Summer reading

(sorry about this annoying empty space, it's the only way I can get text next to a picture... don't ask me why)

"[John] Steinbeck states about East of Eden, 'It has everything in it I have been able to learn about my craft or profession in all these years.' He further claimed, 'I think everything else I have written has been, in a sense, practice for this.'" I just finished East of Eden, and dammit, I loved every word of it. It further cements my belief that Steinbeck is the greatest American novelist, and has bumped The Grapes of Wrath as my favorite book by him.

So now that I'm done with that, it's time to make a summer reading list. Here are a couple titles I'm kicking around, but I'd love suggestions from anyone who reads (hey, isn't that what you're doing now???).

On Beauty, by Zadie Smith
I've heard nothing but good things about it, mostly from Jess, but also Entertainment Weekly, which named it one of the best novels of 2005. Count me in.

The Truth (With Jokes), by Al Franken
Let's get one thing straight: Franken is the man (assuming people still use that expression). I linked to a nice conservative blog by a psychotic bitch I saw on O'Reilly that time I made the mistake of watching Fox News. It doesn't really say anything about the book, but tries to make Al Franken sound like a raving lunatic. Makes me want to read it even more.

Metamorphoses, by Ovid
I read selected stories from this in Humanities class my sophomore year, and was astonished at how graphically entertaining it is, even by today's standards. If it was a movie it'd be a well-deserved NC-17.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S. Thompson
I've been meaning to read this since the movie came out, and somehow haven't done it yet. The link goes to a "book review" that's really just a bunch of quotes from the book with some plot summary thrown in to tie them together. Some people just don't know how to foist their opinions on people...

That should get me through the summer, allowing room for some recommendations from other people. Or maybe another classic I've been putting off (Crime & Punishment?)