Summer Reading

One of my favorite things about summer is there seems to be more time to read. Chalk it up to the extra hours of daylight I guess. Whatever the reason, I've made a long list for this summer.

"Wolf Hall" and "Bring up the Bodies" - Both are historical novels written by Hilary Mantel that are part of a trilogy on Thomas Cromwell. "Bring up the Bodies" was listed as one of the best books of 2012. I hadn't initially planned on reading any series this summer, but the more I contemplate it, the more I think I'll start with these.

"Beautiful Ruins" - This novel, by Jess Walter, has so many good reviews; I can't pass it up.

"The Memory Palace" - This will be a difficult book for me to get through. Mira Bartok wrote this memoir to explore her own brain injury and its relation to trying to better understand the life of her schizophrenic mother.

"A Circle of Quiet" - It seems I'm on a memoir kick this summer. This book by Madeleine L'Engle has been plugged by many mothers in reading circles across the web.

"Along the Way: A Journey of a Father and a Son" - Continuing with the memoirs, I saw an advertisement for this one, written by the actor Martin Sheen and his actor/director son Emilio Estevez, a few months back and was intrigued.

"The Wealth of Nations" - I don't know if I'll be able to make it through Adam Smith's economic masterpiece. Because Smith's thoughts are major premises behind American (and quite possibly global) economics, I thought I'd give it a try.

"For Whom the Bell Tolls" - If I can make it through the other books by August, I thought I'd end the summer with two more on the reading list from the Open Yale course on Hemingway, Faulkner and Fitzgerald. This is one Hemingway novel I'm not dreading.

"The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald" - I already bought this book, but am saving it for later.

"One Thousand Gifts" - My mother-in-law sent me a copy of Ann Voskamp's book several months ago. I know I'll probably need to do some soul searching after Hemingway and Faulkner, so this should round out my summer.

Incase you are wondering if I've given up on "The Game of Thrones" series of books, there's no need to despair. I need a long break after the traumatic events of the third book and hope to pick back up on the fourth sometime in the fall.