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| photo credit: fanpop.com |
One of my
favorite parts of summer is tackling my summer reading list. I don't mean the list of required reading for school that
teachers sent home every year, but a list that I keep all year long when I'm
too busy with assignments and work to read. I keep a list in my phone, and a
written list, to keep track of books that I come across and want to read when I
have the time to really enjoy them. I
have to give credit to my past teachers in elementary and high school
who sent reading lists home for the summer. I'm not going to say that I didn't
dread those lists, but having that required reading every summer has made
reading a natural part of the season for me. I definitely can now appreciate
being able to choose which books to add to my list. I tend to read
a few books at a time; for some reason I have always liked to alternate books
depending on what mood I'm in. Even when I was a little kid, I remember
checking out a stack of picture books from the library each week, knowing I
would want to read more than one. Here is a list of the books I'm currently
reading (and one I just finished.) :
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1. Suite
Francaise by
Irene Nemirovsky
I picked up this book from the library and was fascinated
by the story behind the writing of the book itself. It was written by a French
Jewish woman during the worst years of World War II. The book describes
the experiences of Parisian Jews living
under Nazi occupied territory. The author wrote the book while hiding with her
own family from the Nazis . The most
incredible story is that even though she was sadly taken to a concentration camp,
the author's children remained in hiding and carried their mother's manuscript
with them for years. The book remained unpublished for sixty four years.
2. Paris,
My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light ( and Dark Chocolate) by Amy Thomas
On a much
lighter note, I just finished reading this sweet novel about a starry eyed
young professional who scores a job at Louis Vuitton, and moves to Paris for a
year. She writes about her experiences indulging in the city's fabulous
pastries and chocolates, and also writes about her love for her hometown, New
York City. Each chapter is named after an iconic dessert ( Cupcakes, Macarons,
etc.) and at the end she includes her favorite places to enjoy that pastry in
New York and Paris. I had fun making notes on which places to
check out when I visit New York in a few weeks. Which brings me to
my next books...
3. The Little Black Book of New York and National Geographic's Traveler: New York
I know these aren't really novels,
but I have kind of made a hobby out of planning for my New York trip. I went to
New York once before and instantly fell in love with the city. We were there
for a week, and before I knew it I was getting back on the plane home, left
with an entire list of things that we didn't do. So I have been planning (
maybe a little too much) on how we can do the most things, and basically have
the most fun without wasting time on looking up directions, or just figuring
out what to do. I can't tell you how many times we just stopped, all looking at
each other asking "What are we going to do today?" The city is so
exciting, but the options are overwhelming. I can sit with my travel books, map
of the boroughs, and my laptop open for hours at a time just looking over
different places to go while we are there.
Its 8:30pm and I'm beginning to hear
the wind and thunder outside my window- signs of a classic summer thunderstorm, aka perfect reading weather.
Look for my post soon about my New York trip- I plan to post about all the bakeries and coffee shops we visit, and I've got a pretty long list, so we'll see how
many places I can cross off!
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