Snapshots of a Modest Life

Summer Reading

Do you remember in high school when you would get a list of books from your next English teacher detailing what your assignment was for the summer? I do. Most of the time the dreaded piece of paper was met with a groan. I would say to my friends, "We work hard all year, why do they have to give us homework for the summer?" Now that I'm out of high school and into college, a land barren of summer reading, I find that I miss that sheet of paper. I can imagine the incredulous looks that are crossing your faces. What? Misses summer reading? How can that be? But it's true. In the back of my notebook, there is an ever growing list of books I want to read, and I miss having someone tell me which ones I must read.

I was on the library website a few moments ago search for books that I've wanted to read. I was about to order three more when I realized I have two books on my night stand that are still unread. So I resisted the urge to click the "Request Home Delivery" button (thank heavens for the Orange County Library System which lets me check out books without having to actually go to the library). When I've whittled away at the pile of books, I'll order another one. I really can't wait.

Laura's List of Books to Read (in no particular order):

• The Great Raid on Cabanatuan - William B. Breuer
• Doctor Zhivago - Boris Pasternak
• The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson (I think I'm will sit on that one for a while, having been up to my eyeballs in the 19th Century literature for the last semester)
• Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson (see parenthetical note on previous)
• The Princess Bride - William Goldman
• 1984 - George Orwell
• Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier
• A Bridge Too Far - Cornelius Ryan (already ordered from the library)
• Follow the River - James Alexander Thorn
• A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway
• The Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane
• Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
• Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
• The Little House Books (nine titles in all) - Laura Ingles Wilder (childhood favorites)
• Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (see parenthetical note for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)
• Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
• Les Miserable - Victor Hugo (okay, this has been on my reading list for more than five years. . .I think I've finally decided to give in and read the abridged version, although I am generally against that)
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
• Running in the Family - Michael Ondaatjee
• The English Patient - Michael Ondaatjee
  

I'll probably keep adding to this list as the summer progresses.
If there are any books you think I should add to this list, let me know. . .I'm always looking for a good read.

The books I've read this summer:

• Little House in the Big Woods - Laura Ingles Wilder
• Little House on the Prairie - Laura Ingles Wilder
• The DaVinci Code: A Quest for Answers - Josh McDowell
• Ghost Soldiers - Hampton Sides (a great read if you're interested in WWII and Philippine history)
• The Man Who Was Thursday - G.K. Chesterton
• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason - Helen Fielding (an audiobook)
• The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (on audiobook, but I'm going to actually read it at some point in time)

Question: do you think it counts as reading a book if I listen to audio books at work?