Summer Reading: Part Three
Little Children by Tom Perrotta. Satire about suburban life, full of perverse affairs and a child molester. Often vulgar, but actually funny in places, and a really good ending. Not for the easily offended.
Cotton Song by Tom Bailey. Second novel by the professor teaching my novel class. Prose is pretty much perfect, setting excellently drawn. Story is a bit overcomplicated. Enjoyed a lot, but I think I liked his first better.
Selected Stories by Andre Dubus. Really wonderful collection. He incorporates faith and religion into his stories very deeply and without pretension, which is one of my personal goals as a writer. Really good stuff.
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III. Toward the end, one of the most suspenseful books I've ever read. He sets up a situation where everyone is horribly at odds but nobody is really the bad guy, which makes for a pretty tragic story. I recommend it.
Meditations from a Moveable Chair by Andre Dubus. Collection of essays written after a car accident crippled him. Makes me ultra glad I have legs. Some of his more spiritual essays also feel pretty insightful. I personally got a lot from it.
Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Book on mindfulness meditation, recommended to me back in spring. Can't say much about this one, you'll just have to read it. Depending on how aware you are of yourself, it may change your life. It certainly has had a noticeable effect on mine so far.
Just one more month of summer break, and so much more that I want to read! However I may not have as much time now that I started my novel. Speaking of which - writing it has me extremely excited, and I've been uneasy twice already with the things that have come out of my mind and onto the page. The story I wrote last fall about the guy burning frogs pretty much pales in comparison to some of the stuff that's going to be in this one. I can't wait to work on it more.
Cheers!
Cotton Song by Tom Bailey. Second novel by the professor teaching my novel class. Prose is pretty much perfect, setting excellently drawn. Story is a bit overcomplicated. Enjoyed a lot, but I think I liked his first better.
Selected Stories by Andre Dubus. Really wonderful collection. He incorporates faith and religion into his stories very deeply and without pretension, which is one of my personal goals as a writer. Really good stuff.
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III. Toward the end, one of the most suspenseful books I've ever read. He sets up a situation where everyone is horribly at odds but nobody is really the bad guy, which makes for a pretty tragic story. I recommend it.
Meditations from a Moveable Chair by Andre Dubus. Collection of essays written after a car accident crippled him. Makes me ultra glad I have legs. Some of his more spiritual essays also feel pretty insightful. I personally got a lot from it.
Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Book on mindfulness meditation, recommended to me back in spring. Can't say much about this one, you'll just have to read it. Depending on how aware you are of yourself, it may change your life. It certainly has had a noticeable effect on mine so far.
Just one more month of summer break, and so much more that I want to read! However I may not have as much time now that I started my novel. Speaking of which - writing it has me extremely excited, and I've been uneasy twice already with the things that have come out of my mind and onto the page. The story I wrote last fall about the guy burning frogs pretty much pales in comparison to some of the stuff that's going to be in this one. I can't wait to work on it more.
Cheers!