How are you doing on your summer
reading list?
Summer days are
filled with baseball games, swimming lessons, and supervising small people at
the pool, giving me plenty of time to read, but nothing too heavy as I need to
pay attention to the game and keep children from drowning.
I recently read a
translation of Dante
Alighieri's Inferno, which is the first part of a trilogy depicting a descent
into hell, then purgatory, then paradise. I didn't bother to read the last two
parts of that comedy. Reading his depictions of hell are quite fun and
decadent, and involve a lot of gruesome things. I read this in preparation to
read Dan Brown's Inferno. That book is not as fun, and quite frankly, the
mystery is getting annoying. Maybe I am not a mystery lover.
Also on my reading list:
Also on my reading list:
Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow
Rowell. I hear a lot about this author. She may be the next John Green. There
is talk of a movie coming out on this book. I better read it first!
Wonder, by R.J. Palacio. I
have had this on my list for awhile and it was chosen by my local library system
for their reading program, so there are plenty of copies available. The main
character has a craniofacial deformity, which is a problem that has pulled at
my heart. In school, it is hard to look different, and I want to read this
kid's experience when looking different is part of who he is.
Splintered, by A.G. Howard.
The main character is the descendant of Alice, in which Alice in Wonderland is
based. I am a fangirl of Lewis Carroll's creation and love to read about crazy
people.
So, what is on your reading
list?
Assuming that's not a rhetorical question, I'll yell you. Since I'm a memoir writer, I have taken a break from my big "black hole task" as well as my writing frustration to read my favorite genre, non-fiction. I'm hoping it will inspire me to get back to it and be productive again. Memoirs written by our veterans fascinates me, and short of that, non-fiction written by third parties detailing what they went through in the wars and battles they fought. Stories recounting the personal struggles they experienced and the sacrifices they and others have made move me like no other reading has.
ReplyDeleteI have finished "The Liberator : One World War II Soldier's 500-day Odyssey From The Beaches Of Sicily To The Gates Of Dachau" (How's that for a title?) by Alex Kershaw, "Brothers In Battle, Best Of Friends", a follow up about two of the "Band of Brothers" in Stephen Ambrose's excellent book, and "To Kingdom Come" by Robert J Mrazek. The latter is a tragic story in line with the one told in "Into the Fire". Both are about bad decisions by leadership and WWII bombing missions gone horribly wrong. (I probably need to expand my horizons a bit.) My favorite part of this type of book is finding out what each of the people in the book did after the war - how they carried on and what they achieved after the bad things they lived through and witnessed. This type of book tends to spark a lot of reflection on my part.
Next up is a dog book, "Rescuing Riley, Saving Myself : A Man And His Dog's Struggle To Find Salvation, by Zak Anderegg. I'm writing a dog book myself, so I'm really looking forward to reading that one. After that, more productive writing on my part or more memoir reading for me!
I love your reading list! My sister is a big fan of memoir/nonfiction. I am going to check these out and pass them on to her. I, too, am fascinated by veterans' experiences (and dogs, who doesn't love dogs?)
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