writing

Yeah. We haven't really gotten around to this section yet.... Sorry. In the meantime, if you're looking for something to read, how about something off of one of these Summer Reading Lists? (If you've got your own summer reading list, either of books you want other people to read or books you'd like to read yourself, send it our way and we'll put it up.

The large pile of unread books on Matthew's desk includes:

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - for some reason there's actually two copies of this next to my desk. While I do wish that Rachel Cohn would suddenly decide to be my friend, I don't know why I need two copies of the book. Also, because of the font and my poor vision, the words "Nick & Norah's" on the cover keep looking like "Rick Moranis" to me.
VS Naipaul, A House For Mr Riswas
Lucy Fischer (editor), Imitation of Life
Cecily von Ziegesar, Only In Your Dreams - The first Gossip Girl book to say "created by" as opposed to just "by". And I hate how the covers are now just ads for clothes that aren't very expensive.
Muriel Spark, All The Stories of Muriel Spark
Erica Sheen and Annette Davison, The Cinema of David Lynch
Deborah Curtis, Touching From A Distance: Ian Curtis and Joy Division

Ariana White says:

i've been in the middle of reading dostoevsky's "the idiot" for a while now, but the summer will probably allow me to finish it. then i'll be reading "labyrinths" by luis borges and "cosmicomics" by italo calvino. and probably intermittent i ching consultations, but i'm not sure whether that counts, since it's really not something you read straight through. i would also recommend "the moon is a harsh mistress" by robert heinlein. and-also "the master and margarita" by mikhail bulgakov. and-also "middlemarch" by george eliot. and-also "the glass bead game" by hermann hesse.

Kate Schatz recommends:

Encyclopedia Vol 1 A-E (sorry to self-promote, but, um, i'm not actually sorry, it's really good summer reading!)
If you haven't read "To The Lighthouse" (v. wolff) you really really should. I specifically recommend driving to Beavertail Beach and sitting so that the actual lighthouse is JUST in your periphery, like maybe you can only see it when you turn your head slightly to the left and you're like "oh! a lighthouse! just like in the book!" No seriously, if you've never had a Wolff phase, now's the time. And if you already had a Wolff phase, like in college, then you should revisit it, cuz you probably didn't *really*get it the first time around
Totaly fucking awesome summer reading: "Feed" by MT Anderson. You cannot ask for anything more with this one. Stay tuned for the movie version, based on the screenplay I'm gonna write.
"We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson is one of my favorite books ever. In fact, anything by Shirley Jackson (yes, even The Lottery) is one of my favorite things ever
I know it's trendy and everyone's talking about it, but there's a reason: "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan is totally fucking awesome.
Heard her on Fresh Air yesterday and her memoir sounds like a scorcher (on opposite's day): "Now It's My Turn" by Mary Cheney. Nice title, Mary, really catchy. Basic thesis seems to be: Hey, my dad is awesome, he is so not Darth Vader, he even supports gay marriage!!! And President Bush is the only man who can lead us through this time of evil and terror. And I can't believe John Kerry mentioned me in the 2004 debates! omigod I am still sooo mad! And gays should definitely drink COORS! Hey boys, it's COORS TIME!
I do find that summer is a great time to reread books you "read" in high school, like "Grapes of Wrath" and "East of Eden" (do you guys know about my intense love for Steinbeck?). But not "The Scarlet Letter." I still think that shit's booooring.
Also, it's really quite worth it to reread childhood favorites. It's like watching Princess Bride or Splash and having that special "adult" appreciation for all the shit you didn't "get" as a kid, like camera angles and innuendo. You can get through Judy Blume's entire 10 + up oeuvre (disclaimer: i just looked up 'oeuvre' for sp. purposes) (I say 10 + up cuz Freckle Juice and The One in the Middle is A Green Kangaroo are for babies) in like a day. Granted, Superfudge takes the obvious-cake, but don't forget about the wonderful "Otherwise Known as Shiela the Great" and "Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself" and even "Deenie" and "Forever", which you can't let your mom know you're reading, and they make you feel kind of dirty in an awesome way. Wrap up the whole day with a tall glass of sherry and "Wifey", one of the dumbest, most entertaining books ever written. You THINK you know about gender in the 70s? Ha! Read this.
I feel like I'm on grown-up Reading Rainbow.
When I was a kid I would sit in my room for hours with a pile of books and a little red tape recorder. I would record myself doing "book reviews" just like the kids on Reading Rainbow. I'd make up names for myself, and different voices and accents, and I'd be like (in Southern drawl) "Hi, I'm Mindy Baker. Do you like caps, and salesmen? If you do, then "Caps for Sale" is the book for you!"
Total disclaimer: I write this dispatch from my sister's childhood bedroom, where all of *my* childhood books seem to be shelved (as my room became "guest room" long ago) and I am actually going to TAKE MY OWN ADVICE and grab a couple Blume's off the shelf, along with a Cleary or two, a Steinbeck, and even one of my vintage Nancy Drews and go read in the sun.

Khalil Huffman recommends:

recent favorites:
Kazuo Ishuguro "Never Let Me Go"
Hanif Kureishi "The Buddha of Suburbia"
Ali Smith "The Accidental"
David Mitchell "Black Swan Green"
George Saunders "In Persuasion Nation"
Nicole Krauss "The History of Love"
David Foster Wallace "Consider the Lobster" (though I still haven't gotten through the long-ass John McCain essay)
Vik Muniz "Reflex: A Vik Muniz Primer"
summer reading list:
Amy Hempel "Tumble Home"
William T. Vollman "Europe Central"
Christopher Sorrentino "Trance"
Emile Zola "Germinal"
Bret Easton Ellis "Glamorama"
Saul Bellow "Dangling Man"
Jennifer Egan "Look At Me"
Graham Greene "The End of the Affair"
J.P. Donleavy "The Ginger Man"
Haruki Murakami "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle"
Gary Lutz "Stories in the Worst Way"
plus lots of Martin McDonagh. And more Roth. And maybe Christine Schutt's last book. And no poetry. Fuck poetry.

Matt Everett recommends:

BEASTS OF THE EARTH by E. Fuller Torrey & Robert Yolken [infectious diseases, whoo-hoo!]
A DEVIL'S CHAPLAIN by Richard Dawkins [say 'eff u' to creationists in style!]
COLLAPSE by Jared Diamond [how things go wrong, big-time]
NAUSEA by Jean-Paul Sartre [despite its title, a mesmerizing and very funny read]
WATT by Samuel Beckett [a slog at times, but also the funniest book in the English language]
COMING THROUGH SLAUGHTER by Michael Ondaatje [from before he got famous and kinda sucky]

Tod Edgerton says:

This summer I want to read some Kant (seriously) and, finally, Proust.