Summer Reading Recap

Remember this post? Well, let's have a little summary on how far I have gotten (some other books have snuck in under the radar as well):

- The Road, Cormac McCarthy: super excited to read this; this is McCarthy's latest book (2006, No Country for Old Men was before this book in 2005, and this won the Pulitzer for literature); in my opinion, McCarthy is the reigning great American writer
READ: I very much enjoyed this book. McCarthy writes very succinct short sentences which I like (none of Faulkner's page-long sentences). Definitely worth reading. Oh, and apparently they're making a movie out of this one as well with Viggo Mortenson as The Man (Click here for the trailer)
- A Lesson Before Dying, Ernest Gaines: summer reading book that I never read
READING: I haven't read it all so I can't comment yet, I'm about halfway through. So far I can't get over how angry Grant Wiggins is.
- The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, David Wroblieski: Oprah's latest book club book; I am a big fan of Oprah's Book Club because whoever picks these books does a bang-up job -- Opes introduced me to Joyce Carol Oates of whom I'm a huge fan (We Were the Mulvaneys is one of my favorite books)
NOT YET READ: Opened the book up and read the first page and it seemed pretty catching. It's still on the list.
- A Map of the World, Jane Hamilton: the story of a family after an accidental drowning of a 2-year old (so, light reading, obviously)
READ: Pretty good. Definitely wouldn't read it if you're looking for a climactic ending, though that might be the point of the ending, not to get too philosophical. Still, my favorite book for family meltdowns is still We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
- Julie & Julia, Julie Powell: the book about the woman who spent a year using all of Child's recipes (the movie is coming out in August with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams) -- looking forward to this one hopefully before the movie!
READ(!): Very good and very snarky. You really get a feel for Julie Powell's personality through her writing and her descriptions of her cooking are really great (the part about the marrow gave me the shivers a little though).

Also on the READ list:

- The Blue Bistro, Elin Hildebrand: Loved her description of Nantucket. Great beach read. Loved it so much I've requested another of her novels, Barefoot, from the library which will hopefully be ready soon!
- The Legal Limit, Martin Clark: Lame title. About a man who helped his brother cover up murdering a local man and its repercussions.
- The Last Summer of You and Me, Ann Brashares: the first non-young adult novel from the author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Still a bit teenager-y, but that habit is probably hard to break.

To read:

- The Invisible Wall, Harry Bernstein: suggested by an avid reader (Hi Mrs. Parker!) and is a memoir about the "invisible wall" that separated the Jewish Families and the Christian families in a small English town in the early 1900s. Still on request from the library.
- The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
- OneL, Scott Turow: never read it before going to law school but thought I'd give it a whirl after finishing my first year (hindsight is always 20/20 right?)