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Suggested summer reading list for grad student with summer off?

Just give me five to read and why they are good. I kind of a Rennisance chick, so variety is the spice of life. So many good choices. My last summer was a little too philisophical so I think I will pass on on the Kant, Socrates, and Aristotle, and Marx. Monitorhead, I will read them all, but you got 30 points from me to day. I just discovered Chris in August. Cut me some slack. I own two I haven't read. I will probably read the Attwood. Meglomaniac- I have three of those books and can't remember a darn thing from them--since this is free reading I think you will be my winner. Can you come by and shoot the leaf blower at me while I am reading for kicks? JuJuBean, I can't afford Vegas this year. About the only Vegas I will get is in and INXS song. Don't like Beowulf. It brings up bad memories of my senior year in high school. Beowulf is not my buddy--got it Mr. W.?

Public Comments

1. Marx's Capital (everybody needs to understand the basic concepts of Marxism, even to argue for or against it) Development as Freedom, A. Sen, very interesting, new concept on how people achieve freedom, very against world bank and IMF policies. Moro's Utopia, very entertaining and advance for its time, a classic. Kerouac's on the road, chill out! and 100 years of loneliness (i guess that is the translation for Garcia Marquez book, excellent by the way)
2. 1) The Wind-up Bird Chronicle, by Haruki Murakami 2) Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts 3) Sleeping in Flame, by Jonathan Carroll 4) If The River Was Whiskey, (short stories) by T.C. Boyle 5) I, Lucifer, by Glen Duncan Might I also suggest that you read the two Christopher Moore books you haven't read? Shame on you. Oh man, you wanna know why they are all good, as well? Um, trust me...there all not merely good...they are EXCELLENT, will that work?
3. Read the series called the circle by Ted Dekker, First one is called Black, second one is called Red, and third is called White. It's full of action, deep meaning and suspense, good characters and great story. The 3rd book would be by Anne Rice called The Vampire Lestat, kind of an erotic thriller, with a good plot and characters. Then I would read Clive Cusslers Atlantis Found.Great action and suspense with some real history thrown in.
4. Definitely I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe. A description of college life through the eyes of a freshman (freshwoman?) from a rural area, a student athlete (more athlete, less student) and a frat guy. Sunday Times: Includes wonderful set pieces that reflect America's continuing social meltdown
5. Demon Haunted World by carl Sagan (tells you where in our beliefs we go wrong with examples from past and present - and discusses how we ought to overcome these limitations) Das Capital by Karl Marx (How capitalism has spawned class and struggle for equality. For me, it has allowed to view everyday situations in a different light such as women's rights which are favoured to get women in to capitalistic productive machineray rather than as a moral position!) Astounding Days by Arthur C. Clarcke (how on earth did he ever got to get there and lots of interesting bits on hostory etc.) Annotated Alice by Martin Gardner (Maths, fairy tale, history chess and more.......) A Handmaid's Tale by Margret Atwood / The Outsider by a. Camus (the system is indifferent! and we are all working towards our own damnation. Good read)
6. my top five: 1. Dean Koontz- The Taking- Freaking Awesome!!!!! scary, suspenseful novel with a twist at the end. had me sleeping with a nightlight. -religious undertones 2. Garth Nix-Sabriel. Good sci-fi book with a female heroine, and lots of action, deeper meaning and rich imagry. 3. Nevada Barr, "a Superior Death"- her heroine, Anna Pigeon, is a national forest ranger who solves crimes. well written and a page turner! 4. "What Einstein Told his Cook" i don't know the Author. - a book about science and cooking. neat stuff about kitchen science, the author dispells myths such as adding salt to water to make it boil faster. and gives you the reasons why things happen like they do. Suprisingly easy to read, and humerous. 5. The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy, By Anne Rice writing as A.N.Roquelaure, Erotic series, very intense but entertaining, and original. first "The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty", The continuation of the Sleeping beauty story in true anne rice fashion. be prepared, it is very erotic, graphic and HOT! i highly reccomend.
7. kierkegarde/hegel,kant;berkeley,hume,steele and addison;rene descartes;thomas aquinas,marcus aurelius,plato and aristotle;socrates;martin buber.....and as a special treat:the ramayana and the perfumed garden.....between the breaks of more serious matter!!
8. The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova: thrilling, a little bit scary at times, definitely gripping, and an intelligent read (not a typical horror paperback) - about the real Dracula Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer: narrator is hularious as he cannot speak English well. History of Nazi occupation heartbreaking, but it is not the majority of the story. Movie is good too. The Dogs of Babel - Don't know if you like dogs, but this is a great read regardless. A mystery, of sorts, about a man's wife's death. Only his dog saw it, now he wants to teach her to speak. Very good. The Time Traveler's Wife - He gets whipped around time and space like nobody's business, so why does he always end up visiting his wife as a young girl? Very tender at the end - a great love story but not too hokey. Prodigal Summer - Barbara Kingsolver - Three stories in one, three narrators, one appalachian place. It's awesome how the stories are woven together. Enjoy!
9. Now is a time you get to relax. So i suggest some wonderful mystery, intrigue, romance books. These are series so if you can't get enough, like me, there are more. They have everything in them, including some good "romance" scenes. Dead to the world, by: charlaine harris !Guilty pleasures, by: larell k. hamilton Enjoy
10. 1. The Black Arrow, by Robert Louis Stevenson- There's danger, adventure, love, heroics, Robin Hood-esque outlaws, and it's a fun story. 2. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury- Bradbury is one of few authors of American lit whose work is actually worth reading. Besides, most of his stuff, especially Martian Chronicles, has a vague, disjointed, detached, dreamlike quality about it that makes it interesting. 3. Othello, by William Shakespeare- Othello and Desdemona are good people, so the play is one of the most hard-hitting and depressing of all the Bard's tragedies (that I've been through.). 4. A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens- It's a classic story of love, sacrifice, and indiscriminate vengeance...features Sydney Carton, one of the greatest characters of all time. 5. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas- It's at least 3 stories in one (Abbe Fariah's, Edmond Dantes', and Haydee's). It's a story of betrayal, vengeance, and redemption. The bad guys are consummately evil Frenchmen, the women are all foxy, and the titular Count is smoother than my Pontiac's leather interior. 6. Bonus-The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge- Iron Maiden wrote a song based on it or Beowulf- It features Herorot(<--misspelled), the hall of the hart!
11. OK, Here's an eclectic reading list: Mishima - The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea. (a peek into the scary world of the Japanese mind) Kafka - The Trial (a peek into an even scarier world of beaurocracy gone mad) McMurtry - The Lonesome Dove (an Epic Western Action / Love story. 950 pages will never flow by so smoothly or satisfyingly) Voltaire - Candide (who says that philosophy can't be funny?) Dostoyevsky - The Idiot (Nietchze said that Dostoyevsky was the only one who ever taught him anything about Psychology and thats high praise from another megalomaniac)
12. How to enjoy Vegas on a budget. How to enjoy the beach on a budget how to get drunk on a budget how to enjoy the weekends on a budget How to double your money on a budget. and 1 extra How to call a tipsy Taxi when drunk and on a budget. Enjoy your summer