Summer Reading

As mentioned before, I am at a loss for good books to read (chic-lit garbage is not getting the job done). So, I have set about the task of compiling a summer reading list (in addition to the page-turners like "Bureaucracy" and "Reinventing Government" that I will be reading for class). I sought some help on this list. The NYTimes just featured a book called "The 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die". Now the author of the review said "Assume, for the sake of argument, that a reasonably well-educated person will have read a third of them." I couldn't even read the whole list let along a third of the books on it. When I quit my tally was at 5. Anywho, could be good place to go if you are looking for important books to read.

Next, I decided to see what the required reading looked like at some fancy colleges and prep schools. Smith College suggests you read Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Another suggestion at the high school level was An Island Like You: Stories of the Barrio by Judith Ortiz Cofer (Poops, this could be a good pick for your summer adventures.) My own alma mater Miami University (the Harvard of Ohio) had this suggestion: Beyond UFOs: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and its Astonishing Implications for Our Future by Jeffrey Bennett. No joke, this is actually the required reading for all of incoming students at the place where I went to college. That could explain my dismal accomplishment on the 1,001 books checklist. I shall continue withholding donations to this school until they get their shit together, I mean I get that its a party school but at least you could put on a better act!

Please feel free to post your own additions to the list.