By Class of "84

June 29, 2007 9:50 AM | Link to this

The summer of my senior year I was assigned Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I feared the book based on its reputation as a hard one, and got the Cliffs notes just in case. I read the entire book on a pool float, floating in the water for an hour or two a day. My Cliffs Notes were beside me, and I only referred to them after I read a chapter, to clarify anything I didn’t quite get. Rather than finding the book to be boring like I had expected, I found it to be a moving, beautiful, haunting tale of sin and redemption. A highly recommended read for high school students, and everyone!

By Fulton County Mom

June 29, 2007 10:28 AM | Link to this

As a vorocious reader I consume books every chance I get…lunch, lines at the bank, doctors offices, late night…it doesn’t matter I read.

Still there is something to being able to kick back in the sun and read. Hopefully, my children are getting it as we do summer reading each night before dinner or bed.

For several summers, the latest Harry Potter book has been on my MUST list. This July is no different on that aspect.

Other summers have included: romance (Roberts, Devreaux, Krantz), Marines/CSS (WEB Griffin), David Baldacci and Brad Meltzer for the Washington crowd. Gone With the Wind, To Kill a Mocking Bird, and Watership Down were HS reads.

mmmmm……just think about it makes me want to plan a reading vacation!

By jct

June 29, 2007 10:41 AM | Link to this

Like FCM, I am waiting for the seventh Potter book this summer. I am reading the entire series in anticipation for the book. I can’t wait. Twenty more days.

My favorite memory in summer reading is from 1987. I was reading Stephen King’s Pet Cementary. I was teenager working at a beach in Connecticut reading the book during my breaks. One evening my friends decided to scare me by sneaking up on me while I was reading. It was dark and they got me good. I must of jumped 20 feet in the air. When we talk about that summer, they all still remember how they got me.

By RV

June 29, 2007 11:33 AM | Link to this

My fondest memory of summer reading goes back to the summer between 6th and 7th grade. My brother and I would spread a blanket out on the lawn, in the shade, with our piles of library books, and spend the whole afternoon reading.

By Angie

June 29, 2007 12:51 PM | Link to this

I’m so glad I’m not the only voracious reader out there. Most of my friends aren’t huge readers like I am.

As a child, I loved the summer reading programs at the library and always read more books than required. Today, I look forward to vacations because I can read with abandon. I can stay up all night reading if I want to because I don’t have to be at work the next morning. :-)

By Maria

June 29, 2007 1:41 PM | Link to this

I also have fond memories of the summer reading program at the library. My mom would take my sister and me to the library, and we’d walk out with more books than we could comfortably carry. When I got to the age that I could read novels, I loved to sit down with a new one in the early afternoon and not stop reading until it was time for dinner.

This year, I’ve been writing a novel. It takes up most of my free time, and I’m so glad to be almost finished with draft 3. When it’s done, I’m going to take a whole month off from the project and catch up on my reading. I’m daydreaming about doing a 48-hour reading marathon — a whole weekend in July filled with nothing but books.

By Otha

June 29, 2007 2:00 PM | Link to this

* GO MARIA!* Good luck having your book published! I will release my third next year and, although I’m nowhere near being famous or anything, it’s a very, very rewarding experience. And tons of fun too. ; )

By fer

June 29, 2007 2:56 PM | Link to this

While I loved school as a child, I loved summers more because I had more time to READ! One of my favorite authors was Lois Lenski; I just loved to read about children in different areas of our country. Anyone else remember her?

I’m happy to say that I am still a voracious reader; I have passed the habit on to my children and am now starting on my grandchildren.

By lawyerdaggett

June 29, 2007 2:58 PM | Link to this

One year when I was really broke, I bought a book on clearance to read while on vacation at the beach. It was called “Fup Duck.” I must have looked like an idiot laughing my a** off on the beach. I laughed until I cried.

By Toody Mouse

June 29, 2007 5:24 PM | Link to this

I also have fond memories of the summer reading programs at the public library. I also spent summers with my grandmother in a small town in South Carolina. I could walk to the library on my own. I loved the musty smell of the books, plus the library was AIR-CONDITIONED! I loved Nancy Drew, Homer Price, and Henry Reed, Inc. It’s a lovely feeling to have a stack of books waiting to be read.

By Toody Mouse

June 29, 2007 5:25 PM | Link to this

I have fond memories of the summer reading programs at the public library. I spent summers with my grandmother in a small town in South Carolina. I could walk to the library on my own. I loved the musty smell of the books, plus the library was AIR-CONDITIONED! I loved Nancy Drew, Homer Price, and Henry Reed, Inc. It’s a lovely feeling to have a stack of books waiting to be read.

