Jenny's Summer Reading

Most days, I'm more likely to spend my free time watching Netflix, than pick up a book, but there's something about reading in the summer that sucks me back in. I love making a  long list and checking things off of it. It reminds me of the summer reading program at my childhood library where each book you read equaled a sticker to put in a folder themed like a pirate treasure hunt. I couldn't beat most other kids in a spelling bee or at four square, but I could out read them all.

Here's what's on my list for this summer so far. I'm sure I'll add more as I've been known to hastily grab the book closest to the checkout as I'm buying a snack before a flight and of course I always love getting recommendations from friends (please post any recommendations in the comments!!!) . If you want to follow along as I add more and rate the books when I finish, you can see my list at Good Reads...

So far I've read...

All Over the Place by Geraldine DeRuiter...I've loved following Geraldine's travels and hilarious stories on her blog The Everywhereist and her book has the same great mix. 

Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?: And Other Questions You Should Have the Answers to When You Work at the White House by Alyssa Mastromonaco...I highly recommend this one! It's like Mindy Kaling goes to the White House...I appreciated the honesty and humor in this memoir and finished it wishing I could be friends with Alyssa, who worked on Obama's campaign and then served as his Deputy Chief of Staff. I might have learned a thing or two about politics as well. 

I'm finally planning on finishing a few great books I started awhile back...

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott 

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 

Daring Greatly by Brené Brown

Also, I'm consciously trying to be more well rounded in my reading, typically I stick to fiction, but you'll see that the list above already includes memoirs and essays, yay for branching out! 

I'm also trying some poetry...

A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver

And some books to make me think about the world we're living in...

America's Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America by Jim Wallis

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey by Margriet Ruurs, illustrated by  Nazir Ali Badr

And of course, some good fiction...

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

An Untamed State by Roxane Gay

Great Kitchens of the Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls... I was recently having drinks with Teresa and another friend, they could not believe that I was such an avid reader as a child yet never managed to read this one! They insisted I add it to the list :)