Book Gluttony: Summer Reading Begins

My budget-imposed moratorium on book buying has ended, as I thought it would, in a furious spending spree on books, most at nearly full price. I held back for months and months longer than I thought I would be able to, however, [pats self on the back] so I feel okay about it all.

The first two books on the stack are my 13-year-old son's summer reading for school. Sorry, bub, but I paid for the books, so I'm reading them first.

I have never read any Tony Hillerman, so I'm looking forward to A Thief of Time, and yay! my son's also been assigned to read Laurie Halse Anderson's Fever 1793. All my blogging buddies have read and loved her book Speak, so I've been dying to read something by Anderson. Plus now I follow her on Twitter, and I like her style. And I happen to love books like this--historical and young adult and all about a plague--excellent!

I'm finally getting down to business and reading The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov, for my own self-imposed summer reading project. Thank you Matt (at A Guy's Moleskine Notebook), for kicking my butt to read this one.

No Great Mischief, by Alistair McLeod is one of those books that I happened upon in the blogosphere, and sadly, can't remember exactly which blog, so can't give credit where credit is due. Has this ever happened to you? I can only remember it happening to me once before, but it's very annoying. If you are the blogger who turned me onto this book, could you please let me know in the comments? Thanks. I appreciate it. My sieve-like brain thanks you, too.

Next up, The White Tiger: A Novel, by Aravind Adiga. Recommendation by my book-loving cousin-by-marriage. Man Booker Prize-winning book, too, which I'm always interested in.

Wandering Stars, by Sholem Aleichem, is my book group's next pick. We're trying to squeeze in one last meeting before we take a break over the summer. So I really had to buy this one (she says, with a guilty wince). It's newly reissued, and I think the cover is beautiful.

People of the Book: A Novel, by Geraldine Brooks, has been on my list for a really long time. Actually, it's been on my BookMooch list, and finally I successfully mooched it! Yes! So it's the only book I didn't pay for. And a beautiful hardcover copy, too, so I'm thrilled.

So, tell me, what are your summer reading plans?