Summer Reading 2009

As an avid reader, I always look forward to the summer when I can sit back by the pool and eat up some great novels. Last summer I read several books that have become a part of who I am. To me, thats the mark of a great book, if it changes you and makes you think about who you are and what you represent to yourself and society.

Last Year's List:

• Anna Karenina --> Loved it loved it loved it!
• The Kite Runner/1000 Splendid Suns --> Made me think about the plight in the middle east that is often ignored by the american public. People are people, regardless of religion.
• Madame Bovary --> Total complete selfishness. But I still enjoyed it because it made me mad
• The Bean Trees --> Book club book. I liked it a lot, but still prefer The Poision Wood Bible over it. Also read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle which reminded me of one of my professors, Patty Kirk, writer in residence at JBU.
• The Twilight Series --> Brain candy!
• We The Living --> First taste of Ayn Rand, it was a delicious and sad journey into human nature. Go read it!
• East of Eden --> Favorite book ever, I think. I couldn't tell you why, but Steinbeck's style is so interesting and different from a lot of other american author's
• Night --> Read it in Germany and wanted to die after. Its kinda sick, but I have a morbid fascination with Hollocaust lit.
• A Moveable Feast --> Read it in Paris. Yummy.
• Queen of the Turtle Derby/The House on First Street -->Julia Reed made me love living in the south even more than I already do and she also made me want to go live in New Orelans for part of my life. Love her!!

Ahh books, where would I be without you? This summer so far (Since May 7th-ish) I've completed 5 books and am working on the 6th. At this rate, I'm hoping to get through 15+ more. I'm going to the beach in a few weeks for a week with a great friend and hopefully that will be a place for lots and lots of reading!!

Summer 2009 Reading List

May

• The Heart is a Lonely Hunter --> I love southern gothic style and this book broke my heart, in a good way, though.
• My Friend Leonard --> Companion book to James Frey's A Million Little Pieces. An interesting memoir about the struggle against addiction of all sorts.
• The Queen of Everything --> Self-discovery adolescent lit. I like it.
• Three Cups of Tea --> non-fiction, set in Pakistan. Love love love it.
• The Fountainhead --> Currently reading it and i love it so far. Ayn Rand sure does make me think.
• Babbitt --> Currently reading, I've laughed out loud several times.

June, July, August

• Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
• A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
• The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
• As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
• Slaughterhouse 5, by Kurt Vonnegut
• A Passage to India, by E.M. Forrester
• On the Road, by Jack Kerouac
• Naked Lunch, by William S. Burroughs
• Go Ask Alice, by Unknown
• Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
• Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer
• Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce
• Moby Dick, by Herman Melville
• An American Tradgey, by Theodore Dreiser
• Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov

This is my list, but there are a few I could/would drop: Moby Dick, As I lay Dying, and Portrait of the Artist would be the first to go, not because they aren't wonderful pieces of classic literature, but because I have started them all and never finished due to being just a tad bit uninterested.

So now the question: What books have I left off that changed you or that you just really really loved and think everyone needs to read?? I'm open to all genres and all subjects, just give me some suggestions!!