Summer Reading List

Last year on December thirty-first, I decided to make some personal goals for 2016. With all of the major diet and lifestyle changes that I made a few years ago, I have learned that I do better when I make it official by writing it down.

I grabbed the closest pad of paper, and jotted down some ideas. And then I didn't stop. A page and a half later, Steve warned me I might be getting a little over-zealous. And that was probably wise.

I had to go back through later and make some revisions. That meant that “learn more about meteorology” got a big line through it. I don’t HAVE TO KNOW RIGHT NOW whether or not the magic that we call weather prediction is more hocus pocus or science. I can save that for another year. (Relax, my scientist friends. I’m suuuure it’s real.)

One resolution that stuck like glue is that I wanted a more disciplined, well rounded, reading life. I’ve been a strong reader for most of my life, and recently I've been more avid. I’d like to plug up some gaping educational holes, and continue to be a committed learner.

My first goal was to read thirty books this year. Later that day I was all, "Stop being so lazy. Read fifty." Same day, still later, "I should probably have a life outside of reading, so maybe I could be satisfied with anything that lands in that spectrum."

Which leads me to the point of this post. 

What’s on your Summer Reading List?

Anne at Modern Mrs. Darcy (Podcast here.) just posted her Summer Reading List Recommendations. (She pre-read hundreds of books, and broke it down into top faves in each category.)

Since I have hundreds of books on my to-read list I’ll probably have to prioritize a little.

Here are nine titles that are in the running to make the cut for me.

The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah (2015)

The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho (1988)

Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw (1913)

Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)

Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman (2011)

Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, Gabrielle Hamilton (2012)

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War, Karen Abbott (2014)

Light in August, William Faulkner (1932)

Where’d you go, Bernadette, Maria Semple (2012)

What am I forgetting? Have you read anything lately that I need to get my hands on? How do you decide what to read next? Oh - and do you take advantage of your local library? I'm relearning.