I'm assuming that almost every Dartmouth student (yes, that means you!) will be able to set aside at least a little time for that lovely habit which was ingrained in us as wee, over-achieving tykes and that we haven't been able to cut ever since: that addiction we refer to most affectionately as summer reading.
Thus, in lieu of a book review, I've decided to write my last column of the term as a guide to summer reading what you should be reading, when you should be reading it and why to help you extract the maximum benefit from your summer reading experience.
Step one: In the literary sense (but not the practical one), I start my summers out right: seven books in seven days. Yeah, that's right. You know what I'm talking about.
Since J.K. Rowling penned her last epic novel so, for like, two whole years now I've spent the first weeks of my summers curled up in a ball on my bedroom floor, sucking my thumb and re-reading the "Harry Potter" series in its entirety. You should do this too.
You should do this because, in addition to freaking out your parents, alienating your friends, scaring your pets and ensuring that you will remain highly unproductive (read: lazy) for the rest of the summer, it will enable you to respond to your friends' requests to hang out with things like, "Three Broomsticks or Hog's Head?" and "Yeah, I could really use a butterbeer!" You should do it because you'll laugh about these texts later, once the Potter-mania has subsided, and for a moment you'll all just be together like Ron and Harry and Hermione, even if you've been strewn across the country and now most of the time you're apart.
You should also do it because you can pretend you're still 11 and maybe next month that much-awaited letter will come in the mail. You should do it because you're just in college, really, and you still can. Life's not that serious, at least not yet. You still can be a kid if only for a little while.
Step two: By now, having finished the Harry Potter books and vicariously experienced a thrilling wizarding adventure, you should be suffering from cherished-childhood-book-series withdrawal.
This is a serious ailment, and the only remedy is to discover a new cherishable childhood book series and latch onto it with all you've got. May I suggest Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson" series? The books chronicle the exploits of a 12-year-old boy who is the spawn of the Greek god Poseidon and a mortal woman named Sally Jackson. The series is charming and engaging, and will be sure to fill your emotional void.
Plus, Riordan is prolific. On May 4, the author released "The Red Pyramid," the first installment in a new series about a brother and sister descended from Egyptian deities (do you note a trend?). The book includes such epic one-liners as "Well, colossal fail, Dad," not to mention "a near fatal attack with a spatula."
The book begins with a "warning": "The following is a transcript of a digital recording The author makes no claim for the authenticity of the recording. It seems impossible that the two young narrators are telling the truth, but you, the reader, must decide for yourself."
The narrative shifts between 14-year-old Carter Kane and his spunky younger sister, Sadie, with interjections in brackets when one sibling is not happy about what the other is saying ("Fine, Sadie. Call me the Carter-headed chicken. Happy?"). Mimicking sibling squalls perfectly, these bracketed asides alone are enough to make reading "The Red Pyramid" a worthwhile summer endeavor.
Step Three: Go to the public library. Now, I'm told that, contrary to popular belief, some of these are perfectly respectable. If that is the case with your local library, skip to step four. If you're like me, however, then your library is great for two things: acquiring trashy young adult fiction and "In Search of Lost Time" by Marcel Proust. Think these two don't go together? Think again.
My summer reading M.O. is to check out one long, supposedly edifying book and another I'm completely embarrassed to read. When the tough gets going with Dickens or Hawthorne, the trashy book provides a nice respite. ("Spirit Bound," the fifth installment in the Vampire Academy series, was released on May 18. Prepare to suffer some serious judgment from your librarian.)
Step four: For additional summer reading material, check out NPR.org and look at the books section on the Arts page. NPR puts out dozens of lists recommending everything from newly released must-reads to scintillating beach reads to the best books published the previous year. As an avid NPR stalker, I can attest that their suggestions unlike, perhaps, my own suggestions never disappoint.
