I wrote about my slump yesterday and I'm still struggling with reviews, but I've decided to make an effort to keep blogging, even if I post less reviews and more just stuff. Bookish stuff, of course, but more thoughts and ideas and less reviews. We'll see how it goes.
Anyway, I figured a book list is a good way to start and I was inspired by Hoopla's collection of A-Z Summer Reads. I love me a good book list, so I thought I'd share with you what I think are the essential summer reads for each letter of the alphabet. There are a billion ways to define a summer read, but I'd say that these books are united in my mind in that they both captured my attention completely and left me feeling at least somewhat intellectually stimulated.
A: About a Boy by Nick Hornby
B: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
C: Christy by Catherine Marshall
D: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
E: Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
F: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
G: Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson
H: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
I: I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
J: Jackaby by William Ritter
K: The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (I'm cheating a bit here - this is the third in the series and you really need to read the whole series in order, but I'm short on K books I love and find summer-appropriate)
L: The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
M: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
N: Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
O: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
P: The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Q: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a Wold That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
R: Rex Libris by James Turner
S: The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
T: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
U: Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
V: Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell
W: Watership Down by Richard Adams
X: The Execution of Noa P. Singleton by Elizabeth L. Silver (cut me some slack, X is hard)
Y: Yes Please by Amy Poehler
Z: The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman
I tried so hard and only got through about 1/4 of "I'll Give You The Sun." It is beloved by all and here I am scratching my head. I may try it again next year.
ReplyDeleteYou aren't the only one. I read it for book club and I knew I was going to be very unpopular! It was too much for me.
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