This morning I made a perusal of my “Media Doc” file, in
which I keep a list of all the books I have read cover to cover, movies I have
watched opening to credits, and plays I have attended curtain to curtain. I
suspected that there would be a pattern to my summer reading. There is.
Summer is when I have time to read middle grade and young adult fare,
both classic and new, most of which I check out from my local library. As I
recalled each beloved story, visions of myself reading in the warmth of summer
flooded my senses. I wonder: Do I love these wonderful novels more given the
stress-free settings in which I read them? Probably. But they are, indeed,
wonderful reads. I especially recommend the following, any of which I would
reread in a heartbeat.
Even though it's a chore for me, I've peppered my summer reading with nonfiction. To be honest, no matter how interesting the nonfiction selection, the only way I make it to the end is if I listen to the audiobook. Each of these favorites was enjoyed via audiobook from the library.
Of course, summer is the time to feast on whatever is new and popular. I've read too many best-sellers over recent years to list even my favorites. This summer began with Robert Langdon running around Italy.
But I suspected, and it turns out to be true, that I’ve had
themes running through my summer reading choices. This is fascinating to me.
In 2008, I tackled the entire Hornblower series by C. S.
Forester. Hotspur ended up in SPOTD.
In 2009, the stacks next to my bed were full of Neil Gaiman. Sadly, a student borrowed my Sandman: Dream Country and swiftly thereafter quit school and moved away, taking it with her.
The summer of 2010 was the Summer of Thieves. (Note: I
love Turner’s The Thief so much that I’ve
read it more times than any other book, exclusive of the novels I teach. Whenever I finish a novel and head over to my unread books shelves to scope out my next read, I am invariable tempted to head back to Gen and his world.)
I read through Kinney’s Wimpy Kid series in 2011. I admit, I envy Kinney's success. But I began reading mainly to ensure that I hadn't accidentally copied his covers' color scheme order. I discovered too late that his first two are, in red and blue, the same colors as my first two covers.
Volume 3 of SPOTD will not be green.
It will be black.
Last summer (2012) was devoted to George R. R. Martin. I’d
started the Game of Thrones series earlier, but polished off books 3 to 5
before school started in the fall. Reading while in Ireland, Scotland, and England was a treat beyond measure.
I've also read piles and piles of prospective plays
for fall play production, along with their original sources. Yes, CG, it's true. I have yet to
stage a fall play that isn’t an adaptation of other source material. Which
leads me to this year’s summer reading theme: PIRATES.
To be continued…
