Summer Reading

After some recommendations and browsing the barnes & noble, i've acquired my list of books to read, even though it's incomplete. i was trying to avoid anything historical, political, any sort of educational, etc. as a symbol of no more college - yet i ended up with only 3 of the 6 being fiction. anywho. books books books:

The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University

And shockingly-- the unversity isn't BYU-- it's Liberty University, the largest Christian fundamentalist college in the US. The author transfers from an Ivy-league and writes about his experiences and the people he meets. The first few pages i read drew me in.

The Hunger Games
This is a futuristic dystopian novel compared to Farenheit 451, The Giver, Brave New World, Ender's Game, & the short story "the Lottery", & i loved all those. I actually bought this a few months ago but i haven't picked it up since it came in the mail, but i can't wait cause it's supposed to be verrry good.


In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom

From amazon: "This memoir is a journey into a complex world readers will find fascinating and at times repugnant. After being denied a visa to remain in the U.S., British-born Ahmed, a Muslim woman of Pakistani origin, takes advantage of an opportunity, before 9/11, to practice medicine in Saudi Arabia. She discovers her new environment is defined by schizophrenic contrasts that create an absurd clamorous clash of modern and medieval..." anyway, interesting.

Cannery Row

My mom called me the other day expressly to recommend this book. From Amazon: "...sentimental in tone while retaining the author's characteristic social criticism. Peopled by stereotypical good-natured bums and warm-hearted prostitutes living on the fringes of Monterey, Calif., the picaresque novel celebrates lowlifes who are poor but happy...Steinbeck knew and understood America and Americans better than any other writer of the twentieth century."


Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

This is the author who wrote "Stiff: the curious lives of human cadavers" which I enjoyed muchly. & who can resist a title like that??


Murder on the Orient Express

Agatha Christie is my guilty reading pleasure, i love her. Her books are so right out of the 1920s & 30s but it's fun & even though they were written almost 100 years ago i'm still not clever enough to solve the mysteries before she does.

That's what I've got so far. If you need me this summer, I'll be in Grandma Adams' backyard, reading on the swing. with lemonade and a bowlful of berries.

[the costco post, i forgot to make a title]

I am on a blogging spree this 2009 season...7 posts in january, 6 in february, 6 in march, and this is my 4th in april. vas ist das? anywho. i wanted to talk about how costco has some great free samples, which i didn't realize until today because we like to avoid shopping on saturdays like it's the bubonic plague. Today, however; a saturday; we found ourselves in costco. I sampled the following:

• soy nuts
• double chocolate cream pie
• jelly beans
• fruit snacks
• smoothies
• cheese
• vanilla soy milk

There was also an assortment of meats. We all know how i love a good assortment of meats.

Costco.

Summertime oh-nine

Before we leave utah later this summer, and as we'll be living closer to la ciudad de salt lake, there are myriad things i want to do.

• *EDIT #1* I now know what i want to do at the Salt Lake: bike ride around antelope island
• *EDIT #2* Hang out with meagan
• hike up to ensign peak again (it's a special place)
• i want to eat here. I love mediterranean/greek flavors & there are none that i know of in provo.
• Omar's Living Cuisine. Although it looks like the name was recently changed to Omar's Rawtopia. All raw food, nothing cooked over 105 degrees. Intriguing. I love veggies, herbs & falafel so this sounds delish.
• visit the Great Salt Lake, even though i don't know what i'll do when i get there. I've heard it's not all that Great, but the lake also intrigues me. It's so...vast.
  



• tour through the Beehive House, something i did years ago but this time i'll enjoy it more since church history is good times.
• Moab (not near salt lake, but one of my top 5 favorite places) i want to attempt biking the slickrock again, camp, walk across the double arch, and eat breakfast at jailhouse cafe
• i'll be in utah for pioneer day for the first time...surely something terrific happens on that day?
• run into sheri dew at the bountiful grocery store again (she was stocking up on christmas goodies last time)




• basically i'm not sure what else i want to do yet...but i don't want to move away and find myself saying, 'i wish i had done that when i lived in utah'. Oh and that reminds me...hiking mt. timpanogos...except i don't really want to do that, i just feel like i should. but no one i know who's climbed it came down saying, "oh boy that was fun, let's do it again!" so we shall see.