Summer Reading...

Well now that there are about 3 weeks left of summer, I thought I would do a blog about the books that I would like to finish in that 3 week time period. I highly doubt I will finish these books by then, but my goal is to at least finish a couple before September 1st roles around because that is when my next class starts for my masters program. Once that happens, I am pretty much locked in my bedroom for 8 weeks reading only material for my class and writing paper after paper after paper. So if I want to finish any reading that is purely recreational, I have until September 1st to get on it.

So here’s the list:

1. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin
2. English by Wang Gang
3. China Dog by Judy Fong Bates
4. Crazy Love by Francis Chan
5. The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas by John Boyne

I am almost finished with Three Cups of Tea and should hopefully have that done by tomorrow. I have started Crazy Love, English and China Dog as well, but have a little bit further to go on those. And I have not yet started The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas mainly because I know it is a really sad and emotional book, and I have not yet brought myself to be able to start reading it. When I read a book, I get very involved and emotionally attached, so when I have a book that I know is going to have some heartbreaking moments set in WWII, it is really hard for me to read it, even though it has been highly recommended by my friend Laura. I am hoping to bring myself to at least start reading it by this week, but we shall see.

In general, I am very fascinated by stories set in other countries, primarily because I love love love learning about other cultures. I read The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and The Bookseller of Kabul last year and I couldn’t put them down. The stories were really good, but on top of that, it was like a window into a culture that I do not know much about: the Middle East. That is what prompted me to read Three Cups of Tea. I had seen it in the bookstore for several months and finally decided to buy it a month ago. It is about an American named Greg Mortenson and his desire to build schools for boys and girls in Pakistan. His parents were Christian missionaries in Tanzania when he was a child and he didn’t move to the States until he was in junior high or high school. He eventually got into mountain climbing and that is what lead him to Pakistan…he wanted to climb K2. Anyways, the book is fantastic and many times throughout it I have been completely overwhelmed by Greg’s ambition and dedication to his mission of peace through building schools. I love his heart for the people of Pakistan. I love that he just blended in with them and lived as they lived, instead of complaining about how dirty or different things were there. His love for the people is contagious, and I wish that it was something more Americans and Middle Easterners could have for each other.

English and China Dog are both about Chinese people and culture, which struck my interest because my sister and eventually her husband lived in China for quite some time and they both adored the Chinese. I wanted to read these stories to get a glimpse into their culture. English is about a Chinese boy and his English teacher and I am very excited to read this book, because that is exactly what my sister did…she was an English teacher to Chinese students! So far the book is very interesting and if it turns out to be a good read I will pass it on to her. China Dog consists of several short stories about Chinese immigrants who moved to Canada and each story, in some fashion, also involves Chinese run laundry mats. In fact, the author herself was born in China, eventually immigrated to Canada as a child, and grew up in Chinese laundries too. From what I can tell at this point, the short stories are stand alone stories and do not relate to one another, other than they are about Chinese immigrants in Canada someway connected to a Chinese laundry mat. So far it’s really good.

Crazy Love by Francis Chan, is the book that my small group is reading. We started it a few months ago, but kinda went on hiatus for the summer because everyone was off on vacation at random times throughout June and July. But now we are back on track and should have it finished in the next couple weeks. This book is absolutely amazing and I recommend and challenge everyone who believes in Jesus to read it. In a nutshell, it is about having radical faith and love for Jesus…to basically be obsessed with Him. I love this book, and it is very challenging and convicting and I am grateful for that.

So that’s it….my recreational reading list for the remainder of the summer and probably a little bit into the fall. I absolutely love to read, and I greatly enjoy these little breaks in between classes to squeeze in some reading that I actually want to do.

--Carissa