I tend to start out the summer with a list of books I want to finish by the end of August. And, by the end of August, I tend to still have a list of books. Unread.
Perhaps I'm too ambitious - perhaps the list is too long. Or, perhaps, the books themselves are too long. This week, Anne
Trubeck posted a
list of four short postmodern books to read this summer on her
Signatures blog. (This list is, itself, adapted from a longer list of "
61 essential postmodern reads" posted in
Jacket Copy, a blog of the LA Times).
Now, I haven't read any of the books
Trubeck suggests. In fact, I've only read a couple of the books on the longer list - postmodern isn't really my thing. So, I have taken it upon myself, as the Library Lady, to make my own short list of short books. If you need an intellectual-looking but actually readable book for August, try one of these. You won't pull a muscle trying to lift them.
Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen - Please don't write Austen off as
girly. Yes, her books are about women, but
Northanger is
hilariously written, full of pokes at
gothic literature, and very easy to read. Bonus points for reading it with a British accent.
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne - One of the books on that postmodern list I have read. It wasn't what I expected. If you once hated it because your high school English teacher forced you to read it...try it again.
The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare - Again, if you were force-fed Shakespeare in high school, try one of his comedies. Shakespeare really is a funny guy, once your get to know him. Be sure to get a copy with notes to explain some of the old language.
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn - A very short book (especially for a Russian novel) chronicling one day in the life of a prisoner in a Soviet gulag. Bitingly realistic and based on Solzhenitsyn's own experiences in a prison camp,
Ivan Denisovich will stay with you long after you close the book.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - For the mystery lover in all of us. The Sherlock Holmes of the original novels is a bit edgier than the versions of the movies. Read any of the novels and impress your friends (or you could just watch the Wishbone version, but really. Read them).
Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott - One of my favorite books, ever. I learned more about the Crusades from this book than any of my history books. And some of the dialogue is just killing. Read it just so you can quote
Wamba the Fool.
So there you go. Next time you're at the beach, pull one of these out and watch the expressions around you. Or just check out the newest John
Sandford or Nora Roberts and tell everyone that you're analyzing the assumptions and biases revealed in the development of interpersonal relationships in the modern novel. Or whatever.
Recent-ly we lost a very special lady to us here at the libray. Shirley Rae Phillips passed away on October 9, 2009. Shirley was our current Friends of the Library president. She also held other past positions on FOL. Shirley was very instrumental in the fund raising and building of our new library. She put forth a lot of work in our annual book/mum sale, our annual garage/book sales & other fundraising projects for the benefit of the library. Not only was she a hard worker on these many projects, Shirley was fun to be around, always laughing, sharing stories with us, brainstorming & advising on future ideas for the library and making any project "fun". She was a very classy lady & very dear to her FOL family.
