It is quite hard to believe that the summer is almost over.
It seems like just yesterday I was worrying how I was going to make it through
these two months with Dan being deployed. I dreaded summer this year, which
makes the first time I’ve ever felt that way in my whole life. Starting when I
was four years old and ending at 17, summer was when I learned how to be
independent and to explore myself and the world around me. Day camps and Sleep-away
camps defined my summers from before I lost my first tooth until after I
learned to drive. When the time came that I needed to start working during the
summer it was like learning how to breathe differently. For so long, just the
feel of sun against my skin was synonymous with lying by the pool and
protesting against playing sports (I am not athletic, in case you were
wondering). And even now, eight years after my last camp summer, I still close
my eyes as the sun hits my face and allow myself be transported back to my
summers of blissful freedom.
Me, during my last summer at camp.
I may have digressed slightly from the original point of
this post, which was to talk about the books I have read over the summer so
far. But my brain had made the connection from summer reading to those summer
reading lists we were all forced to pick from over the summer. Which reminded
me of how much I put it off while I was at camp in favor of hanging out with my
friends. Which led to my camp reverie. But now I am back to reality. Summer
reading!
Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner
Jennifer Weiner is one of my regulars. What I mean by that
is when I find an author I like, I go on a reading rampage of all of his/her
books until I have to wait for new ones to be written. She is one of those
authors. I enjoy her books a lot, I consider them great summer reads. She is
the author who wrote In Her Shoes,
which came out as a movie with Cameron Diaz back in 2005. That book was
fabulous and I believe it was the first book of hers I had read, although I’m
not sure what drove me to read it in the first place. It could have been the
cover. I am very drawn to books with fantastic covers and I am not ashamed to
admit it! That technique has led me to many great reads. Anyway about this
book…I definitely thought it was a great read. It circles around the stories of
4 women and how their lives eventually all connect. To be honest, it was very
easy to see how their lives would come together once I read a little from all
of their different points of view. But knowing how it’ll all end up doesn’t
mean it isn’t enjoyable going on the journey with them. A good beach read, in
my opinion. And there are still a few weekends left of some good quality beach
time to be had.
Home Front by Kristen Hannah
Another one of my regulars, she was also a victim of me
loving the covers of her books. I don’t remember which of her books was my
first, but her covers always look so inviting. Not sure what it is. I actually
read this book as an audio book. I like choosing audio books that I know I will
like because it will make my long drives that much more enjoyable. So when I
saw she had a new book out and it was available in audio form, I grabbed it! It
actually revolved around military life and how a family has to readjust when a
parent goes to war. In this case, the mother went to war, which meant a
complete family adjustment, as she ran the roost. I liked hearing about how her
husband had to change everything about his life and himself as he struggled to
repair a family neither of them noticed was broken. A good read and I recommend
it!
The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve
I actually started reading this book many years ago but I
found it so boring that I stopped reading it. When I saw that it was on Oprah’s
book list, I knew I would be giving it another chance. I was hoping that when I
read it a second time (now being older and wiser and an actual pilot’s wife!) I
would change my mind. I didn’t. I found it so dull and uninteresting. I believe
that it was written in a very dull and muted way on purpose (although I’m sure
the author wouldn’t have used the word “dull”) as a way for the reader to feel
the grief that the widow felt after losing her husband. The reader goes through
the motions, just like Kathryn, and has to feel what she feels. I guess
personally I didn’t like that approach. Even when the story gets to the most
interesting part, it is still told in a numb and muted way, when I thought
there should have been way more build up and some fire and ice. But that’s my
opinion. I probably won’t read any more books by her. Which I realize might not
be a fair thing to say and I shouldn’t judge the author just because I disliked
one of her many books, but there are thousands of other authors out there and I
would rather try some of theirs. (Which sounds slightly hypocritical, since the
other two books I read this summer are not from any of these thousands of other
authors. But still. I’m not going to read what I’m not interested in.)
I am currently in the middle of a book by a new author,
actually (Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda). And I am also reading a book on audio, which I had also tried reading
in the past and didn’t like. I must say that I am LOVING it now (Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides). More to come
when I finish it. And I also discovered a whole line of books by a new author
that coexists with one of my favorite new tv shows (Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan series, which is where the tv show 'Bones' comes from). More to come on that when
the first book in the series returns to the library!
Have a great summer day and don’t forget to take a minute
and enjoy the sun.
