Summer Reading List: because for me, today is the first day of this glorious season of TIME.

Fact: Summer vacations are more for the teachers, than for hte students.
Fact: If summer vacation didn't exist, I would run out of all creative steam.
Fact: Without summer vacation, there's a chance I wouldn't love middle schoolers as much as I do.

Here's the summer reading list so far (and yes, I may have been compiling it since January). I am so excited to read without feeling guilty that I should be a) grading papers or b) getting more sleep.

1. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. See #2 for explanation.

2. Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. This has been the number one recommended book by all my reading friends. I just finished History of Love by his wife, Nicole Krauss and loved it. Apparently those who have read Foer didn't love Krauss as much. Also, those who read Everything is Illuminated didn't love Extremely Loud. My friend who has read Extremely Loud only loved it. Therefore, I am reading them in backwards order, with the hope of appreciating each one.

3. Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose. My other goal for the summer is writing. So. That makes sense. Also, this is the basis for how my department teaches writing. So it's fun+work at the same time. Yes!

4. Harry Potter y La Piedra Filosifal by JK Rowling. Harry Potter #1 en espanol. Trying to work on my understanding of my second favorite language.

5. HARRY POTTER 7! At first I was depressed about the series ending, but since I've been rereading them, I've realized how much I like them even more the second time through. Therefore, all is not lost, because I can transport myself to Hogwarts whenever I want and rereading is a beautiful thing!

6. Shadow Cities by Robert Neuwirth. Neuwirth lived in 4 of the biggest what we would call slums in the world and wrote about it.

7. Planet of Slums by Mike Davis. Thinking through the urbanization of the world, especially the developing world and what that means.

8. The Christian Imagination, edited by Leland Ryken. A collection of essays on the intersection of faith and creativity. This also goes along with writing goals for the summer.

9. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez. This is to be our read aloud for the fall about gang life. If I'm going to teach it, I'd beter read it.

That's it for now. Thoughts coming soon. Happy Summer!