Is summer already half over? This blog has been quiet — and this blog will remain quiet — for what’s left of our sunny days, but I wanted to pop in here and say hello.
I hope you’re reading powerful books, the kind you can’t put down, the kind that make you see the world in a new way. Here are the ones queued up for me.
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I hope you’re having a glass of wine or iced tea on your porch at sunset, and that you have someone fun to play Scrabble with —- with a real board, the kind of Scrabble you can’t play alone on your phone.
I hope you’re getting out on the trail with your best buddy and hiking so far up you have to look down on the power lines.
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Here’s to the next half of summer…
Teri Carter's Library 
Teri, I swear summer has been sand cascading through my hourglass too–someone slow it down, please!!
I’m about to start The Outlander series tonight–and I’m well into an ARC that is slowing breaking my heart. I’d love a head-and-soul-clearing hike under those power lines right about now…
Brace yourself, Erika. The Outlander series is one of my all-time favorites —- good writing, time travel, a strong believable female lead, and a hot young Scotsman. I’m jealous!!
I’ve read the series, and since gone back and listened to the first book on audio. Davina Porter reads and she does all of the accents perfectly. It’s a joy.
Teri, I joked on my FB page that I feel all the anticipation of having my first drink…Now that I know you are also a fan, I can’t lose.
Summer is passing by much to quickly. My daughter received her summer reading assignment for 9th grade Honors English in the mail today. I jumped up and down as she stood by shaking her head at me saying, “The joys of having an English teacher for a mom.” She has to read one of four chosen classics plus a book of her own – each with a project. I don’t know how she restrained herself from jumping in 😉
I have finished reading and writing some book reviews for publishers, so the rest of the summer should be what I really want to read. Currently it’s The Count of Monte Cristo. I have been reading for four days and am on page 400. If I keep this pace, I’ll finish in two weeks total. Only in summer can I read like a madman until 3 or 4am, sleep in, spend an enjoyable day with my kids, and start it all over again.
I read The Count of Monte Cristo a few years ago (also in Summer) and it remains one of my favorite escape-into-another-world stories. It’s looooooong, yes, but I love a really drawn-out saga this time of year. Enjoy!
Indeed. Ever since I transitioned away from my book review editor position, I am able to read books I really like (mostly). There’s still a clunker or two in there, but at least I don’t have to finish them anymore. Which reminds me… Media Bistro reported yesterday that Fifty Shades of Grey was the second most reader-abandoned book this year. First was JK Rowling’s attempt at grown-up writing.
There’s always a clunker (or 5) isn’t there? I guess it’s inescapable. But how much fun is it when you find a big sprawling story you can’t put down. These last few years I’ve been the queen of not finishing books —- I finally decided life is too short, and there really are too many excellent books, to waste my time otherwise.
50 pages to grab me. That’s it from now on.
I just finished listening to JK Rowling’s *The Casual Vacany* as an audio book. At first I thought it was a mistake to listen to rather than read because there are so many characters that it was hard to keep track of them all. Maybe this is part of why people abandoned it? BUT, I will wholeheartedly endorse it as a very sad but very gripping story of small town life. I’ve also read the reviews were mixed because there’s no real hero–all the characters are so flawed. But I loved this book and I wept at the ending. It was raw and real, and I haven’t enjoyed a book as much in a long, long time.
Teri, you will love *The Orchardist.* The ending was a little soft for me but it’s a great read.
“very sad and gripping story of small town life?” I’m so in for that. 🙂 And I’ve been saving The Orchardist for vacation, for the time when we’re sitting on a deck all day, staring at the ocean and our books. Can’t wait to get to it.
Thanks, Tara. I suspect many people abandoned Rowling’s book because it such a departure from the Harry Potter stories, and they weren’t expecting it. As for Fifty Shades, however…
I’ve got The Son sitting on the counter across the kitchen from me right now. I’m thinking I may hold off and make it my beach read which isn’t happening until September. The author was on NPR (I wonder how many times that’s been said/written??) and, after hearing him talk, I knew I would need a reading environment that would allow me total submersion. I’m going to pick up David Rackoff’s Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die; Cherish, Perish next week (if I can make it to the counter w/out balling to the point I need to leave the store).
My daughter’s school starts August 1. The summer feels like it was a hiccup.
I started The Son a few weeks ago and immediately realized I want to save it for a week when I can hunker down and not leave it. It’s now waiting patiently for me. This week I started Andre Agassi’s Open, which I must say is excellent so far. What a childhood, what it took to make him a champion, how he survived it all — wow.
I just finished Blindness by Jose Saramago. Talk about a book to get caught up in—if you lift your eyes from the page you’re lost altogether. Thankfully I was rarely tempted to do so and finished it in two days.
I’m reading Erika’s book now on my Kindle, and Suzy’s on my laptop, and I keep thinking, Damn, and I KNOW these writers!
I just downloaded Suzy’s and I’m going to read it on vacation! 🙂
I really loved Blindness (not so much the sequel, Seeing). Saramago is a challenging read, and not only because of the lack of punctuation. I never saw the movie — don’t know if it was done well or not.
Laura Robson was featured in the paper here just before Wimbledon. She said she reads all the tennis bios and autobiographies and that Agassi’s is one of the best. Glaciers is on my list since Laura recommended it. Let me know how you like it.
Summer half over? I hope not. It’s made a long awaited visit to England this year. IT’s HOT! And we like! And there’s no rain. (and no writing, but when the sun appears as infrequently as it does over here, we do have to drop everything and enjoy it)
Well, I can already see why so few of the other tennis professionals liked Agassi’s book. It’s too honest. He really lays it out there, which is supposed to be the point, right? I give Agassi a lot of credit — his book took guts. It’s not all the shiny side of being a pro. And he had to know so many of his peers would hate it.
I love it. Bravo, I say.
Happy summer, Teri! I definitely want to hear your take on one of those books. Will email when it starts gettting cool.
Beautiful. This is how summer should be. Hikes and lakes. Books! My summer hasn’t really started yet and it’s starting with a bang. (Paris, London, work, motion.) I’d love to do nothing. I’m reading James Salter’s ‘Dusk and Other Stories’ and hope it never ends.