Summer Reading List

What are the books that I've read this summer you ask? Well, let me tell you...at least a few of them.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros: One of my new absolute favorites. Small story narrative form. Quick read about an immigrant living in Chicago. Makes the reader do a lot of critical thinking and webbing to intuitively tie the stories together. She has to be one of my new favorite authors too.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers: Excellent read. Exploring loneliness and relationships with other people in a disjointed life.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, a popular youth thriller about vampires, a perfect example of writing that has become annoying after a college education in writing. The author assumed too much power as the narrator and the action delayed till way too far back in the book. I only read it cause it was sitting on the coffee table, and I'm a sucker for books. Michelle graciously let me have the free tattoos that came with the book. Wouldn't I like to have the name, Edward, proudly displayed on my arm? Only when people as me if that is the name of my boyfriend, I can tell them, no, it's the name of the hot vampire in the book I read this summer, duh. (oh and the vampire totally reminds me of Neil from So You Think You Can Dance, pasty, yet beautiful)

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant was an OK read. I enjoyed the story, especially since we had just the studied the Renaissance and visited the city of it's setting, Florence, but I take issue with the writing. I found way too many typographical/grammatical errors for my taste, and the writing was somewhat less challenging than I normally prefer to read. Oh, and shout out to Pico. He got one mention, and this pacified me.

Our Sister Killjoy by Ama Ata Aidoo from Ghana: Also another great read. Beautifully poetic and insightful. An overflow from my globalization seminar last semester, but it was definitely worth reading.

I also read some crap for the class we had (like critical texts by Walter Pater + modern scholars and The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare, parts of Nada by Carmen Laforet which I will finish reading sometime this semester, upon the recommendation of Mary, La Celestina by Fernando de Rojas which unfortunately I haven't finished reading yet either, and the first 5 pages of I Claudius by Robert Graves; that is--before I wanted to poke my eyes out with boredom.