Summer Reading Highlights

I thought I'd do a little post on the reading I've been doing this summer...and boy have I done quite a bit!

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Oh my goodness! So powerful and so beautiful, I was totally amazed. I read his first book, The Kite Runner, which depressed the hell out of me, so I was nervous to read another. Yes, this book definitely had a lot of sadness and pain as well, but it ends on a much happier note, showing the power of love and inner strength...cheesy I know. But I definitely recommend this one, especially as a summer read because I became so absorbed I finished it in about three days.

One Day by David Nicholls

The story of two friends, Emma and Dexter, as seen on the same day, July 15th, for twenty years. The story follows them as they graduate college, find jobs, success, failure, love, heartbreak...and it's wonderful. Very real in both it's happy moments and its sad ones. For the record, this is only the second book that has ever made me cry at the end. It was wonderful.






Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage of the Century by Sam Kasner and Mary Shoenberger

Chronicling the absolutely epic love story of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton...what more can I say? So romantic and informative! The authors did tons of research and were allowed access to personal letters and photographs of the couple. I have to say I loved this book, their story is so incredibly engrossing! Even though it's a nonfiction book, it read like fiction because part of me couldn't believe it was true...which is was. Amazing.





The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

This is the autobiography of Jean-Dominique Bauby who suffered a massive stroke that resulted in "locked in syndrome", he was completely paralyzed, except for movement in his right eye, and totally coherent. He dictated this book entirely by blinking in code! It was a incredibly beautiful and poetic look at his life, both past and present, as well as his musings on his condition. Absolutely wonderful.






I have also been re-reading the Harry Potter books, starting with number three, now I'm on Order of the Phoenix, though I forgot how much I hate Umbridge! I've also starting Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and I'm loving it so far, though I'm only about 80 pages in. I also plan to finally get around to finishing the Hunger Games trilogy before the summer is over.

What are some books you have enjoyed this summer?