Summer Reading

Now that things are quieting down a bit, it's time to read.  We had a nice discussion at our last Knit Night about knitting fiction, and Julie suggested the Debbie Macomber Blossom Street series.  I barreled through The Shop on Blossom Street, and started  A Good Yarn immediately.  They are sweet books, and Julie says the shop is just like the one she imagines me running one day -- how could I not read these?

But Blossom Street will have to wait, as I have downloaded a great one to my nook:  State of Wonder by Ann Patchett.  At first, I thought I was going to have to stop reading, as the book centers on the death of a man who dies while on a trip for his employer.  Yikes!  Not something I like to think about, but something I always think about, especially when Clay is in the middle of nowhere, like the character Dr. Eckman was.  I'll give you a full review when I finish, but I can already tell that this is one I'd recommend.  July 5 -- I finished the book this morning, and would recommend it highly!  I think it would lead to a great book group discussion -- I can't wait until Clay reads it so we can talk about it, but in return, I have to start reading The Bronze Horseman, the first of a 3-book series by Paullina Simons so he will have someone to talk about them with.   

The greatest thing about the nook is that you can get free samples of books before you buy them -- much like reading a chapter while standing in the bookstore.  After 20 pages, I knew State of Wonder was one I would purchase.  On the other hand, a few months ago, I had downloaded a sample of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand; although it was highly rated on many lists, it just didn't grab me.  I have a lot of critically acclaimed books scattered around here that I just couldn't get in to -- the nook relieves a lot of my book-buying guilt!

The rest of my summer reading list:  South of Superior (Ellen Airgood), Ten Thousand Saints (Eleanor Henderson), Twin (Allen Shaw),  The Dressmaker of Khair Khana (Gayle Tzemach Lemmon) and Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter (Tom Franklin).

Off to read.  Peace.