Summer Reading Lists

Now that the school's over I can get to some non-required reading and fill these long days.  I'm not doing well handling this much free time.  Two titles I'm pretty excited about are excited about, If You Were Here by Jen Lancaster and Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan.

 

If You Were Here was written by the fantastically bitter Jen Lancaster, writer of one of my favorite blogs called Jennsylvania.  She's written 4 memoirs about growing up, losing her job, moving to the suburbs, and being a little on the chubby side, but still knowing how to work it.  When I purchased her first memoir, Bitter is the New Black, my manager at work told me to go back to the shelf and pick up her other two titles and I'm thankful for her help.  Either that or she was just using me to make sales.  Oh well, either way, she was right.  I flew through all three books in the span of about a week and was left to wait impatiently for her next release.  She's quick, sassy, witty, and unapologetically observant.  If You Were Here marks Lancaster's entrance into the world of fiction, although from the synopsis it appears that art is imitating life.  The story is about two Chicogans moving to the burbs after growing tired of city life.  This mirrors the tales Lancaster told on her blog about her and her patient and understanding husband, Fletch's search for a non-repulsive suburban home and the subsequent DIY projects they did to renovate.   I look forward to her snappy narration and story telling style in her fiction debut that I've come to love in her memoirs and blog posts.  

The second title is from my other favorite genre, young adult and teen fiction, and is by San Antonio author Rick Riordan.  Riordan is the author of the very popular and very awesome Percy Jackson series, which takes a spin on Greek Gods and their tendency to reproduce with humans.  Running with the success of Greek mythology thing, Riordan ventured over to the Egyptian gods.  The Kane Chronicles tales the story of two siblings coping with the mysterious circumstances surrounding the deaths of their mother and father.  These young adult books read like a Disney Channel Movie adventure and they are life savers on those long car rides, airport layovers, and staying up way too late reading.  You can't have an angry face on while reading teen adventures with quick and funny dialogue from the characters.  

I did stumble upon some suggested "summer before law school" books on the interwebs, but I plan on enjoying some brain candy first.  When I tell people that I'm going to law school, one of the first questions is "How many years is that again?" and I'm forced to say "three years".  Saying it out loud reminds me of the time and GIGANTIC financial investment I'm about to make.  I yo-yo between being crazy excited and having tiny panic attacks about the whole thing.  At the end of the day though, I know it's the right thing to do and all the work and time will be worth it.  Until September though, it's leisure reading and relaxing for me.  Netflix awaits!