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Thursday, July 9, 2015

Summer Reading with Katie Bolstad

This is the first summer in five years that I have not been in graduate school (because I graduated in December, hurray!) so my goal this summer is to read for fun. There are some new books I want to read and some favorites I want to revisit. 

I belong to two book clubs, the RRVWP Book Club and the Grand Forks Central Book Club, so the selections for July and August are new books I will read. They are: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and El Deafo by Cece Bell. There are also some new books coming out this summer by authors I have read before: The Wicked + The Divine Volume 2: Fandemonium by Kieron Gillen  and illustrated by Jamie McKelvie and Matt Wilson and Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton.

I plan to spend the rest of my reading time this summer with series that I have already read and LOVE. I started with the eight Anne of Green Gables books by L.M. Montgomery. I read Anne of Green Gables in elementary school and loved it.  It took me awhile to make it through the whole series (I got bogged down in books 4 and 5), but I eventually made it to book eight, Rilla of Ingleside, and it is by far my favorite of the series. It has been quite a few years since I read any of them, so rereading the whole series is how I want to start my summer. 

After Rilla I am going to reread the entire Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.  For anyone unfamiliar with the series, it comprises works of fantasy often compared to Tolkien's, but more contemporary. There are fourteen books in total, and all are between 600-1000 pages long. I read the first book in college after my brother recommended it to me.  Although at first I was doubtful, because I am not the biggest Tolkien fan and the Wheel of Time cover art is terrible, this was an instance where I followed the old adage not to judge a book by its cover. I was immediately drawn into the Wheel of Time world and the characters’ lives. I devoured the first book and the next nine before having to wait for the rest to be published, but the series is complete now. Some readers are put off by the length of this series' tomes, but I never want stories I love to end, so these books are perfect for me. My mom is also reading this series (and enjoying it) and is currently on book 12. My goal is to catch up to her this summer J.  If I have time after that (although I feel like my list is already pretty ambitious), I will revisit the Harry Potter series or The Host by Stephanie Meyer, also favorites.


--Katie Bolstad, Teacher Consultant and RRVWP Grand Forks Book Club member

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