When I was younger, I would devour about 30 to 40 books per summer. Of course, children's books tend to require a lot less focus or deeper significance than books I am expected to ingest as a pseudo-adult. Over the past few summers, the quantity of books I've read has certainly decreased, but in order to stroke my own ego, I'm convinced that at least the quality of my literary tastes has improved. This summer, I'll be taking a math class in Ithaca, and I will hopefully find a job at some point, and learn how to drive. I imagine I will have some time to read so I've decided to construct a moderately ambitious reading list in anticipation of this fast approaching lull from academia.
1. Song of Solomon Toni Morrison
I need to read more Toni Morrison. She seems like a fabulous woman.
2. Women, Race and Class Angela Davis
Reading this to try to educate myself more about feminism as a black woman and how exactly that concept can fit in with my identity.
3. It Stephen King
I claim to be in love with Stephen King's writing, thus I need to read It.
4. Outliers Malcolm Gladwell
I've heard this book is life changing and I've read a few of Gladwell's New Yorker articles. He has a great one about Spanish Influenza that I highly recommend if you can get your hands on it.
5. Game of Thrones Series George RR Martin
There are about five books in the series so this counts as quite a few. I've found the show to be excessively pornographic and I'm hoping the books will be less so.
6. Bossypants Tina Fey
I love all things Tina Fey.
7. Cien Años de Soledad Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Although I imagine my Spanish will be too rusty to attempt this book in Spanish, I will add it to the list and if I give up, I'll get the English version (100 Years of Solitude) and try getting through that one instead.
8. Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
I've heard amazing reviews about Steinbeck from everyone in my life and considering the number of Steinbeck books I own, it's embarrassing that I haven't read this book yet.
9. The God Delusion Richard Dawkins
My ideal book would be the Evolution of God but my family's copy is in St. Lucia and it's so large I am certain it would take me the entire summer to read it.
10. Schizophrenia Genesis: The Origins of Madness Irving I. Gottesman
I spend a vast portion of my vacations listening to UCSD lectures about Schizophrenia and absorbing as much information as I can about the disease. I'm not really sure why I maintain such an obsession with schizophrenia, but the only way I can survive is by continuing to feed this odd preoccupation.
11. The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath
My soul is disturbingly affected by Plath's poetry. Something about her writing moves me in a way that is perhaps uncomfortable since the thing she is most famous for (besides writing), is sticking her head into an oven and killing herself. However, I find myself compelled to read The Bell Jar despite this.
12. The Autobiography of My Mother Jamaica Kincaid
I read some Kincaid during 8th grade round one in St. Lucia. It was creepy from my happy-go-lucky perspective of the past. I'm sure I will appreciate her writing thousands of times more now.
13. The Autobiography of Malcolm X Do I really need to tell you the author?
Must read for noveau blacktivist. Not sure if that's a real term, or if I can even count as a "blacktivist" since my level of militance about the rights of my people is dismally low to non-existent.
14. 1Q84 Haruki Murakami
Nothing like a pop-culture read over the summer.
15. The Marriage Plot Jeffrey Eugenides
Of course, I've heard excruciating details about Middlesex and The Virgin Suicides so I think I'll deviate from those particular works of Eugenides and try something new that remains untainted by the graphic explications by my friends.
This list doesn't seem too long, but I tend to get caught up with a variety of things during the summer like hiking through New York's state parks, photography, creating an anthology of my grandmother's poetry, shopping for school and teaching myself foreign languages. On that note, we'll see how far I get with this somewhat ambitious list! I'm sure I'll be posting book reviews any time I get internet access. Of course, I'll be in middle-of-nowhere New York at my Luddite grandfather's house so this may be a rather infrequent occurrence.
1. Song of Solomon Toni Morrison
I need to read more Toni Morrison. She seems like a fabulous woman.
2. Women, Race and Class Angela Davis
Reading this to try to educate myself more about feminism as a black woman and how exactly that concept can fit in with my identity.
3. It Stephen King
I claim to be in love with Stephen King's writing, thus I need to read It.
4. Outliers Malcolm Gladwell
I've heard this book is life changing and I've read a few of Gladwell's New Yorker articles. He has a great one about Spanish Influenza that I highly recommend if you can get your hands on it.
5. Game of Thrones Series George RR Martin
There are about five books in the series so this counts as quite a few. I've found the show to be excessively pornographic and I'm hoping the books will be less so.
6. Bossypants Tina Fey
I love all things Tina Fey.
7. Cien Años de Soledad Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Although I imagine my Spanish will be too rusty to attempt this book in Spanish, I will add it to the list and if I give up, I'll get the English version (100 Years of Solitude) and try getting through that one instead.
8. Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
I've heard amazing reviews about Steinbeck from everyone in my life and considering the number of Steinbeck books I own, it's embarrassing that I haven't read this book yet.
9. The God Delusion Richard Dawkins
My ideal book would be the Evolution of God but my family's copy is in St. Lucia and it's so large I am certain it would take me the entire summer to read it.
10. Schizophrenia Genesis: The Origins of Madness Irving I. Gottesman
I spend a vast portion of my vacations listening to UCSD lectures about Schizophrenia and absorbing as much information as I can about the disease. I'm not really sure why I maintain such an obsession with schizophrenia, but the only way I can survive is by continuing to feed this odd preoccupation.
11. The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath
My soul is disturbingly affected by Plath's poetry. Something about her writing moves me in a way that is perhaps uncomfortable since the thing she is most famous for (besides writing), is sticking her head into an oven and killing herself. However, I find myself compelled to read The Bell Jar despite this.
12. The Autobiography of My Mother Jamaica Kincaid
I read some Kincaid during 8th grade round one in St. Lucia. It was creepy from my happy-go-lucky perspective of the past. I'm sure I will appreciate her writing thousands of times more now.
13. The Autobiography of Malcolm X Do I really need to tell you the author?
Must read for noveau blacktivist. Not sure if that's a real term, or if I can even count as a "blacktivist" since my level of militance about the rights of my people is dismally low to non-existent.
14. 1Q84 Haruki Murakami
Nothing like a pop-culture read over the summer.
15. The Marriage Plot Jeffrey Eugenides
Of course, I've heard excruciating details about Middlesex and The Virgin Suicides so I think I'll deviate from those particular works of Eugenides and try something new that remains untainted by the graphic explications by my friends.
This list doesn't seem too long, but I tend to get caught up with a variety of things during the summer like hiking through New York's state parks, photography, creating an anthology of my grandmother's poetry, shopping for school and teaching myself foreign languages. On that note, we'll see how far I get with this somewhat ambitious list! I'm sure I'll be posting book reviews any time I get internet access. Of course, I'll be in middle-of-nowhere New York at my Luddite grandfather's house so this may be a rather infrequent occurrence.
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