Bookish

One of the best parts of camping is the sheer volume of reading and writing that I get done. I started an amazingly long (1474 page) book at the start of July and I finished it just before departure for camp. I keep track of all the books I read for pleasure's sake, and since this is the mid-point of the summer, it seemed like a good time to review what I have read so far this year:

January
Dai Sijie - Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
L.M. Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables
L.M. Montgomery - Anne of Avonlea
Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go
Elizabeth Birkelund Oberbeck - The Dressmaker
L.M. Montgomery - Anne of the Island
Laura Ingalls Wilder - The Long Winter
Jon Krakauer - Into the Wild

February
L.M. Montgomery - Anne of Windy Poplars
Jane Rule - The Young in One Another's Arms
Roddy Doyle - The Woman Who Walked Into Doors
L.M. Montgomery - Anne's House of Dreams
Jon Krakauer - Into Thin Air

March
Greg Mortenson &
David Oliver Relin - Three Cups of Tea
Lillian Jackson Braun - The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers
Frances Hodgeson Burnett - The Secret Garden
Miss Read - Farewell to Fairacre
John Mortimer - Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murder
Kirby Larson - Hattie Big Sky

April
Willa Cather - O Pioneers!
Maggie O'Fallon - The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
Blanche Wiesen Cook - Eleanor Roosevelt, volume I, 1884-1933

May
Sara Gruen - Water for Elephants
Doris Kearns Goodwin - No Ordinary Time

June
Sarah Graves - Nail Biter
Bill Bryson - Notes from a Small Island
Bill Bryson - I'm a Stranger Here Myself
David Guterson - Snow Falling on Cedars
Jon Katz - Death by Station Wagon
Tim Brookes - The Driveway Diaries

July
Vikram Seth - A Suitable Boy

I thought about nominating some standouts from this list (the books I'd highly recommend) but that list is nearly as long as the list of books that I did read......which I think suggests that I only read books that strongly appeal to me. So, I recommend most of them, depending on your mood. Want to remind yourself why you love books? Try Balzac and the Chinese Seamstress. Need a good laugh? Try the Bryson books from this list (or any other that he's written). Interested in a book with a strong sense of place and time? Give Snow Falling on Cedars a look. Like to immerse yourself in a multi-layered story of family, political change, and the meaning of love (and have a lot of time on your hands)? Try A Suitable Boy.

I could go on and on in the vein......which is probably the number one reason that I love books so very much.