Summer Reading List

by Brittany Geragotelis

When I was growing up, I was a book nerd. I spent all my life savings (up until the age of 15) on books. I had every single Christopher Pike book at one point (He was my favorite author. Come to think of it, I'd still love to meet him). I could sit down with a book for hours and just read. Getting lost in a book was my favorite thing to do. And surprise, surprise...it still is today.

photo credit: Dairy Queen

One of my best memories of summertime is of having a summer reading list. There was no schoolwork to get in the way of my pleasure reading and I had days on end to just plow through book after book. Our local Dairy Queen used to do this program where they encouraged summer reading. For every 10 books you read, you got a free ice cream. Your parents had to sign off on the books you read of course, and it was sort of an honor system thing, since we didn't have to write a book report or anything to prove that we'd actually read the books that were on the list (I doubt this would fly now).

Needless to say, I PLOWED through those free ice creams. At one point, I was averaging at least a book a day. I was Dairy Queen's biggest nightmare.

I miss those summers...making a pile of the books I wanted to read and picking them up one at a time. Now, as an adult, I just don't have as much time to read. I have a full-time job; I have other commitments I have to handle on a daily basis; I write books; I keep up this blog; There are so many TV shows and movies to watch. It's not as easy to shut out the real world for a day of reading.

But I'd like to get back to that.

So, I took a look at all the books that are on my shelf, just waiting to be read, and have vowed to have them read by September 1st. Here they are:

1. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
2. L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad
3. Watership Down by Richard Adams (This is a re-read, but it's been so long since I read it, it'll be like the first time all over again)
4. The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
5. Secrets of the Monarch by Alison Dubois
6. We are their Heaven by Alison Dubois
7. A Match Made in High School byKristin Walker
8. Getting the Girl by Susan Juby
9. Uncharted TerriTori by Tori Spelling
10. Practical Intuition by Laura Day

photo credit: Pinkberry

And I think that I'm going to treat myself to pinkberry after every book—just because. Who said I had to wait until I finished reading 10 of them to get a yummy reward? Don't we all deserve a little snack with our storytime?

5x5,
B.