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Less than two weeks away from summer vacation! Yipee!
I have been feverishly plowing through my short stack of books (aka review copies, library books that have to be returned), in attempt to get them all read before summer starts. Why? Because I have made a pledge to myself that on my various travels this summer, I will be ALL KINDLE (and iPod of course).
So here is my quandary. I have a nasty little habit of impulsively purchasing books I NEED on my Kindle. Then, because the Kindle stack is invisible, I forget what I have. And the pile creeps up on me until it threatens to (virtually) collapse! So here are my options for the summer. Please advise to help with my prioritization:
The Kindly Ones - Jonathan Littell
Hurting Distance - Sophie Hannah
Little Face - Sophie Hannah
The Singer's Gun - Emily St. John Mandel
The Postmistress - Sarah Blake
The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin
The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
Assegai - Wilbur Smith
Columbine - Dave Cullen
The Mascot - Mark Kurzem
Physick Book of Deliverance Dane - Katherine Howe
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami
The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
27 comments:
I recommend reading The Kindly Ones in the sun - you don't want to read it at night in the dark!
The Master and Margarita requires a lot of concentration so wouldn't be something I'd want to read on holiday, but that depends what you are doing.
The Sophie Hannah (start with Little Face) Murakami and Collins are all wonderful books - enjoy!
Great Expectations - have to love a classic and summer is the best time to read classics.
Still, I've heard good things about The Kindly Ones.
Hope you enjoy your reading.
The Woman in White and Kafka on the Shore are both brilliant! Also, I think it's great that you're reading Great Expectations. I really need to get to it too. If I weren't already tackling Middlemarch I might consider joining you.
That, of course, would HAVE to be Kafka on the Shore! Great book, specially for a vacation.
The Woman in White is great too, but sloooow -- which can be good for a holiday as well, depending on the mood you're in and the type of vacation you're having.
Whatever you choose: I hope you'll have a wonderful time!
You have a great list there. Great Expectations and The Woman in White are on my wish list:)
The Things They Carried for sure! I haven't read them, but I've heard The Singer's Gun and Columbine are both great too.
If I were you, I would move the last five on the list to the top. Happy reading!
Definitely Great Expectations!
Well, you are receiving quite a variety of comments :)
There are several that I have not read, but the ones that I have read.....I would recommend Woman in White over Great Expectations (I know...I am an English teacher) but I found Wilkie Collins to be easier to read and yet highly suspenseful.
I LOVED Colombine -- but then again, I have enjoyed all books related to that theme (not sure what that says about me). It is incredibly well-researched and beautifully written.
Truthfully, the Happiness Project has not yet made it to my list, and yet for some reason, I feel that it is a must read book for me this summer. I anticipate that it is a quick read, and yet filled with some common-sense, practical advice that could help brighten my mood.
I am saving my copy Physick Book of Deliverance Dane for Carl's RIP V challenge this fall (just in case you wondered....)
And after reading all these comments, I feel that I must add Kafka on the Shore to my TBR list.
Best of luck - and fun - with your pre-summer reading.
Okay, I am all set to read Kafka on the Shore and the Physick Book of Deliverance Dane this summer, so let me know when you're feeling it, and we can read those together. :)
Wilkie Collins is awesome, so I'd recommend that; and I've heard The Things They Carried is brilliant, but I've never read it myself.
I have Master and Margarita on my iPod waiting for my own trip this summer.
I think Columbine will satisfy all of your true crime needs. It's a wonderful book, though it is about a heavy subject.
Of the rest I've only read Dickens, Collins and Murakami. All would make great summer reads in my opinion.
Wow, what a list! Great Expectations for sure, The Things They Carried and Columbine, and I've heard great things about The Singer's Gun. Whatever you choose I'm sure you will enjoy them!
THE SINGER'S GUN is the first one I'd tackle!
You would love The Things They Carried--quintessential Vietnam war novel. My other votes are for Great Expectations, Kafka on the Shore, The Woman in White (I want to read that one too because I loved The Moonstone>. I agree with Jackie about The Master and Margharita--it's wonderful but demanding...as is most of your lsit! Have fun choosing, reading, and traveling!
word verification: jestr HA!
The Woman in White, fo sho. Scandal! Eavesdropping! Mad relatives! Fortune-stealing counts!
I'm I'd strongly recommend COLUMBINE, but I'm slightly biased because I wrote it. Haha. But I'd love to know what you think.
(And I'll be calling or skyping into book clubs this summer if anyone here is in one.)
Thanks for the nice words about it bermudaonion, CB, and Gavin.
And I love The Things They Carried.
Have fun with all you can snarf down. I'm loving "Light In August" right now.
The Postmistress is lovely and The Happiness Project is pretty great/inspiring. I've heard fantastic things about The Singer's Gun, so I'd recommend that as well.
I'm not sure as I haven't read any of these ... but I did download "Columbine" to my Kindle too!
I'm going to second everyone else who said The Things They Carried - it's a must-read, one of my top ten of all time.
Just hang in there a bit longer, Sandy! You're almost there. :-)
Having just finished reading The Singer's Gun, I can recommend that one for sure. Columbine is one I would really like to read (my copy's around here somewhere), so maybe if you read that one I'll be motivated to dig it out. Same with Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. And I really do need to get to The Things They Carried.
Oops. I think I'm actually prioritizing for me instead of you. LOL
Okay Sandy, I know this will make you laugh. I'm thinking of your titles and scrolling through the comments and I come to Dave Cullen (for a moment I thought I was on match.com looking at pictures and I said to self, "he's hot")...then I remembered I was reading your blog, not trawling match for my blog material! Too funny. Dave--I will head to Inkwood here in Tampa to pick up your book!
You've a great list there, Sandy! I'd need some help if I were you too. ;)
I've to mention The Postmistress, The Woman in White and Kafka on the Shore are just a few which I'd love to read from my TBR pile so those will be my choice. Nevertheless, I hope you'll have a wonderful reading experience no matter what you choose.
I do the exact same thing, LOL. I'm actually afraid to look at my table of contents right now.
I'd say read the Cullen book, but that's just me.
I say Great Expectations and The Master and Margarita on top since those are two of my favorite books. I have the same problem with my Kindle. I hardly even know what I've got on there!!
I loved The Things They Carried and
Great Expectations and The Master and Margarita is high on my TBR. So we'll have to compare notes once we both read it.
I vote Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. :)
The Postmistress gets my vote. I haven't read it but I sure heard lots of good stuff about it.
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