Watershed and Waterside Books: Summer reads

The Darwins recently linked to a book list of authors' favorite reads. I, too, have an almost compulsive fascination with reading lists.  Even so, I'm not very good at making my own lists because I can't limit my favorites - there are too many books that I like with about the same fervor.  My book club friends used to groan when I'd bring out my list of either/ors at our annual choice meeting. We were supposed to list just 5 or so books that we wanted to read, but I couldn't bring myself to edit my selections.

Nonetheless, I'm going to add my list to the Darwins', who ask for a list of three books that you thought were pivotal in your reading life (watershed books) and three books that can be consumed in a day at the beach or picked up here and there while travelling or being otherwise interrupted by summertime activities (waterside books):

3 Books that are watershed reads:
1. My Antonia - Willa Cather's story of the relationship between orphaned Jim Burden and the indomitable immigrant Antonia, set on the beautiful but harsh Nebraska prairie. My first copy was a gift from my grandfather, who loved the Illinois prairie land. Cather's book is both a complement and a contrast to the understanding of prairie life presented by Laura Ingalls Wilder. For me it was an introduction to grown-up themes about making hard choices. A beautiful story that strikes me hard every time I read it.
2. Dosteovsky's Brothers Karamazov. Probably the source of most of my understanding of God and Evil. Dosteovesky's characters articulate theology, the need for God and beauty, better than any of my teachers did.
3. Books by Wendell Berry - (I can't choose just one) Berry's novels, essays and poetry only confirm what I am predisposed to think anyway: that belonging to a community that knows and loves you for yourself is more important than seeing the world and being Somebody.  Beauty resides in the familiar, and nothing is more beautiful than a place, a community, a family, a spouse whom you love. Berry keeps reminding us to take care of those people and things we love. More often than I wish to admit, after reading Berry, I feel the lashed by my shortcomings in this regard, but also aware of the simplicity of the task.

3 Waterside reads - these are harder for me to pick. I'm easily drawn in by lightweight books, and don't mind losing a few hours sleep for books that other people would see as saccharine or a waste of time - for instance, I just zipped through The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, because I wanted to know why it was such a bestseller - and after being unable to put it down until the wee hours of the night, I knew why. It's definitely a female book, designed to pull heartstrings. The characters are quirky, but supposed to be wise - or preachy. It's all a little too obvious, but I got pulled in.  I've also zipped through some YA books lately, which are ideal for times when your attention is divided or you don't feel like straining your brain; they are perfect for beachside reading: The Mother Daughter Book club books, Mister Pip, and The Book Thief.


Some others I thought of:
1. Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge - a sweet story about a woman who leaves her London fast life to move to a country home she has inherited from a distant relative. Goudge and Rumor Godden seem to go together.
2. Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers - longer, meatier prose, but a fun mystery set in Oxford, featuring the romance between Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Whimsey.
3. I also like to read books of essays while on vacation because they can be read in spurts. Three recent reads: The Art of Travel by Alain de Boton, which I wrote about here, perfect for vacationing. It also qualifies as a book about books, another favorite of mine. The book about books I finished most recently read was Rick Gekoski's Nabokov's Butterfly about the whims of book collectors. I've also been making my way slowly through Madeleine L'Engle's book on writing and her Christian Faith, Walking on Water. I need to go on a trip to finish it.