This summer has already proven itself worthy of notation. A collection of books has piled upon my bed, around my desk, and everywhere that is my floor. Noteworthy selections include: Sedaris, Eliot, Márquez, Maclean and Rushdie. I would attempt to summarize my feelings about each author and their work, but it is late and my new self-enforced “quiet time” with imagination and words is quickly fading, and to be honest-is quite bleak. Six a.m. comes quickly and there is a (I’m convinced) retarded mockingbird living in the tree next to my window.

On a constructive note- today, I was able to spend two hours reading “Me Talk Pretty One Day” by Sedaris in the Merchant’s Tire Auto Center – conveniently located in front of my neighborhood. I was not at all distracted by the loud car noises in the shop directly behind me, or the two elderly men carrying on a serious conversation about their future retirement. In fact, reading in the auto center proved two things: Reading is most enjoyable with a limitless amount of time (and an unaware sense of it) and books really do help one to escape from reality. At least for me, these truths hold true and I ended up reading over 100 pages.

Sedaris’ writing is brilliant and I am laughing a little too much about politically incorrect stereotypes and phrases-always manage to bring a smile to my face. Now, I should be reading Eliot’s “Middlemarch” for Fall semester (if I remember correctly, it is some 700+pages) but I received a Barnes and Noble graduation giftcard and of course (as is my nature), spent it immediately like it was a sin to hold on to it. Instead of savoring the idea of finishing a large novel, I succombed to the indecent act of literary procrastination- something I will always work against. I will be punished later, by bleeding eyes and long nights…but can I really be stopped?

The idea of reading during the summer, especially creating and finishing (key word finishing) a book list is a good one. Unless of course, you are a stacker of books, a lover of reading halfway through a book only to discover another classic on the other side of the room-or under a pile. If I hope too much, I will finish half the books on my list and work through the other half of the books throughout next semester. Sometimes summertime is appreciated, welcomed and even embraced with too full enthusiasm and a willingness to sacrifice all society for the chance to sit with a wordy and paperback friend. Instead of sacrificing like a good English soon-to-be graduate student, I am willing (yes, this is almost like sacrificing!) to give up half my list and live boldly in the reality of beach visits and sleeping in late.

Notation acquired: Summer is here for good – and so are my stack{s} of books.