By Class of '84

June 29, 2007 6:18 PM | Link to this

Hi- I’m the one who wrote the first post about Crime and Punishment, and I am delighted to see so many folks talking fondly about libraries. You see, I am a librarian, and I am a little alarmed that more and more people think they can get everything the want or need on the web. There is still a time and a place for reading a nice paper book on a pool float…just don’t drop it in the water!

By fk

June 29, 2007 6:20 PM | Link to this

I, too, love to read. My fondest memories bring me back to childhood. One summer, my friend and I traded Nancy Drew books. Several afternoons a week, we simply would share the hammock, one at each end, and read. Talk about lazy days of summer! Heading to the beach Sunday…tomorrow I’ll hit the book store….

By sandy

June 29, 2007 7:20 PM | Link to this

My favorite summer reading moment happened about 10 years ago…I escaped the summer heat of Atlanta and headed to Cape San Blas, Florida. Along about mid-morning every day, I headed down to the beach with a small cooler of my favorite brew, a beach chair that would allow me to sit just within reach of the water that washed over my feet, and a copy of (appropriately enough!!)Pat Conroy’s new book for that summer, “Beach Music.” When my children got hungry, I went in and cooked for them. Otherwise, I was engrossed in that wonderful book for the better part of a week. I think it was the best week of my life!!!

By deidreNC

June 30, 2007 7:36 AM | Link to this

pat conroy has the best ‘summer’ reading…i wish he’d write another huge book…i have the new penny Vincenzi (the 4th in her latest trilogy—-those are sooo great…i was given the book as a birthday gift in may and still havent cracked it…im waiting for the perfect time to just sit and read it until im done…all in one sitting lol

By Hanako

June 30, 2007 9:12 AM | Link to this

As a HUGE Harry Potter fan, I will be indulging once again in an HP marathon of all 6 books before the seventh and final book “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” is released in 20 days. As a child, I was almost never without a book in my hand, but my favorites were Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, and as a young adult, Stephen King. The very first book I ever stayed up all night to read was “The Stand” and it remains one of my favorites today.

By ChrisD

June 30, 2007 6:02 PM | Link to this

When I was 14, I read Pet Sematary (sic) by Stephen King. I woke up three nights straight in a cold sweat, and it was because of the heat.

By ChrisD

June 30, 2007 6:03 PM | Link to this

When I was 14, I read Pet Sematary (sic) by Stephen King. I woke up three nights straight in a cold sweat, and it wasn’t because of the heat.

By Jen

June 30, 2007 11:36 PM | Link to this

Maria, if you live anywhere near Little 5 Points in Atlanta then you need to check out Charis on Euclid Ave. It’s a feminist bookstore. Don’t let that scare you…the word feminist has gotten a bad rap lately. However, Charis has a monthly Young Women’s Writer’s group (look it up in Access Atlanta) for teenaged girl writers. I am guessing you’re a teenager. It might be a good way for you to be around other young women writers.

If you’re not a teen, then they also have a regular Women’s Writers Group.

In any event, good luck and have fun writing…and reading!

By Winnie

July 1, 2007 1:52 AM | Link to this

I’ve loved to read for as long as I can remember. I remember being annoyed in junior high that we were only allowed to spend one study hall a week in the library. I have many favorite memories, but a few years ago I enjoyed “A Prayer for Owen Meany” while at Cocoa Beach. My daughter had read it for school and I just loved it.

By Winnie

July 1, 2007 2:03 AM | Link to this

I’ve loved to read for as long as I can remember. I remember being annoyed in junior high that we were only allowed to spend one study hall a week in the library. I have many favorite memories, but a few years ago I enjoyed “A Prayer for Owen Meany” while at Cocoa Beach. My daughter had read it for school and I just loved it.

By jc

July 1, 2007 8:50 AM | Link to this

Anyone remember those little books back in the 60’s that were about 7 inches square, mostley for guys.

By Good dawg

July 1, 2007 2:04 PM | Link to this

My favorite summer reading memory is the July afternoon my girlfriend threw down her book, said, “Man, this is boring. Let’s go to bed.” And then followed a marathon session of lovemaking. I love to read, but that’s my favorite reading memory.

By laurie g

July 1, 2007 5:13 PM | Link to this

When I was in upper elementary school, I got The Yearling out of the library during summer break. To me, it was an ENORMOUS book, and I wasn’t sure I could finish it. I was pretty intimidated, but I did end up finishing it (and enjoying it too).

My family always spent a week each summer camping, and I remember distinctly reading that book during a rainstorm, snug and safe in the top bunk with raindrops on the roof over my head. It was very cozy.

