Summer Reading

Okay kiddos, apparently now that Memorial Day has passed, summer is official. For those of us who live in L.A., summer never really stops, but I think that actually fades some of its charm. What fun is summer if you don't have to wait impatiently for it during winter?

That said, I still love summer. And my favorite part as a student was the summer reading. I could read any and everything I wanted, without having deadlines or papers or analyses to keep in mind. I plan on doing quite a bit of summer reading, though with the added benefit of not stopping come Labor Day. And I'll share what I like here, so you too can have fun. First up is a book I've read before, but decided was worth yet another reread, and thus doubly worth a recommendation. I hope you enjoy.

A Taxonomy of Barnacles by Galt Niederhoffer

The love child of Jane Austen and Charles Darwin, this is a novel about characters, love, relationships, and growing up as a girl. Lovers go courting, sisters fight and defend one another, and the parents are inevitably bonkers. It has the charms of Austen's England, in a way, but is set in modern New York, and has a decidedly Darwinistic slant -- that is, nature vs. nurture -- to its dark and wry humor. Spunky, at times silly, but definitely delicious.