It’s been so nice and cool the past couple of days, it’s been kind of hard for me to put myself in a summer frame of mind. (Not complaining!) With a lot of rain in the forecast for the coming week, it’s a good time to get started on your summer reading. Anything special piling up on your nightstand?
I’m nearly finished with the “Kalevala,” the Finnish national epic (the first time all the way through for this Sibelius lover).
Then, just in time for the Fourth of July, I’ll be moving on to George Plimpton’s “Fireworks: A History and Celebration.” Supposedly Plimpton, in addition to being an entertaining writer, was a kind of pyrotechnical evil genius.
I may also finally get around to reading S. Weir Mitchell’s “Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker.” Or I suppose I could save it for the “America 250” celebrations in 2025. Set during the American Revolution, the book became one of the bestselling novels of 1898. My edition still has the Howard Pyle illustrations.
I’ll also want to bone up on my Vaughan Williams, in advance of this summer’s Bard Music Festival in August, including Eric Saylor’s recent book on the composer. For lack of a better title, I suppose, it’s called (wait for it) “Vaughan Williams.”
Somewhere along the away, I’ll also want to indulge in some good old-fashioned “boy’s adventure” stories, so perhaps it’s time to enlist with P.C. Wren’s Foreign Legion opus, “Beau Geste,” which has been adapted to film many times, but I’ve yet to read the book.
Too many others to contemplate. I’ve got stacks and shelves of books I will probably never read. Some of my most satisfying summer memories have been in tackling a great book. Lord, I wish I were a faster reader and didn’t waste so much time on the internet!
How about you? Is there a book you’d like to read on a rainy summer’s day, as opposed to slow-roasting, slathered in suntan lotion, on the beach?
