Summer Reading Lists

There are many readers who post here, with varied tastes in books and genres.  Here is what I've been reading this summer:

The Guns at Last Light  Rick Atkinson's final book in a Pulitzer-Prize winning trilogy on WWII.  This book begins with the prepartions for D-Day and the final year of the war.  What I like about his writing is his way of making you feel that you are there in a way that movies cannot give you that same sense.  He is also a fine historian and presents his material with an eye toward historical accuracy.  This series took Atkinson 12 years to write.  I loved reading the first two volumes. 

A Death at the White Camellia Orphanage  Marly Youmans.  This author has a taste for a good sentence and for a good story.  This book is a coming-of-age story in the spirit of Huckleberry Finn and takes place during the Great Depression.  If you like this kind of book, you'll love this one.

What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine by Danielle Ofri, MD. I've read other books by Ofri and never been disappointed.  Another book along the same lines that is well worth reading is Jerome Groopman's How Doctors Think.

Please feel free to post your own favorite books for summer reading.  

I inherited an amazing collection of Will and Ariel Durant books that I'll be working through for the next 20 years.

Well, as the resident former librarian here on the forum, and self-acknowledged reading addict, you can be pretty sure I have been spending a good bit of my summer (and any other season for that matter) reading.

BTW, I like to organize my reading into four general categories:

REMINSCENT. Books I read in the past (sometimes as long ago as high school) and which I am very much enjoying the re-reading of them. Like spending an evening with old friends, and reminiscing about the past with them. One delightful outcome of this that I have noticed is that sometimes re-reading a passage in a book previously read long ago can trigger a memory from that era, much as happened to Marcel Proust in his "Remembrance of Things Past," he tastes the cake and this evokes memories from his past. This happens to me often. Right now I am re-reading:

Hardy, "Return of the Native." (I read in high school. Some passages bring back memories of talking about those passages in English Lit class the next day) .
Goldsmith, "She Stoops To Conquer." (Ditto above).
Orwell, "1984." (Saw the film, never read the book).
Julius Caesar, "History of the Gallic Wars." (Not as boring as it sounds. Actually, somebody could even do a mini-series on this, what with all the battles and everything)

PROFESSIONAL. For me this used to be library-related publications, but now that I'm retired, this consists of anything coming from the Florida Retirement System (who pays my pension check), Social Security Administration (get a check from them, too), Medicare, Blue Cross Blue Shield (my secondary insurer). Various online readings lately.

HEALTH. Okay, PCa sites get priority here, but WebMD, Medscape, etc. get my attention for some other health issues I need to pay attention to, such as my acid-reflux disease which keeps flaring up. Various online reading lately.

FUN. Yes, here's where I really like to spend my reading time. Right now I'm reading:

Mario Livio, "Brilliant Blunders, from Darwin to Einstein." Even the best scientists err once in a while. Who knew?

Hawking's "A Brief History of Time." It's been out for a while, and I finally got around to reading it. Probably the best scientific mind of our time.

John D. MacDonald, the mystery writer, "The Lonely Silver Rain." (A critic once called MacDonald's work "good trash." Maybe, but it reads and flows very well.

Robert Heinlein, "Assignment in Eternity." (Good stuff).

The European scholar Erasmus once said: "Whenever I come into a little money, I buy books. Then if there is any money left over, I buy food and clothes."

For us bibliophiles, that's just about the way we feel about it.

For a person that writes books, in recent years, I don't read a whole bunch of fiction anymore, not like I use to.

I did recently finish "The Great Gatsby", first time I read it again in over 40 plus years. I had recently seen the new movie version at the theater, very impressive and true to the book for the most part. And then of course had to see the 1974 Robert Redford version to compare.

To be honest, I found the book to be very shallow at best. Read the whole thing in about 3 hours, its a short book. Hate to say this, but either of the movie renditions were more enjoyable than the read.

I grew up with all the works of John Steinbeck, he's a hard act to follow. He was my original writing inspiration, and I corresponded with him when I was in high school in Florida. I was invited to meet him in California at his home, but he died that very year. Never did quite get over that, perhaps it would have inspired me to become a full time writer. But such as it is.

Though I only write fiction, I rarely read anything other than non-fiction, doesn't make sense, but that's me.

David in SC

I am reading Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novels written by Robert Crais. These escape books help me deal with the stress of work and "the beast".

Paul

Catching up on some threads...I just read "Black List" (spy fiction) by Brad Thor and "The Art of Intelligence" (spy non-fiction) by Hank Compton. The latter is excellent and gives some interesting insight into an extraordinary CIA career.

This weekend I'm going to start Vince Flynn's final book, "The Last Man". I can recommend any and all of Flynn's books; as most of you know, he died of PCa earlier this year.

My next book will be a re-read of "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand. It's a great story and one of the best books I have read in the last 10 years.

Jim

Ditto for "Unbroken" about Louis Zamperini's harrowing survival at sea and as a POW held by the Japanese during WWII.  Everybody ought to read this book.  And Laura Hillenbrand, who wrote the book "Seabiscuit"  tells the story expertly without sentimentality. Zamperini's my hero!

Love this thread - some great recommendations here...

I just finished Neil Gaiman's "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" - short book, but a great read if you like fantasy.

For you SF fans: if you don't know the work of Kim Stanley Robinson, you're in for a real treat. I re-read "2312" for the third time this summer - and his "The Years of Rice and Salt" is one of my all-time favorites. He's got a new one coming out next month - can't wait.

Of course, I spent much of my recovery time re-watching "The Sopranos" from the beginning - for me, that series never gets old.

My kids went back to school this week, but I'm doing my best to hold onto the summer feeling for as long as I can - for me, summer will always run through Labor Day, no matter what the school calendar says...

Doug

Of course, I spent much of my recovery time re-watching "The Sopranos" from the beginning - for me, that series never gets old.

I don't watch much TV but we started watching cable series right after I started treatment.  that was one way of spending time together.  now we're hooked!

sopranos, rome and deadwood were the first (not sure which was the very first).  since then we've seen the wire, the tudors, borgias, the badge, Spartacus,  dexter, nurse Jackie, boardwalk empire, game of thrones etc etc etc.

last night we finished six feet under and it was excellent and thought provoking.  now i'm on the hunt for a series we haven't seen.   any suggestions on must see series that we might have missed?

ed

 

..Lexington & Concord.. by: Tourtellot

I think The Wire, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Dexter, Mad Men are all well worth watching (on dvd...) among foreign ones, the original Danish The Killing (all 3 seasons) is by far the most addictive intense show.

yeah, we saw and enjoyed every season of of Six Feet Under.

If you don't mind subtitles I'd gladly loan you the Danish version of The Killing. I have all 3 seasons on DVD but you'd need a DVD player that reads European DVDs. It's really quite intense and full of suspense.

Yeah, knew about Falco and Hall. Hall was also romantically involved in real life with Deb.

We're also watching The Newsroom which is okay.

as far as reading goes may I suggest "cancer ward"?  or you could read the gulag archipelago trilogy....that should see you through the end of summer .

ed