So far this summer, I’ve finished The Emperor of Ocean Park, The Covenant, and various short stories and nonfiction reference. I’m waiting for Harry Potter…

By diane.s.

July 1, 2007 9:53 PM | Link to this

Last year I while at the beach,I read ‘Marly’.It is a true story of about a dog.I stay on the beach,and I read every chance I got.At the beginning of the week,I was laughing out loud.By Thursday,I was crying….Such a good book !

By MOT

July 1, 2007 10:03 PM | Link to this

Reading! My favorite topic!! Living in Germany on an American base in the 60’s cemented my love for reading. With no English TV, I came to enjoy radio mystery shows and the American Library. It was within walking distance and I would walk once a week, tote home at least a dozen books, as a 10 and 11 year old, it made for excitement for me! I would fix me some tea, a sandwich and go close myself in my room and read and not come up for air unless made to. The Little Princess, Secret Garden, Beverly Cleary books, and so many of the classics. I would save my babysitting money (35 cents an hour!!!) to buy myself the latest Nancy Drew mystery as well.

Now, 30 + years later, having gone back to college has taken away my freedom to read what I want when I want so summer reading time is more valuable than ever in between terms!

Three Weeks With My Brother (non-fiction Nicholas Sparks…highly recommend it)

Blue Highways and River Horse (William Least-Heat Moon——highly recommend it)

Onions in the Stew and The Egg and I (Betty McDonald….lots of fun non-fiction by author who developed the story for Ma and Pa Kettle old tv series)

Marley and Me (great dog story)

Every Breath You Take (rivetting by Ann Rule crime writer)

A Man Named Intrepid (true WWII story of the spying etc that went on in WWII that saved U.S. and Britain and others free countries from Germany overtaking the world—-intense and the best spy material you will ever read!)

I could go on and on, these are just some highlights.

I am currently reading Complications: medical non-fiction it is very well done and very enlightening.

and 1492, the REAL scoop on native civilizations before Columbus of both Americas…very interesting.

For my frivolous non-thinking entertaining reading—-55 Acres and a Poodle I just finished and Crepes of Wrath.

One I will read next Sex Lives of Cannibals.

Another favorite memory comes from the 25 summers of making the weekly trip to the library with my kids to let them pick their own stacks and taking them home and everyone snuggling up with a pillow and a snack to read. To the reader who remembers Lois Lenski…..YES I do too! The series of books she did of the Little FAmily and the Little Policeman, etc were some of my kids favs. I loved her so much too as a mom reading them to kids, her drawings are so simple and endearing, my husband found me her biography and it is one of my treasured books on my bookshelf!!!

A very favorite memory are all the summers I read a book to my kids as they grew up and then the corresponding activity we did to celebrate the end of the books:

Where the Red Fern Grows (We visited the town of the author) Winnie the Pooh (complete book) (We had a party in the 100 acre woods) Mouse and the Motor Cycle (Each of them found motor cycles under their beds) Old Man and the Sea (we went to the beach and they got to go fishing for the first time there) Rifles for Watie (we toured the local civil war museum) etc.

One thing that is making this a memorable reading summer for me is that as a grandmother of 11 readers, I have formed my Grandma’s Summer Reading Club. They each got a new book, a chart to add colored dots to form a bookworm for each book read. They joined by filling out the post card and sending it back to me with their goal. In August they will send the other postcard telling me if they met their goal and they will get a prize. I included my goals in their information to them and will report back to them as well. So far I have heard nothing but wonderful fun comments from the grands, so I think we have a new reading tradition.

It is fun hearing about y’all’s memories and recommended reading. Thanks for sharing!!!

Happy Summer Reading Y’all!

By sharon

July 2, 2007 8:23 AM | Link to this

One summer when I was in high school I read Flowers in the Attic and about five of Danielle Steele’s novels. I love reading. I also read Helter Skelter. After reading that book, I woke up in a cold sweat for several nights.

By Stacy

July 2, 2007 2:56 PM | Link to this

This summer I am reading Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer. Very intense look into the history and violence of the Mormon religion. Good read.

• Stacy: http://www.about-atlantaga.com/

By richard

July 10, 2007 3:14 PM | Link to this

I did not buy the I-Phone. I am one of those who are waiting until the price reduces. I feel that all of those people who were waiting in line, are people who want to say that they were the first ones who got the phone just to be noticed.

By BY TFZ

July 13, 2007 3:03 PM | Link to this

This summer I am reading Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him, a great spoof on the New York art world. Looking for to the booksigning on July 26th.