Jekyll Island Beach 2012

Jekyll Island Beach 2012
There was an error in this gadget

Friday, August 20, 2010

My Summer Reading List

The Rogue Speaks:

Summer is my time to catch up on my reading. One can usually find me floating around in the pool with a Diet Coke and a book. This summer was a little different, however, since we were away for seven weeks. I am not a good traveler, and depend on books to get me through the rough spots. There were a lot of rough spots this summer, and I read 36 books and two manuscripts. Two of the books are not on my reading list, and frankly I don't even remember the titles. The manuscripts, I read early on, before we took off for the southeast. They were both excellent reads, and I am looking forward to getting a copy of each when they are published. I don't think I should say any more about them, however, since I don't have permission from the authors.

There were several books that I felt to be outstanding, beginning with Isabel Allende's book, Island Beneath The Sea. She writes in the classical style that I love, and does a lot of research to make sure her history is accurate. If you have never read her, you have missed something special. I was first introduced to Isabel Allende when her book, House Of The Spirits, was made into a movie with Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep. This is a very captivating film that made me want to investigate her body of work, and thus, I became a big fan.

I'm sure you are all familiar with Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale, Cat's Eye, and many, many more. Oryx and Crake is the first in a trilogy, and I am anxious to read the next two books. I am not frequently drawn to futuristic writing, but I could not put this book down.

Kristin Hannah's The Winter Garden is the best of the ones I have read by this author. It is wonderfully written, and I felt myself in the story so much that her description of the garden in the winter actually made me feel cold.

Also by Kristin Hannah is Sarah's Key, a story that takes place in Nazi Germany, and ends in America. Don't read this one without Kleenex.

I have read all three of the Stieg Larsson books and found them to be excellent, real page turners! I am sure many of you have read them as well, but if not, please head out to the bookstore or library today!

Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian is also written in the classical style. No reading down the center of the page for this book. I devoured every word. It is historically accurate, and lets the reader know that Vlad the Impaler, the Dracula of myth, was a real person who fought the Ottoman Turks for his kingdom. I know I will read this book again.

I was going through Mum's bookshelves, trying to find something else to read, and came across a book that I had accidentally left there several years ago. It was The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Satterfield. Many of you have probably read it, but it was really worth reading again. I did not leave it behind this time.

I can recommend any and all of the books on my book list on the left, but these were the cream of the crop. Just scroll down the left side of my blog for the semi-complete list. If you have read any really excellent books this summer, please let me know so I can add them to my fall reading list.

I am off to the pool now, with my book and my Diet Coke. See you later!

11 comments:

askcherlock said...

What an impressive reading list, Judie. I do most of mt reading during autumn and winter, especially as Rich is tuned to football most of that time. I will write down these authors and titles and begin my collection for winter days by the fire. It's a sweet time, even when it is freezing outside.

Judie said...

Cher, I expect I will be doing a lot of reading this fall and winter as well. I am scheduling foot surgery for the fall and will be unable to play golf for at lease 4 months.

Did you read anything especially good last winter??
xoxo,
J.

Sarah said...

Man how I wish I had the time to read all those books. Still I want to thank you for the list. They will be a good reference for me once I find that elusive time.

Judie said...

Sara, it's just the two of us, with Keil and the two dogs. We are semi-empty-nesters. When I had kids at home, I rarely had time to myself.

Joann Mannix said...

I am so jealous of your reading list, my friend! I am taking note and getting ready to download several of your suggestions to my iPad.

And thank you again for all your wonderful help. You are such a dear friend. And you're welcome to spill the beans on me and my manuscript any time you want. Thanks for mentioning me in your post.

OK, off to pack up the cars. We're taking the girl up to college after a beautiful summer with her. She's not coming back. She hasn't said so, but I can feel it in my bones. I think this will be the last time she comes home for the summer. It's time and I'm excited for her, but still my heart grieves.

Judie said...

You never know, Joann. Three of ours left to make their own lives, The other three left, but came back, two with spouses in tow. Yes, I did grieve when they first left, but when they came back and left again, it was an entirely different story. Hahahaha!

askcherlock said...

Judie, I'm sorry you need to have foot surgery. You know I will be thinking about you when that time comes. I do have a book recommendation for you: Pat Conroy's South of Broad. It didn't want it to end. I wanted to bring the characters in my home and have them in my circle of friends forever.

Hugs, my friend

nothingprofound said...

Judie-I'm not much of a reader anymore. Have plenty of time, but no inclination. I guess I read so much when I was younger I got sick of it. Mostly, I read blogs now and work on my own stuff. Sorry to hear about your foot surgery. Hope all goes well.

Judie said...

Cher, we have been Pat Conroy fans for years. I don't think there is anything by him that I have'nt read. I LOVED the characters in South of Broad.

Marty, I have been away from my computer so much this summer, that reading was the only way I could keep my sanity and function. Trying to work at a strange computer really freaks me out.

I have put this surgery off way too long. For some unknow reason, all the bones in my left foot have shifted, and it needs to be completely rebuilt. The pain has just gotten to be too much, and stops me from doing physical activities that I enjoy. I'll survive, though!

rebecca said...

Always looking for some good recommended books to read....thanks for the list!

Judie said...

Rebecca,let me know what you think of my choices. I always want feedback, good or bad.
http://rogueartistsspeak.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-summer-reading-list.html
rogueartistsspeak.blogspot.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2017-17
232828
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:6IWTTMANGB5EE5GPCLSMRYCTSLA7B3BK
<urn:uuid:d7a55036-6b48-4c1e-8949-971d29b21b4d>
2017-04-26T17:33:22Z
172.217.7.225
sha1:VAUQNS34EEOYUJEUIBZCVLJHOYWHGC4N
<urn:uuid:62860da1-9d81-485d-aac3-a4c76e80f666>
http://rogueartistsspeak.blogspot.com/2010/08/my-summer-reading-list.html
response
<urn:uuid:7bca4b35-8ca8-4ee5-aa34-89626cccb6b5>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)/CC WarcExport 1.0
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2017-17
operator: CommonCrawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for April 2017
publisher: CommonCrawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf