Tuesday, June 08, 2010

summer reading

i have seasons for certain activities. 
fall and winter i feel like knitting and cooking.
in spring the urge to clean and reorganize inside and out.
then in summer i feel the pull to read.
yesterday i posted this shot of my "nightstand" of books i had organized for summer and it really got the talk of books going.   ones i have read and want to re-read,  ones i have already begun (most during post surgery) and have yet to finish, and a few i have not begun just yet.  
what is on your summer reading list if you have one? 
what is on your nightstand begging to be picked up?
what reads do you call your faves?
my faves are very diverse like me.

i grew up with a house of readers.  my step father loved steven king.  i can picture all those huge hard bound books on our shelf.  my mom was also a reader,  so books were always around.  as a kid i remember falling in love with The Princess Bride ("the good parts version") as my 6th grade teacher read it to us aloud in class.  years later when the movie version came out i was thrilled!  then i saw it.  :(  they made my adventure fantasy love story into a goofy joke.  it was not at all how i heard it when she read it to us.  i still love the book.  and i still remember it having our whole class enthralled boys and girls,  i think that says a lot!

in high school my fave classic was The Catcher In The Rye.  i loved the oddness of holden's world.  

as an adult i find i have less time to read.   to be honest, when i read i tend to get very sleepy so getting through a book can be difficult at times.  it either has to be an easy read or really grip me.  
a few of my faves are:
my hubby found  Peter and the Starcatchers at the library sale in VT.  it is supposed to be the story of peter pan before he became peter pan.  i began reading this to kellen and casey one chapter at a time.  we love peter pan of course,  and all things pirates in our house, so i am so excited to see where and how this book evolves into the beloved story by J.M. Barrie. a summer adventure for us all to share i hope.  

one book i keep meaning to pick up is Momma Zen.  has anyone read that?  would you recommend it? 

speaking of books,  the original Shutter Sisters birthed a beautiful book,  Expressive Photography : the shutter sisters guide to shooting from the heart, just today!  love their title.  that is exactly how i feel i shoot, straight from the heart. 

so, what books do you just LOVE?



15 comments:

hello lovely said...

i LOVE to read so of course i love this post! that's how my nightstand usually looks also with books piled up high. a few of my favorite books are:
-atonement
-in my sister's country
-mystic river
-a walk to remember

http://hellolovely14.blogspot.com

Erika said...

"Momma Zen" was really good. But I wish I would have read it when my babies were actually babies. "Hand Wash Cold" was really good! And I think it was more effective at this point in my life.

I'm so happy you added "Shutterbabe" to the list. I adored that book. I devoured it in college. Recently, I discovered that she wrote a parenting collection called "Hell is Other Parents". So good!

kristen said...

i don't know how i missed this photo...but pretty much my favorite thing to do and talk about is books and reading.

favorites: the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay; the shadows of the wind and the hours and cider house rules.

a new favorite is "let the great world spin", just finished that and it was amazing.

i've got a few books to bring with me in the transition of moving and there's a pile of new books already packed that will get me through the rest of the summer.

BostonGirl said...

Thanks for posting this photo - it gave me a few books to look for this summer! I'm working my way through a bunch already:
I Thought It Was Just Me - Brene Brown
Off Season - Ken McAlpine
Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott
3 Minutes or Less - Anthology
Writing Life - Annie Dillard

Unknown said...

Great book ideas!

Vanessa/NessieNoodle said...

Kristin,
I just finished (and also had the pleasure of meeting Karen) Mama Zen. Though your kids are older I think there are some really wonderful tid-bits in there for any mama, at any stage. It is on my nightstand. I haven't read her new one, though it is on my list. I love that she has an index in the back for certain days/situations...
I am currently re-reading Secret Garden. Such a different book now as an adult then it was when I was kid- I am still loving it though.
For silly reading have you ever picked up and Christopher Moore? laugh out loud funny stuff.

The Never Fairy said...

Good choice of words for the Starcatchers book - "supposed to be" because it is NOT a good prequel at all. Peter Pan already had a backstory as per J.M. Barrie and they completely ignore it. Plus, there a numerous mistakes as compared to Barrie. How can they be so disrespectful?
It's a pretty good adventure otherwise, but it can't be considered a Pan prequel.

There is a faithful continuation of Peter Pan based on Barrie's own idea for more: Click!

BELIEVE!

truly blessed said...

i'm so excited to get to the library and check out some of these books! thanks for the tips!
xo

Kylie said...

my 'to-read' list is as long as my leg! I can't wait to read Elizabeth Gilbert's new book - Committed (LOVED Eat Pray Love!) I really enjoy Jodi Picoult books too.
Thanks for some wonderful book recommendations!

Unknown said...

as i librarian i'm surrounded by books every day, but still i can't get enough!

i really loved elizabeth gibert's "the last american man." really intriguing true story, and her writing voice is just so fine!

also loved sue miller and anna quindlen's two latest -- "the lake shore limited" and "every last one."

have a wonderful reading summer!

Jakki said...

I tend to read more in the summer myself. warm weather brings out the lazy/relax in me and nothing does that better than a good book...i just finished the latest Katherine Center book, Get Lucky but I loved Everyone is Beautiful more. I cant wait to go through your comments...I'd like to get some new reading ideas!

jodi said...

@vanessa: i just re-read "the secret garden", too! totally loved it.

@kristin: i completely love this stack. the ones i've read - i love, the ones i haven't - i am defintiely adding them to my list.

Shawna said...

i'm not much of a reader, sad to say. school spoiled that a bit for me. but i still have favorites i read over and over, and the pb good parts version is a fave :O) i have an old falling apart copy where the narrator is typed in red. luckily i watched the movie first, so i love them both! thanks for the book recommendations!

Mary said...

Favourite books at the moment: Shantaram, A Fine Balance, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and Kafka on the Shore.

I loved the picture you posted with the stack of books and fresh flowers. Makes me want to curl up with my book right now!

gkgirl said...

oh....
i love posts that revolve around books...i just bought oprahs' new magazine because it was a book special...i'm a sucker.

anyway...
seeings as how i have read half the same books you listed and loved them, i think it's safe to say we have the same taste in books therefore i must insist that if you have not read "fall on your knees" by anne marie macdonald, you MUST do so...IMMEDIATELY.

:O)