i'm a totally delinquent human being. this is what i read in AUGUST. i barely remember august at this point.
where you go is not who you'll be, by frank bruni (this is a book that a colleague lent me - it's about the college admissions process, and spends a great deal of time trying to convince the reader that where you go to college does not define who you will be as an adult. i didn't learn a ton from this book (which maybe means i know things! huzzah!), but i agree with almost everything that he says. i have, in particular, several times now quoted this statistic (which i will now butcher) to parents of kids i work with: the bottom 10% of kids at a harvard, for example, have fewer leadership positions while in school, publish fewer papers, go on to grad school at a lower rate, make less money, etc. than the top 10% of kids at a "second tier" university. he's trying to say that a student might get more out of being the best at a "second tier" school as opposed to the worst at a "first tier" school. this is something i believe is probably true. in short: if you are involved in college counseling or have a kid about to go through the process, this is a worth-while read.)
landline, by rainbow rowell (i read this entire book in one day - the day before i started back to work in august. it was this glorious day in which i just lazed around the house, reading this book and then playing with ruby and then eating and around again. it's a few hundred pages but a super easy read, and i finished it that night while lying in bed. this book symbolizes what you can do in the summer - read a whole book in one day if you want to! if you haven't read anything by rainbow rowell, you should. she writes beautiful characters and interesting story lines. fan girl is the next book of hers that i have on my list!)
angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging, by louise rennin (this is a young adult book that was recommended to me by a friend…and it was mediocre young adult, which means you shouldn't bother. quick read, nothing wrong with it, just not worth the time when there are so many other great books out there.)
the martian, by andy weir (i loved this book! i'm totally charmed by the idea that the author self-published it on his website and then as an amazon kindle book, and then within three weeks of each other he got a real book deal and then a movie deal. he does an excellent job building tension and telling a believable science fiction story, and i didn't mind too much the slogging through of the science-y bits.)
mountains beyond mountains, by tracy kidder (i listened to this audiobook, and as evidenced by blog posts along the way here and here, i LOVED it. my friend other claire bought this book for me years ago, and i can't believe it took me this long to read it. paul farmer is an american doctor who devoted his life to health care in haiti, and tracy kidder wrote this book about his life and work. a poignant and meaningful story told by an author with a real talent for telling stories. this is absolutely worth putting on your "to read" list.)
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