Summer Reading: A Lovely Memory of Warm Days and Good Books

As the days grow chillier and the sun sets sooner each night, I look back fondly on my summer reading — and, I have to say, it was pretty good. 

Below is a list of books I completed, the final book skidding in under the wire as the clock ticked down to autumn.

I did not like all of the books. In fact, I probably would not recommend Southern Gods or Poe's Children. (The former was more gory than Gothic, the latter too eclectic and scattered a vision.) I threw a couple of children's books into the mix, and more than my share of hefty tomes.

Here they are, the most recent at the top of the list.

1. Illusions
2. Ella Minnow Pea
3. Under New York  
4. The Firebird 
5. Catwings 
6. Catwings Return
7. Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings
8. Jane on her Own: A Catwings Tale
9. Southern Gods
10. Unnatural Creatures
11. Dreamfever
12. Poe's Children
13. The Tarantula in My Purse and 172 Other Wild Pets
14. Salt Sugar Fat
    
15. The New Yorker Book of Cat Cartoons
16. The Charles Addams Mother Goose
17. If I Stay
18. Inferno
19. The Ocean at the End of the Lane
20. Let the Great World Spin
21. Smut
22. Next
23. Every Day
24. Life After Life
25. Up the Down Staircase

I also half-finished four other books (Steve Jobs, The Winter Sea, The Light Between Oceans and The Language of Flowers), which I will count as two books. (Hey, it's for a good cause, and not just my ego!)

Yes, I realize very few were on my original list, but I can live with that. Those others will be read in good time. (Never soon enough, but in good time nonetheless.) 

Also, I know a few were juvenile fiction, but they were surprisingly substantial. I mean, Ursula K. LeGuin — 'nuff said.

That gives me a total of 27 books — and $135 for the Main Street Child Development Center, a fabulous program for children in Fairfax, Va.

I also donated three books to the Fairfax County Public Library:

• A Walk in the Woods
• Mythology
• The End of Your Life Book Club

I met Will Schwalbe at a book club conference in Fairfax, and he was charming and entertaining. (More on that as the year winds to a close.) (The book club conference, that is — although the book also hopefully will be consumed soon, too.)

What did you read? Don't forget: if you're in The Club, you may win a new book! E-mail me to find out more information on The Club Contest!