summer reading list

i am finally done school. for the summer at least. i'm really looking forward to the next three months and all the exciting times they could hold! right now i have a stack of books waiting for me on the nightstand and i cannot wait to dive into them next week!

i think i have a pretty good collection going.

climbing the stairs by margaret powell

a continuation to her first memoir, this is a great peak into the daily life of a servant in the 1920's in london. written when she was in her 60's, mrs. powell is a wonderful story teller. i have to admit that i love downton abbey and edwardian england, so i can't wait to get into this one!

outlaw by susan johnson

everyone need a little smut in their summer time. and since i'm almost done all four seasons of true blood i gotta get my kicks somewhere. the woman at chapters has a special button that says she's the queen of romance and she told me this one was a page turner. i'm interested to see what happens between the 'infamous laird ravensby' and his captive elizabeth graham. all i know is there is a half naked man wearing a kilt on the front...

little old lady recipes

i'm really looking forward to cooking the old fashion way with buttermilk and lard...mixed in with the recipes are photos of cute little old ladies and hilarious quotes like 'don't wear dark lipstick. when it shows up on a man's collar, everyone is going to know it's yours.' thanks grams...

simple country wisdom

this isn't really a novel but i think home economics is a lost art. i wanna learn how to make my home more welcoming, how to wash and fold laundry properly (and how to hang it on the line...) don't get me wrong, i love my technology (i'm embarrassed by all the shit around me right now...computer, iPad, camera, tardis usb port...) but i'm really looking forward to stripping it down a little bit...

to marry an english lord by gail maccoll and carol mcd. wallace

i know, i know...again with the downton abbey. basically it's about a bunch of rich american girls that travelled to england to find a husband with a title. i'm intrigued...

birdsong by sebastian faulks

i'm starting to see a theme in the books i've picked out...this one is set in world war i and theres a love triangle and 'unprecedented horrors' and the added benefit that the bbc made it into a miniseries that i downloaded for when i'm done the book!

then again by diane keaton

diane keaton is one of those actor that i've always enjoyed but was never like super into (i want to watch annie hall, but i find woody allen obnoxious...) she writes about her mother and the journals she kept (85 in total). it's amazing to be able to glimpse into someone's private thoughts and to see the daily, little things that might seem so unimportant to most but important enough to them to write it down...

i'm with the band by pamela des barres

a groupie in the 60's and 70's this is the story of her travels and wheelings and dealing with musicians like mick jagger, robert plant and don johnson to name a few.

the company of the dead by david j. kowalski

this is for sure the odd ball of the group. a science fiction novel with an alternate history twist. a man saves the titanic from sinking and thus changes history so that america never enters world war i. then it gets weirder...jfk's nephew lives in present day america which is controlled by the germans on the east coast and the japanese on the west. crazy stuff...kinda stoked 

so, hopefully that will take me through the next three months. since we're buying a house this summer i have to find something that i can do that won't cost me a bunch of money. so stay tuned for a lot of posts! happy summer reading!