Summer Reading 2009
Biography:
Shakespeare : the world as stage / Bill Bryson
Madame de Staël : the first modern woman / by Francine du Plessix Gray
Abraham Lincoln / James M. McPherson
About Alice / Calvin Trillin
First darling of the morning : selected memories of an Indian childhood / Thrity Umrigar
Nonfiction:
The ascent of money : a financial history of the world / Niall Ferguson
The cartoon history of the modern world / Larry Gonick
Flapper : a madcap story of sex, style, celebrity, and the women who made America modern / Joshua Zeitz
Assassination vacation / Sarah Vowell
Classics:
Swann’s way / Marcel Proust
The ambassadors / Henry James
Heart of darkness / Joseph Conrad
Little women / Louisa May Alcott
Fiction (Long Books):
The little stranger / Sarah Waters
The northern clemency / Philip Hensher
Cutting for stone : a novel / Abraham Verghese
Fiction (Shorter Books):
The secret scripture / Sebastian Barry
The elegance of the hedgehog / Muriel Barbery
Ms. Hempel chronicles / Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
Laura Rider’s masterpiece : a novel / Jane Hamilton
Mysteries:
Tooth and nail / Ian Rankin
The likeness / Tana French
Revenge of the Spellmans / Lisa Lutz
The Marigold Mafia / Elisabeth Bastion
And Now, for Something Completely Different:
The complete poems of Sappho / translated by Willis Barnstone
The complete Persepolis / Marjane Satrapi
The left hand of darkness / Ursula K. Le Guin
Yeah Dave’s guide to livin’ the moment : getting to ecstasy through wine, chocolate, and your iPod playlist / David Romanelli
Well, I have to be the first to say that I thoroughly enjoyed The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I was delighted by the two various points of view in the story and loved the plot twists. I must say (without giving too much away) that I became completely engrossed in the story to the point where I couldn’t put the book down; I had to find out what was going to happen. After I finished, I promptly passed the book on to a friend so she (and her husband) could read it so we could all have a discussion. Well-drawn characters, enchanting story, and not to be missed for a good summer read.