EXTRA EXTRA! Read All About It!
Confession: I hate reading. Ironic, I know. Sure, it doesn’t make much sense that a writer would hate reading, but if there is some kind of writer’s rulebook out there, leave it up to me to break the rules. Growing up, my elementary school forced us to do AR (accelerated reading). For every book you read outside of class, you would take a quick online quiz in order to earn AR points. At the end of the quarter, if you met your goal, you would win some kind of prize. I never won any prizes… While Sally, the next Pulitzer Prize winner, was over there reading Harry Potter ( a 26 point book) at the speed of light, I was pretending to read 20 page books about the game of soccer (2 point books). Yep, I’m a real go getter, an overachiever for sure. I mean come on, what fourth grader actually has the time or desire to read outside of class? *cough cough* Sally? Forget that! I was too busy catching tadpoles in the creek behind my house or throwing little red berries at the cars that drove by (which I got in trouble for by the way). AR can kiss my ass. I can say that now. I couldn’t in fourth grade, but trust me, I wanted to.
Twelve years later, I can say that my teachers/professors definitely didn’t cool it on the reading front after fourth grade. I did however, stop abiding by AR rules and rebelled against my school. I started using SparkNotes, which by the way, is the greatest website to ever exist. I used it A LOT (especially during the Shakespeare segment of high school). Sorry Mrs. Ramsey! And honestly, I think I maybe read four of the millions of books required in college. Oops. It was always so awkward on the first day of my creative writing classes when the professors would ask us to write down our five favorite books. I had to think really hard, and I mean realllllyyy hard just to come up with one. But, now that I’ve graduated, and I’m not forced to read hundreds of pages for homework every night, I actually like reading. Yes, you read that right. I said I LIKE reading. Who am I? I don’t even know who I am anymore. This is craziness. And it’s about to get even crazier. Not only do I like reading now, but this summer alone, I’ve read SIX books!!! And, for the record, I’m in the middle of the seventh. That’s probably more books than I read throughout my four years of college. No, I didn’t really like all of them, but I did enjoy actually finishing a book for once. This is an all new me. I’m turning over a new page.
Check out the books I read this summer!
Sarah's Key
by Tatiana de Rosnay
When Sarah’s family is forced to evacuate their apartment in the “Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup” in Paris, they are transported to the Beaune-la-Rolande internment camp crammed full of other Jewish families. With chaos surrounding and the uncertainty of outcome, all Sarah can think about is her brother that stayed behind, hiding in the cupboard of their apartment. Although she promised him that it would only be hours before her return and his chance to exit the cupboard, the time passes, and all that remains is the cupboard key, held tightly in her tiny hand.
Tatiana de Rosnay does an amazing job telling the history of such a terrible period of time in Paris, all while keeping your attention on whether or not Sarah makes it back to that cupboard where her brother is hiding. I laughed, I cried, and couldn’t stop reading this incredible story. If you have any interest in the Holocaust, I highly suggest reading this book.
The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho
On a journey to find his treasure at the Egyptian pyramids, Santiago comes across several characters that try to teach him lessons and further his chances of finding his treasure.From these men, as well as the woman he loves, he learns what his true purpose is, he discovers his personal legend.
Honestly, I’m not even sure if that really counts as a summary for The Alchemist. And, I kind of don’t care. Maybe I’m alone on this one, but I didn’t really like The Alchemist. I know it’s supposed to be some classic, prophetic tale that should stick with you for the rest of your life, but to me, it was just boring. I only finished it as proof to myself that I could. If you like that kind of stuff, go for it! But, I wouldn’t recommend it. At least it was a short book.
The Rules Do Not Apply
by Ariel Levy
Ariel Levy tells a story of her life in which the path remains uncertain. When at once, everything finally feels like it’s falling in place, Levy’s whole life is flipped upside down. Levy journeys through her experiences as a journalist, a wife, a traveler, and a mother.
My favorite genre of movies is documentaries, so it should be no surprise that I love memoirs. I’m not sure why being invited into the private realms of others’ lives interests me so much, but it does. While Levy’s story is beautiful, inspiring, and terribly sad all at once, it kept my fingers flipping the pages, wanting to find out more.
The Brand Gap
by Marty Neumeier
“How to bridge the distance between business strategy and design.” Marty Neumeier helps unravel the meaning of branding, and provides powerful insight on how to create and manage a “brand” of your own.
So, I found this book because Lauryn Evarts Bosstick, a.k.a The Skinny Confidential, mentioned it on her blog. I thought it would be an interesting read considering I am constantly trying to find my own niche and branding plan. While I found much of Neumeier’s ideas to be super thoughtful and interesting, I think that this book was geared more toward business owners than independent endeavors. It was still a great read, super short and quick, and I would highly suggest it for anyone else out there trying to define their brand!
Hunger
by Roxane Gay
When Roxane Gay was a young girl, she was raped by her boyfriend, and several of his friends. Unable to turn to her parents for consolation, she turned to food. By creating a larger mass out of her body, she felt that she was fashioning protection for herself. Hunger takes you inside Gay’s struggles, explains how her trauma led to a massive weight gain, and how it affected all areas of her personal life.
Every time I would scroll through Twitter, Roxane Gay’s name somehow appeared. After seeing it over and over again, I finally decided to do some research on her. As a writing professor, and avid LGBTQ acitvist, I thought maybe I would enjoy reading one of her books. I picked up Hunger at the bookstore around the corner from my office, and immediately got to reading. While, I am not dismissing Gay as a writer, I did struggle reading her book. I found that she was often very repetitive, and could have written her entire story in half the number of pages. Style aside, her story was extremely interesting and heartbreaking all at the same time.
Fitness Junkie
by Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza
Janey Sweet, and long time best friend Beau own a luxury, highly coveted bridal gown company, B. Traditional in sizing, maintaining a slim figure is all a part of the vision at B. After the deaths of her parents and a divorce, Janey manages to pack on a few pounds, but not without Beau noticing. In order for Janey to get her weight under control, Beau issues a mandatory leave of absence. During Janey’s time away from B, she gets sucked into a cult-like fitness practice. While Janey seemingly sheds her weight, she gains countless friendships, and a grip on reality.
A few weeks ago, I was reading WWD (Womens Wear Daily), and came across an article about this book. It sounded funny, thrilling, and had all of my interested wrapped up in 300 pages. I’m convinced that one of the main characters was created with inspiration from my spin instructor. If you read the book, you’ll know exactly what I mean. If you work out frequently and/or have ever taken a SoulCycle class, you WILL get a good laugh out of this book.
Modern Lovers
by Emma Straub
Okay, so I’m not actually far enough in this book yet to write any kind of summary, so click here to read a real synopsis. So far, I like it!! Anyway, my point is that you should go read it.
While I scroll through this, I can't believe that I actually read that many books this summer. It's kind of crazy, and I'm kind of impressed. Wow. Go me. And even though the summer is over, I am NOT going to stop reading, neither should you. If you haven't even started, now is your time. Let me know if you wanna start a book club.
xoxo,
Zoey Leigh