Friday Five: Summer Reading

Hey, all,
So, getting my pictures from the marathon is going to be spendy - not sure if I'll post them anyway since, as usual, the pros took worse pictures than Kristin (or would have, since Kris wasn't in Duluth). So I'll post the marathon story later this afternoon. BUT it's Friday and I haven't done a Friday Five in a while, and this one seemed too good to pass up.

Back in the day, before I went to seminary, I worked in the Children's Room at
the Public Library, and every year we geared up for Summer Reading. Children
would come in and record the books read over the summer, and the season included
numerous special and celebratory events. As a lifelong book lover and
enthusiastic summer reader, I find I still accumulate a pile of books for the
summer.

This week, then, a Summer Reading Friday Five.

1) Do you think of summer as a particularly good season for reading? Why or why not?
Well, for me EVERY season is a good season for reading. But then, I was the kid whose first grade teacher said, "I've never told parents this before, but your son reads too much." Like Groucho Marx is rumored to have said, "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."

2) Have you ever fallen asleep reading on the beach?
On the beach? No. In my lounge chair in the backyard? Yes.

3) Can you recall a favorite childhood book read in the summertime?
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were both summertime reads. Actually, I read them both for several summers in a row from ages 13-20 or so. As far as books when I was younger, I can't remember any summer favorites (because I can't remember the seasons), but the best books I remember were Where the Red Fern Grows, Charlotte's Web and The Grey King (that last one is the book that flipped the fantasy/science fiction switch in my head). Oh, and I do remember my friend Bill giving me the Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov one summer - great stuff!

Ooooh, wait - I just remembered a good one! The summer I turned 10, our babysitter gave us a box of books to look through before she sent it to a garage sale. I'm sure she didn't check it very carefully, as a copy of Cujo was in there and she was not the type to let 4th graders read Stephen King. But I grabbed it, read it and never looked back. Did a book report on It in 8th grade that really raised some eyebrows from my english teacher that year. So, there's your summer reading story: how my babysitter corrupted me forever. :-)

4) Do you have a favorite genre for light or relaxing reading?
Probably fantasy/sci-fi, though I wouldn't call it light reading. Authors I've enjoyed on vacation in Minnesota recently are John Grisham and John Sandford. When I need a "sure thing" instead of a new read, I generally turn to Stephen King.

5) What is the next book on your reading list?
You can see what I'm reading now in the sidebar list. Next for me is Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf (just watched the movie last night), Grendel by John Gardner (because it sounds cool), and on the serious side, Confessing Jesus Christ: Preaching in a Post-modern World by my homiletics professor from Luther Seminary, David Lose.

BONUS: see my 2008 book list 'so far' below!