Summer Reading: 5 Books for You
Summer Reading
I’m that former English teacher who always loved summer reading, even as a kid. As a student, I loved poring over that glossy brochure of books our school handed us (even when I didn’t like ALL of the assigned books). When my kids came along and their schools required very little or no summer reading, I imposed reading on them but tried to give lots of good choices.
5 Favorite Summer Reading Choices
Mean Soup by Betsy Everitt
I am a firm believer that all adults should read children’s books regularly. Mean Soup was a school book fair find which I bought more for myself than my kids. I love the story of Horace’s bad day, the brightly-colored, louder-than-life illustrations, and the fact that his mother knew just what to do.
2. The Light Princess & Other Tales by George MacDonald
Christians always seem to include George MacDonald on their fiction reading lists — he did influence C.S. Lewis after all! I include the fairy tales because they’re funny and punny. The Light Princess plays on double meanings of words like “light” and “gravity,” and her romance and rescue will have you laughing and cheering. In 2004, we found Light Princess, and my daughter and I read it from the computer (A novelty then!). (Turns out PagebyPagebooks.com still exists!).
3. The Water Is Wide: A Memoir by Pat Conroy
I first read this one for summer reading as a first-year English teacher in Augusta, Ga. The story took place on a small South Carolina island not far from us, and it featured a new, funny, compassionate teacher, so naturally I enjoyed it. The eighth graders and I fell in love with “Conrack,” the young hero who bucked the system to teach kids no else thought worth the trouble. And, special bonus, there was a movie to watch when we finished discussing the book!
4. Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C. S. Lewis
Speaking of C.S. Lewis, I’ve read his tragic but redemptive tale of love, victimization, arrogance, and shame at least five times. Little blue post-it notes stick out of my copy, marking lines like, “”They used my own pen to probe my wound,” and “Then I did a thing which I think few have done. I spoke to the gods myself, alone, in such words as came to me, not in a temple, and without a sacrifice.” It’s intense, sad, strong, and beautiful.
5. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
True confession. I’m not, or at least, I wasn’t, really a John Steinbeck fan. I had been required to read The Grapes of Wrath and to teach The Pearl and Of Mice and Men. When I thought of Steinbeck, images of dust and long slow sorrow came to mind. But my oldest daughter finished this book this spring and urged me to read it. She promised me it wasn’t so sad, that it actually told a redemptive story, so I scheduled it for my convalescence from hip surgery a few years ago. With roots in the characters and concepts of the Book of Genesis, the vast story explores good and evil, love and envy, labor and fruitfulness. Whether you agree with the theological/philosophical conclusions or not, it is a really great story that will make you think hard. I miss it already, and I look forward to having a full conversation with my daughter about it.