{7QT} My Summer Fiction Reading List

Much to my pride and delight ;) I've been reading a lot this summer. Long summer days of reading are some of those glowing memories of my young girlhood -- a glass of something cold, bare feet, a stack of books and no sense of the passage of time.   Although, I definitely can't get that exact kind of reading back -- (someday?) --I am finding, once again, that reading is definitely a habit that I can maintain or lose.  I can make time for it if I try . . . at least in the summer, when the schedule is lighter! 

Here are the fiction books I've read so far this summer. 

 

1.  The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells

This is one of those classics that I've always planned to read someday.  It's a old-fashioned science fiction adventure with a clear prophecy of social doom.   In fact, it was one of the books that started the science fiction genre altogether.  I believe I enjoyed the idea of reading "a classic" more than actually reading it. :) It is, however, a fast-paced adventure and contains a strong sense of wonder that I liked.  Also, I found the language to be very evocative, especially as Wells writes of the planet Earth's dying years. 

2. Voice in the Wind  by Francine Rivers

I love historical fiction, and I love the early Christian time period and so I enjoyed this book.  I found the story compelling, if slightly ordinary -- but then, what is more compelling or more ordinary than the light of Christ and His followers pitted against Evil and those in its thrall?  I struggled a little with overly sappy prayerful-ness (can't think of a better phrase) of Hadassah, the heroine, and the somewhat simplistic or shallow theology (and psychology) of non-Catholic Christianity.  

I have also read the second book in the Mark of the Lion series, Echo in the Darkness, although not As Sure As the Dawn yet.

3. Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee

Ted Dekker writes really teenager-y books on the one hand, and on the other hand I found myself thinking, multiple times while reading that if this series (the second book, Mortal in particular) was made into a movie it would be R-rated for horrible blood and gore!  This book, like others of his, is so fast paced, full of plot twists and life-or-death stakes.  The authors unabashedly dive into grappling with BIG questions, like What does it mean to be human?  Do emotions make us more alive?  What does it mean to give your life so someone else may live?  What is the purpose of death? What does it mean to love, to have power, to be fully alive? and many more questions.  It is an intense and very strange allegory for (Protestant) Christianity and the battle of good against evil.  The authors take the truth that it is Blood that gives us Life and spin this amazingly weird, and literally bloody, story. 

I have also read, the sequel, Mortal.  The third book is called Sovereign.

 

4. Shroud for a Nightingale by P.D. James 

I love P.D. James and I love murder mysteries.  Her characters are so complex, not stereotyped at all, as this genre's characters can be.  Her settings are hauntingly beautiful and the murders chilling.  And I might marry her protagonist if he was real. This is the 4th in the Adam Dagliesh series.  

 

5. Destination Unknown, by Agatha Christie

This is was a re-read for me, because nothing says summer reading from my teenage past like Agatha Christie!  This book has neither of her normal detectives.  It reads like a spy story, with all the cool components of  mysterious foreign places, the menace of the Iron Curtain, plane crashes, secret compounds and undercover identities.  So fun.

6. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

I was fascinated by this true story!  Granted, it was kind of in the I-can't-look-away-from-his-train-wreck kind of way, and I was likely reading it with my mouth actually open.  The author tells the story of her life without interpreting or psycho-analyzing any of the characters in the story, who, of course are all real people.  Her life is amazingly awful, but as she writes of the tragedy and pain, with a equal hand she includes the fun, the pathos, spirit of adventure and an undercurrent of human resilience that is, for me, truly a testimony to God (although, she does not speak of Him).  Her accepting and truthful way of looking clear-eyed and unashamed at her past gently points my heart towards an examination of grace in hardship, although this idea, again, is not actually spoken of by the author.  I find myself still grappling with the issues raised in this book (and sometimes even wondering why I liked it!) and yet I cannot help wanting to share it with someone else, so it can amaze them too.

 

7. What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarty

My other summer reads haven't been ones that would be universally liked by everyone, whether because of genre or taste, but I can't imagine anyone (any woman) not liking, or at least being touched somewhere in her heart by this book.  It is my very favorite from this list.  I read it cover to cover, all 423 pages, in one day! (It was an extremely serendipitous day in which everyone occupied themselves contentedly!) The premise of meeting, through a decade of memory loss, a younger, simpler version of yourself and what that would mean in all its complexities is a really intriguing one.  I found myself closing the book in the late afternoon and feeling so happy and grateful for all the wonderful people and memories and moments in my life.  There is so much to talk about in this book and so many lovable people and their stories!  And there is a quote at the end that I loved, but I can't share it because it will give away the ending.  So, you will just have to read it.  You will be so glad you did.

Here are some thoughts by a wiser woman than I about the book, if you've read it already.

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