Books

For as much as it has been a lazy summer, I have spent a lot of my time reading. I really need to try harder to keep fun reading in the mix during the semesters, but I often am so burned out on reading required materials (ha! materials that I require) that I'm often not up for fun reading.

What have I read this summer...

1. Mockingjay - This is the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy. I read the first two books over Spring Break and didn't have time to read the third. I forced myself to wait and read it after the semester ended. As soon as I graded my last final, I tore through this book in about 2 days. The trilogy is intended for young adults, but the story is interesting and compelling. After lots of heavy academic reading, quick, easy reads are a treat!
2. Motley Crue: The Dirt - I read this on the recommendation of my mom's cousin who is a big metal fan. The book was really interesting and shocking. It is hard to believe all four members of the band are still alive after reading what things they did.
3. The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star I followed The Dirt with Nikki Six's book. Wow! Again, I can't believe that he is still alive. The book is a series of diary entries with commentary so it is interesting and different reading. Having no personal experience with fame and heroin, the book almost becomes fictional as it is unbelievable that someone would be so stupid and out of control. But then you remember that this was all real and it makes you stop reading for a while to process it all. Apparently Tommy Lee and Vince Neil also have autobiographies, but goodness, I can't have it be an all Motley Crue summer.
4. The First Three Sookie Stackhouse Novels - After chatting with my mom about books and True Blood, she mentioned that she had purchased from Amazon the first three Sookie Stackhouse novels in a special set when it was half priced. She hadn't read them yet, but was willing to let me borrow them. So I did, and read all three books in about a week. I've heard and read mixed reviews of the books from people who are fans and aren't fans of True Blood, vampires, etc. These books, like the Hunger Games, weren't difficult reading, weren't high literature, but they were engaging and enjoyable. I think what I enjoyed the most was that the books are not the same as the TV show. You can certainly see where the TV show gets its inspiration, but the books are written entirely from Sookie's first person point of view, so anything that happens with any other character in the show when they are apart from Sookie isn't in the books. The books focus more an Sookie so you get more of her story and what's happening with her than you do on the show. I'll probably pick up the next couple of books in the series. Reviews suggest the 4th one is the best, but that they start to go downhill from there. These might be good light books for during the semester.
5. House of Holes: A Book of Raunch - After reading a profile on Nicholson Baker in the NY Times magazine, and a follow up piece on Slate, I was really curious to read this book. It was fast, fun, and lived up to its title and then some.
6. A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 1) - And if I'm reading one set of books that inspired a favorite HBO series, why not read another. I am about 1/4 of the way through Game of Thrones (it's 600 pages!!). In this case, the TV show is quite faithful to the book. It is nice to be reliving this world and picking up on things that missed in the show. In some ways, I think reading the book after the show is helpful because I have some idea of who the characters are and how they are related (there are soooooo many). Most importantly, after watching the show, I know how to pronounce all the crazy names in my head as I read them instead of making up my own versions.
7. The Man Who Shocked The World: The Life and Legacy of Stanley Milgram - I'm over half way through this book. I started it at the beginning of summer and have been coming back to it off and on. It is fascinating to get a deeper view of the life of Milgram. I always teach about Milgram and know his studies very well, but this book adds a lot of depth, which I'll likely bring some of to my teaching.