The National Posts "50 Books to See You Through the Summer"

By Jen on June 24, 2008 10:49 AM |

This is the time of year when msot publications print their book lists. I always find these very stressful because there are usually 20, 25, or in this case, 50 books you should read over the summer. I am a very prolific reader and, as a teacher, I am not even working over the summer, but there is no way, I can read 50 books. If you manage to read the 50 recommended by the Post, I will send you a copy of Meg Wolitzer's new novel, The Ten Year Nap (to be reviewed next week), as your 51st.

Intimidation by the sheer numbers aside, over the next few weeks, I will try and keep up with the links to summer reading suggestions so you can choose a few texts t accompany you on your holidays.

Here is the link for the Post's 50 Books To See You Through The Summer.

There was also a great collection compiled by Jesse Kinos-Goodin on page 4 of The Weekend Post of well-known authors and book lovers and the one book that "changed their lives, that they've read a dozen times without ever getting old."

Here's a summary ( I have asterisked the ones I have read):

Gail Bowen - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Simon Armitage translation)

Kevin Newman - Gates of Fire (Steven Pressfield)

Abigail Carter - The Egg and I (Betty MacDonald)

Augusten Burroughs - Midaq Alley (Naghib Mahfouz) *

Mary Swan - The Pumpkin Eater (Penelope Mortimer)

Andrew Westoll - Fugitive Pieces (Anne Michaels)*

Todd Babiak - The Great Gatsby (F.Scott Fitzgerald)*

Reva Seth - How to Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food (Nigella Lawson)
Mark Kingwell - Lucky Jim (Kingsley Amis)

Shelagh Rogers - No Great Mischief (Alistair MacLeod)*

John Moffat - Space, Time and Gravitation" An Outline of the General Relativity Theory
(Sir Arthur Eddington)

Anne Simpson - D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths (Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire)