Summer 2009 - Reading List

Am I going list crazy? But hey, I’m like that. Being the dorky person I am I thought I’d make a nice and official reading list. I figure if I type it out it makes it more official, versus scribbling the names of a few books onto a post it and then sticking it onto to the wall next to my desk.

I visited Chapters for some reading material, but I don’t like buying books I haven’t read. Books are too expensive to be a one-time thing, so I then went to the library.

These are the books I plan on reading this summer. But hey, I can be a slow and apathetic reader, so it’s all just a guideline. Who knows if I’ll make the time to read anything other than Time articles.

1. Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
I listened to Anthem through an audiobook on my ipod in January and it totally spiced up my boring bus rides to school. So I’ll give Fountainhead a go, and then maybe Atlas Shrugged after.

2. Slaugherhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
A lot of my friends have recommended me Vonnegut, so I picked this up at the library.

3. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
I reserved this at the lirbary but it turns out when I went to pick it up I accidentally reserved the Russian version. Oops.

4. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
I’ve wanted to read something by Oscar Wilde since I discovered that the guy has the coolest quotes ever. I have a button/pin/thing on my tote bag with one of his quotes “A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.” And I saw one of his plays. So might as well read one of his books, right?

5. 1984 by George Orwell / Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
I’ve been meaning to read both these books since the 7th grade, when we read Animal Farm. I know they’re two totally different books, but I’ll be content with reading one or the other. Which ever one’s available first at the library.

6. Poems
Just in general. I want to understand poetry better. It’s pretty. And concise, in a not-so-concise way. I like that.

I love how my anecdotes aren’t really plot summaries but plain, simple, dumb reasons for why I want to read something. I might read one of Obama’s books too, if I have time. And I might just cut out 5. because once something’s on your to-do list long enough it sort of loses its importance. But whatever, we’ll see.

Any suggestions/notes/opinions/reviews are appreciated