordered this book from the library a week or so before I bought my Kindle.

Jane Austen
 Pride and Prejudice (♥ K)
 Mansfield Park (K)

Pride and Prejudice makes me literally laugh out loud. Every time I read it, something new jumps out at me. Love this book.

Charlotte Bronte
 Jane Eyre (♥ K)

I read this book annually. My dead tree edition is 117 years old now. It needs a rest.

Jim Butcher, Dresden Files Series
 Storm Front (L)
 Fool Moon (L)
 Grave Peril (L)
 Summer Knight (K)
 Death Masks (K)
 Blood Rites (K)
 Dead Beat (L)
 Proven Guilty (K)
 White Knight (K)
 Small Favor (K)

These are really fun books about an eccentric sort of modern day wizard (in Chicago) doing battle against all sorts of badness. After I ordered the first three through the library, I decided to add the set to my Kindle. I’ll read each of these again. Well done. I love ‘em.

Dan Koeppel
 Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World (L)

Everything you ever wanted to know about bananas and a lot that you didn’t: The current banana crop is pretty much a monoculture crop that’s dying out from a global virus and too often the harvests are brought to us by child/slave labor and egregiously corrupt governments and corporations. Banana Republic didn’t get its name for nothing. It is still a dirty business. Makes me regret loving banana bread so much. Excellent read and resource. I’ll be adding it to my Kindle.

H.C. Flores
 Food not Lawns: How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden and Your Neighborhood into a Community (L)

Any grass is too much grass. This author agrees. ;)

Philip Pullman
 The Amber Spyglass (K)

This is the last of His Dark Materials trilogy (which included The Golden Compass). I’d checked the book out of the library, but only had read about half of it before its due date. I’ll add the first two to my Kindle eventually. They’re keepers.

DH Lawrence
 Lady Chatterley’s Lover (♥ K)

I really do ♥ ♥ ♥ this book. Gets better with every reading.

Dmitry Orlov
 Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Example and American Prospects (♣)

Not a popular book, evidently. My library didn’t even have it. If you’ve ever been curious about what life was like in Russia after the gov’t and economic collapse, this is a good resource. Definitely a leftist bent to it, way lefter than I am even. An illuminating read. Worth the purchase price.

George Eliot
 Middlemarch (K)

Currently Reading

Howard Zinn
 A People’s History of the United States: 1492 - Present (L)

Very regrettably, Kindle doesn’t offer this book yet. It’s a fantastic book and I’ll want to return to it many more times. Zinn is a terrific writer.

Books Remaining on my Summer Reading List

Anthony Trollope, The Pallisers Series
 Can You Forgive Her? (♥ K)
 Phineas Finn (♥ K)
 The Eustace Diamonds (♥ K)
 Phineas Redux (♥ K)
 The Prime Minister (♥ K)
 The Duke’s Children (♥ K)

Years ago, I watched The Pallisers on Masterpiece Theater, which encouraged me to read the books. It’s been years since I’ve read them. I’m looking forward to jumping into them again with a...slightly older perspective.

David McCullough
 John Adams (K)

Michael Pollan
 Omnivore’s Dilemma (L)

Christopher Moore
 Spirit House: A Vincent Calvino Crime (K)

I’ve never read anything by Christopher Moore, but Kindle offered this new release for free...so hey. Free book, I’ll give it a try. Could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Cormac McCarthy
 The Road (K)

Nothing like an apocalypse to round out the summer.

Key:
♥ - books I’ve read before and will again.
K - Kindle book
L - from the library
♣ - purchased dead tree edition