I threatened people earlier this semester to read. Now, instead of giving you a shmaltzy review of my year (sniff, sniff) I’ll just pass along a very short summer reading list of some of my more favorite works, organized by genre.

Happy reading!

LITERATURE

1. “Les Miserables” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” by Victor Hugo

Two sweeping works with engaging, multi-dimensional characterization, amazing settings and heartwrenching plots. Don’t be Disneyed.

2. “The Grapes of Wrath” and “East of Eden” by John Steinbeck

3. “Winesburg, Ohio” by Sherwood Anderson

The deceptively simple story that explores the complexity and paradox of small town life through the eyes of a perceptive protagonist.

4. “Ethan Frome” by Edith Wharton

Pick up this little work on a humid day and slip into a frigid New England and a life of unrealized potential. You won’t believe the ironic ending … fine storytelling.

5. “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Erich Maria Remarque

You never read the German perspective of World War I, but this classic is moving and insightful.

6. “Things Fall Apart” and “Arrow of God” by Chinua Achebe

This critically acclaimed Nigerian author writes fictional accounts of what happens to the Igbo people with the advent of European settlement and Christianity.

7. “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison

“Invisible Man” is one of the toughest reads I’ve ever encountered, but it is really a reward to have read this amazing work.

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY

1. “Roots” and “Malcolm X” by Alex Haley

“Roots” is the amazing true story of Kunta Kinte and his seven generations of descendants from Africa, through slavery and to present, painstakingly researched but brilliantly presented in this Pulitzer Prize-winning work. “Malcolm X” is just a great biography.

2. “This Hallowed Ground” by Bruce Catton

This man is the epitome of historical writing genius.

3. “Angela’s Ashes” by Frank McCourt

4. “Long Walk to Freedom” by Nelson Mandela

This autobiography is a stirring, flawlessly crafted account of the former president of South Africa, from his !Xhosa boyhood to how he sacrificed all for the freedom of the country he loves.

POETRY

1. Carl Sandburg

From “Chicago” to “The People, Yes” this talented artist has given us a realistic taste of Americana through the eyes of one who hates BS.

2. Robert Frost

3. “Spoon River Anthology” by Edgar Lee Masters

Inspired by the headstones in the local graveyard and the lore that accompanied them, Masters’ take on individual lives serves as a guide to living, dying and loving.

4. T.S. Eliot

NONFICTION

1. “Walden” by Henry David Thoreou

The original hippie thumbs his nose to the drudgery and mindlessness of civilization for wilderness, catharsis, truth and simplicity.

2. “Desert Solitaire” by Edward Abbey

This page-turning in-your-face reflection on man’s need for wild places, the problem of progress, and anarchy will make you laugh, cry and laugh some more while you gain appreciation for the earth.

3. “Facing Mount Kenya” by Jomo Kenyatta

More than anthropology, more than history, I really like this book for the disdain and condescension someone finally showed the colonial British.

4. “Consilience” by Edward O. Wilson

5. “Cultural Forces in World Politics” by Ali Mazrui

This is one of the neatest commentaries on the subject I’ve ever seen, and it’s extremely readable and humorously ironic.

6. “Africa: The Biography of a Continent” by John Reader

FICTION

1. “Snow Falling on Cedars” by Dan Guterson

If you liked “To Kill a Mockingbird” you will be quickly engrossed in this recent critically acclaimed winner of the Faulkner award.

2. “Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follet

If you don’t let a few steamy passages upset you, this family saga of cathedral building, knights and priors, murder and rivalry is a good read.

3. “The Shipping News” by Annie Prolux

4. “Trinity” and “Redemption” by Leon Uris

Even if you’re not a wee-bit Irish, you’ll appreciate these epic works about the struggle for Irish independence. Attractive male protagonists that speak with a brogue. OK. Good storyline, too.

Rachel Faber is a senior in Agronomy from Emmetsburg.