Summer Reading List (thus far)

1. Animal Farm by George Orwell

     I read this book in eighth grade, and I distinctly remember wanting to jump off a bridge (figuratively) when I finished it. That's just how messed up this book is. But I loved it. So when I stumbled upon a used copy in a bookstore in Perham, MN, I couldn't resist. Right now I'm halfway through, and I can hear my guts squelching inside of my stomach with every chapter. Long live Snowball and Boxer, forreal though.

2. Eastern Europe! Everything You Need to Know About the History (And More) of a Region That Shaped Our World and Still Does by Tomek Jankowski

     I don't even know if I capitalized that subtitle correctly. One can only ask why someone would want to read a nearly 600 page long book on East European history, but hey, I dig it. I was looking at the book's sheer mass and thought to myself, shucks, this could go very badly, but I checked it out anyway. And much to my surprise, I absolutely love it so far (I'm 83 pages in). This guy is hilarious. I don't know if it's just dork humor that losers like me could only find funny, if it's just because he kind of sounds kind of like me (or rather I sound like him), or a combination of both, but believe me when I say this book is actually pretty entertaining. Fun fact: Santa Claus was born in what is now western Turkey and destroyed pagan shrines before he got a gig as a Christmas mascot. Also, the first blue-eyed humans ever were from what is now Ukraine.

3. Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire by Judith Herrin

     I've been fascinated with Byzantium since the 9th grade. I decided to find a pretty looking book about Byzantium from the library and this is what I got. Also, I didn't want a book that just straight up summarized the history of the Byzantine Empire, but rather analyzed its history and culture. Cause nothing is cooler than Byzantine culture, am I right?

4. Reading Women: How the Great Books of Feminism Changed My Life by Stephanie Staal

     Being the feminist I am, and being the thrifty person I am, I grabbed this the moment I saw it in the $3.99 section at Barnes & Noble. And since I couldn't remember the last time I bought a brand new, unused book, it just looked all the more appealing. 

5. Zaatar Days, Henna Nights by Maliha Masood

     Another find in the $3.99 section at Barnes & Noble. I read the description and thought, this is definitely my kind of thing! The author, Maliha Masood, basically goes on a soul searching journey in the Middle East. And it sounds like a blast.  Who wouldn't want to camp out in the Sahara?

6. Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche 

     Good looking cover, good looking description, and it's Nietzsche. I got a beautiful hardcover copy from Barnes & Noble for like 7 bucks. It just feels nice. Anyway, I kind of see it as a Zoroastrian version of Siddhartha (I hope that didn't offend anyone for whatever reason). In other words, I hope to get a real kick/epiphany out of this.