Summer Reading: Time for a Change of Pace

I love words, the sounds of words, the shapes of words, the look of words. I grew up reading biographies and Bible stories, along with the classic girl stories like Anne of Green Gables and the Little House series. But most fiction wasn't a big part of my education and so I missed most fairy tales, fantasy literature, novels. I read Madeleine L'Engle's classic "A Wrinkle in Time" for the first time my freshman year of college; the same year I heard her speak about her writing and writing in general. She expanded my world, helped me leap forward and opened up doors for me to read differently.

But I still find myself surrounded with non-fiction. I love theology and I have several that I'm always reading, re-reading, chewing on. I still love a good biography and so I'm working my way through a VERY large volume on Churchill, reading it aloud to my husband. I read parenting books and books on marriage because they hold me accountable to keep perspective about my most important work.

I have benefited greatly from being a mother, particularly a homeschooling mother because I read all the things I missed as a kid. I have watched the visible effects of what reading does for imagination and what imagination does for learning. It has happened in front of my eyes.

All that to say, that I am making a tangible decision to spend my summer reading fiction. I'm pretty particular so I worked hard to find some titles, both new and classic, to frame my list. Here goes:

1) Arts & Entertainment by Christopher Beha

2) The Girl Next Door by Ruth Rendell

3) Glimmerglass by Marlys Youmans

4) Cloudstreet by Tim Winton

5) All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

6) The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky


Wish me luck!