Summer Reading List 2006

For the Summer Reading Challenge 2006, I plan to read a book a fortnight, preferably but not necessarily from the list below, as some may be difficult to obtain and other reads may interpose themselves, not to mention the list is already too long and I'm in other reading groups that are reading other books. So many books, so little time! The challenge runs 14 weeks, from June 1 to August 31.



Elements of Style by Wendy Wasserstein
Her first and, sadly, last novel, set among the rich and stylish in Manhattan.

Gatsby's Girl by Caroline Preston
More rich and stylish folk: a fictionalized account of the affair between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ginevra King, the inspiration for Daisy Buchanan.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The outstanding movie Capote provided the impetus finally to read this influential "nonfiction novel."

MacBeth by William Shakespeare
Re-reading in preparation for this year's Shakespeare in the Park production, with (be still my heart!) Liev Schrieber in the title role.

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
I've always wanted to read this; thanks to my excellent My Favorite Classic book exchange pal, Jamie, I can!

Salt by Mark Kurlansky
A history of the only rock we eat.

Shahnameh [The Book of Kings] by Abolqasam Ferdowsi
Tenth-century Iranian national epic; its nostalgia for pre-Muslim secular rule is still politically charged today.

Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello
Characters in a play not yet written; this and other plays of the absurd earned the author the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Summer by Edith Wharton
On my summer reading list for the last five years, but somehow never gets read!

Vellum by Hal Duncan
A highly recommended first SF novel.

Zorro by Isabel Allende
A frothy romp through old California.

Categories: :Summer Reading