Summer Reads – Update

I’ve been making progress on my summer reading list, and have made some additions, too.

Completed

I read Sarah Addison Allen’s Lost Lake, and it was just as I expected. I love her books because they always end well, and there’s a bit of fantasy or magic involved. They are quick, easy reads and yet I find myself thinking about the characters for weeks to come.

Also read is High Rise Stories: Voices from Chicago Public Housing. It’s a Voices of America book. As you may know, I am obsessed with Chicago Public Housing. I support the National Public Housing Museum. But even if you aren’t as obsessed as I am, I think you’ll enjoy this book.

Each chapter is narrated by someone who lived in Chicago Public Housing. It is their story of their experience. And reading each chapter is like listening to the Moth radio show. Some of the individuals are frustrating. Some, I’d like to reach out and hug. This book provides a real look inside the lives of the people who lived there. Indeed, you are invited inside.

In Progress

I just started reading a book I added to the list, The Long-Shining Waters (Milkweed National Fiction Prize) by Danielle Sosin. Still not sure about it.

Summer Reading List 2014

• Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
• Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation by Michael Pollan
• High Rise Stories: Voices from Chicago Public Housing (Voice of Witness) by Audrey Petty
• Cat Food for Thought by Warren Dotz
• The Lover by Marguerite Duras
• Box Girl: My Part Time Job as an Art Installation by Lilibet Snellings
• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
• A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams
• The Last Summer of the Camperdowns: A Novel by Elizabeth Kelly
• The Swan Gondola: A Novel by Timothy Schaffert