Laurryn's Summer Reading List

I have to tell you: it’s ambitious. This fabric box houses my summer reading list and – as you can see – it’s pretty full.

Uh, please ignore the other crap in the photo. Thanks.

Seriously, though, here’s the list. And it really is ambitious. At the end of this summer, I’m planning on taking my licensure exam (to become a Certified Social Worker in the state of Kentucky), so I’m not sure how realistic it is to think I’ll get through all of these (I’ll have my nose stuck in the DSM-IV-TR). So maybe this is really a “Laurryn’s Rest-of-2011 Reading List.” (And please ignore the fact that the books aren't underlined - it deleted that when I copied and pasted and I can't underline in editing, apparently).

• Animal Farm (Orwell) – Have you read this since fifth grade? I don’t think I have. I bought it for less than a dollar at my favorite local used bookstore and it’s been staring at me, chanting, “I won’t take that long to read, I promise!” At least now I’ll get the metaphor.
  
  
• Anthem (Rand) – I started this book once…or twice…maybe three times. It’s not that it won’t be excellent (all of Rand’s stuff is) or that it won’t be a quick read (it’s a short brochure compared to her masterpiece, Atlas Shrugged), but textbooks have been the priority for the last two years.
  
  
• Banner in the Sky (Ullman) – I don’t know why I have this book. I don’t remember when or how I acquired it, but I know we read an excerpt from it in junior high and I enjoyed it. I remember learning new words like “citadel” and “crevice” and liking that.
  
  
• Broke (Beck) – I’m truly embarrassed to say that I haven’t finished this yet. I’ve made it through a portion but not all of it. How can I call myself a GB superfan if I don’t immediately drop everything to read his latest work? That’s what I’ve always done before.
  
  
• The Color Purple (Walker) – I remember reading this on a family vacation in high school. Of course, parts of it were tough to get through, but I think I will get a lot more out of it as a result of the (social) work I’ve been doing over the last six or seven years since high school.
  
  
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Haddon) – I am completely blindly jumping into this book. I know nothing about it, except that I’ve seen it a ton at stores and that some friends from church had it on their bookshelf. So it’s borrowed, and I’d like to give it back to them before the end of the summer.
  
  
• Decision Points (Bush) – I bought this for Matt for Christmas, knowing full well that I was buying it 30% for him and 70% for me. I peeked when he opened it but haven’t gotten very far. I am in the middle of Laura Bush’s book right now and I absolutely love it.
  
  
• Do the Right Thing (Huckabee) – It’s okay if you don’t like Mike Huckabee, but Matt and I are big fans. I love political figures who seem real – like nice, normal people who are friendly and down to earth. I feel that way about Huckabee, and I’ve read about half of this book and feel like I’d feel right at home in the middle of his circle of family and friends.
  
  
• Everyman’s Talmud (Cohen) – I am quite certain that I bought this book during my freshman year of college. And opened it and read a few lines and got so excited by the spiritual-thought-provoking that resulted from my reading that I became determined to give myself plenty of time and focus when it came to reading this book. Apparently, I haven’t had adequate time and/or focus since 2004.
  
  
• Financial Peace Revisited (Ramsey) – Thanks to our favorite Hellers for letting us borrow their Financial Peace University. This book is a part of the set and I’m excited to dive into it. I’ve already listened to all of the cds and downloaded the forms, but I’m excited to read the book, too!
  
  
• Inside the Third Reich (Speer) – Alright, this is one of three Holocaust-related books on the list. If I don’t read this book now (it’s another bought-during-freshman-year-of-college book), I’m afraid I never will! When will I be in the mood to read about this awfulness? Never o’clock, that’s when. I remember leaving my college class on the Holocaust in tears…nearly every day. I will have to make sure I am reading something fun and cheery alongside this.
  
  
• Island of the Blue Dolphins (O’Dell) – I don’t remember what grade I was in when I read this book, but I could have read it a zillion times. I remember getting lost in that book as a kid. I mean, I remember which room I was in at Taft School when I opened it. So when I saw it at work in a “Please take home a book” box, I nearly cried. It means that much to me.
  
  
• Kiss Me, Kill Me (Rule) – I like true crime. I always have, even as a kid (not sure why my mom wasn’t freaked out by the books I read as a kid). This is the volume that I happen to be on right now; I’m literally in the middle of it. There are a number of stories in it, so I probably have a few more to go before this one will be done.
  
  
• Mein Kampf (Hitler) – Do I need to talk about this one? Read my info about Inside the Third Reich.
  
  
• The Nazi Doctors (Lifton) – Repeat.
  
  
• The Phantom Tollbooth (Juster) – The most awesome teacher ever, Mrs. Kittle (for those of you who know how I became “Laurryn” after “Lauren,” she’s the reason), read her classes chapters of books and this was one of the books. I remember learning a great bunch of new words from this book as a kid!
  
  
• The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (Shirer) – Oh, I guess there are four Holocaust-related books.
  
  
• Sarah, Plain and Tall (MacLachlan) – I have never read this book and I know nothing of it. But I got it for free and should probably read it.
  
  
• Stargirl (Spinelli) – I read this my freshman year of college and loved it. When I saw it at my favorite local used bookstore, I had to own it. I can’t wait to revisit this story that I loved!
  
  
• Superfudge (Blume) – Alright, this is the point that I should admit that I took more than one book from the “Please take home a book” box at work. I mean…five books from this list are from that box. And I took more than that. Oops. Anyway, I remember reading this on the eighth grade field trip to Springfield, Illinois. We were done with all of our tests and everything by this point, so I’d grabbed a fun book from the library that I’d loved as a kid. That’s the last time I read it!
  
  
• The Tale of Despereaux (DiCamillo) – Pretty sure this is a Newberry winner, which is why I’d heard of it, which is why it lives at my house instead of the “Please take home a book” box at work.
  
  
• Tender Victory (Caldwell) – I know absolutely nothing about this book, except that my grandmother handed it to me the last time we were together and said she thought I would like it.
  
  
• To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee) – I remember reading this over summer break one year in junior high. That’s the last time I read it. We watched the movie for a class in college, and my awesome FBI, Mike, bought it for me for Christmas that year. I stumbled upon the book as I was cleaning out the office-turned-kids-room in our house and that (combined with the fact that one of my practicum supervisors has an autographed photo of Gregory Peck) convinced me to add this to my summer reading list.
  
  
• The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Avi) – I don’t remember when I read this, but I saw it while cleaning and thought I should probably re-read it before I lent it to Camden. I think it involves pirates and murder accusations. So I may not lend it to Camden.
  
  
• Under the Overpass (Yankoski) – Matt and I read this in college and enjoyed it, and I’d love to read it again, especially after working with clients who have dealt with similar circumstances.
  
  
• The Wednesday Letters (Wright) – This was a Glenn Beck recommendation. As long as his recommendations don’t sound horribly boring, I usually give them a try. Like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, I found it on friends’ bookshelves.
  
  
• A Wrinkle in Time (L’Engle) – Read it as a kid, loved it, bought it as a grown-up, want to read it again.
  
  
• The Young Drover (Carter) – You guessed it, the “Please take home a book” box at work. It’s about a kid who grew up on a cattle ranch, I think. Actually, I was inspired to read it because I like saying “drover” (like Hugh Jackman’s character in “Australia”).
  

And there you have it! My summer reading list. If anyone has any comments or questions, feel free to make note! Is anyone else planning on getting some good reading done this summer?