Friday, May 15, 2009

Summer Reading

I have a favor to ask you.

I have not read an entire book for fun since last summer. This summer, while I still have a lot of research and writing to complete, I will have time to read for fun! The simple act of reading for enjoyment is something I have missed throughout this past year, because it is a hobby of mine that brings me great inspiration and often enhances or challenges my outlook on life. Of course, this has been happening throughout the year with the different texts and articles I have been reading for school, but I think most people will know what I mean when I say that reading for school is just not the same as reading for fun.

So I have a favor to ask you. Please leave a comment and give me your recommendation(s) of what I should read this summer. I need some suggestions. You can suggest just one book or twenty and it can be your favorite book, a book that you think I would love, or something that is just plain intriguing. Thanks!

10 comments:

  1. Snow by Orhan Pamuk
    Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

    I love both those books, and they both have some great themes as well as awesome writing. I own them boht, if you want to borrow either, I live just up from you.

    Have fun this summer Brooke!

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  2. Here it goes brooke, and i hope my categorizations do not offend...

    theological-in-nature
    How (Not) to Speak of God, Peter Rollins -- brilliantly conveys the difficulties many of us have in understanding and expressing the Jesus of the gospels after Nietzsche declared His death.

    historical/anthropological-in-as-much-as-i-can-tell
    Purity and Exile, Liisa Malkki -- this book looks at the problem of the Other, byway of refugees in Burundi. It's phenomenal and worth the work.

    for fun
    Austerlitz, WG Sebald
    A great book that weaves history, memory and the mind with great subtlety and insight that you just get lost in his wanderings, enjoying every savory detail (one of my favs).

    political-philosophical-brilliantical
    Homo Sacer, Agamben
    This is my favorite philosophy book of all time and continues to influence how i think. I think it should be read by everyone...at lest twice. you'll quote it in all your papers, your friends will be impressed by your astute observations and i will respect more than ever before...or just read it because it's just so good.

    and then drive up to portland.

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  3. The Awakening by Kate Chopin---my all time favorite book and a quick summer read filled with romance and despair ;)

    One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey

    Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

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  4. Anarchy and Christianity by Jaques Ellul

    History of Nonviolence by Mark Kurlansky

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  5. The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is a really great and easy read.
    kara murano

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  6. Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy" is awesome. This 800+page book is extremely hard to put down. It's based off a geniune domestic violence/murder case that occured in the early 1900s about how an emotionally unstable, pschopathatic man decides to drown his pregnat girlfriend in a quest to develop a relationship with another girl and therefore gain wealth and become a part of high society. This is an ABSOLUTE CLASSIC!! You won't regret reading this book! Happy reading :)
    P.S. Khaled Hossein, the dude who wrote "The Kite Runner", also wrote "A Thousand Splendid Suns".
    It's a great book!

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  7. Thank you to everyone for the great comments and suggestions.

    I have already read: Purity and Exile, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Time Traveler's Wife, The Kite Runner, and A Thousand Splendid Suns.

    So, I guess your recommendations are pretty good!

    Joel: I hope to come to Portland in the fall. In the same way that I hope to be employed. And they are kind of dependent on each other.

    Anonymous #2: Who are you?

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  8. I feel like I recommend the same books over and over, but:

    Anything by Hermann Hesse, especially Narcissus & Goldmund, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha (which I think you've already read) and Demian.

    Tracy Kidder - Mountains Beyond Mountains

    Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale

    Tom Robbins (Jitterbug Perfume, Fierce Invalids, Skinny Legs, Still Life with Woodpecker, etc etc)

    Paulo Coehlo (Alchemist, Devil and Miss Prym, Fifth Mountain)

    Kurt Vonnegut (God Bless You Mr Rosewater, Slaughterhouse-Five)

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  9. Middlesex, Dharma Bums, Journey to the Center of the Earth. All stellar reads that just hum along.

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  10. okay, the one that always comes to my mine and is my favorite is My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. Its sad but I love it. It makes you think. Anyway, I'll add more later but I always recommend this one.

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