Summer Reading

I remember getting summer reading assignments

while I was in high school.

Most kids usually were pissed they had to read,

but me being a writer, I didn't mind.

[Only the quizzes the first week back pissed me off.]

Now it seems that all us college students [and a few graduates]

are making up reading list of our own.

So, if you'd allow me,

I'd like to tell you what I plan on browsing. haha

First things first,

I'm reading my August Wilson plays.

He's my favorite playwright, possibly favorite author period.

I already owned Fences, Jitney, and the Piano Lesson.

And for Christmas, my sister got me

Two Trains Running, Gem of the Ocean, and King Hedley II.

I'm tryna convince her to buy me the last 4 for my birthday

so that I can read the whole Pittsburgh Cycle.

[Each of his 10 plays portrays blacks in a decade from the 20th century.]

Next, I'm gonna tackle some Chuck Palahnuik.

After I finally saw Fight Club last fall,

I borrowed the book from a friend and read it for winter break.

During my raid of things students were throwing out,

I came across two more of his books: Lullaby and Snuff.

So... I guess I'll be checking those out. haha.

Another thing I told myself I would do

is actually read the books I was supposed to read for classes,

at least the ones that interested me.

I mean... I was busy.

I skimmed most of them though. haha

But yeah, these books include:

Dante's Inferno - I'll eventually read the entire Divine Comedy

Kierkegaard's The Seducer's Diary - The title catches my attention

Ian McEwan's Black Dogs - About a divorce, but there's a dark secret according to the back cover.

Camus's The Plague - I started reading this; the language's a little difficult, but I like it.

There may be more added to this list as I clean my room and find books. haha

There are two books about race I really wanna read.

The first is Your Average Nigga: Performing Race, Literacy, and Masculinity by Vershawn Ashanti Young.

He spoke at my school last year and performed pieces from his book.

I bought it the same day and have been slowly chipping away at the chapters.

I like reading it on the train to make white people uncomfortable. haha

The second is Why are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum.

Some of you may remember my post from last fall that drew from this book.

A friend of mines has been raving about it since I started at Loyola.

So I finally bought it from the bookstore last semester.

I'll see what the hype is about this summer, I guess.

So that's about 13 altogether so far.

If I get through those in time,

I wanna go back and read some of my favorites

like Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns [abused children outside of the US make for great literature],

Yann Martel's Life of Pi [a kid, a tiger, and a boat? how can it get better?]

Nick Hornby's How to be Good [some of that good ol British humor],

Uzodinma Iweala's Beast of No Nation [this and Lupe's Little Weapon are synonymous to me],

Bernard Malamud's The Assistant [corner store story ftw],

and many more that I could least but won't, for time and space sake.

I feel as if reading this summer will give it some purpose,

besides working my job and partying every other night. haha

It'll make me feel smart.

I need to watch less bad TV anyway.

Besides, I'm a writer.

I need to learn what styles really help a reader connect to a book.

I'm tryna be on your reading lists in future summers to come.

[My blog does not count as summer reading; sorry. haha]

Word.