reading

so, one of the beauties of my time off during the summer is that i actually get to read for fun again. i had intended to get down to some reading over winter break, and even though i did get a chance to read a pretty entertaining unpublished manuscript written by an uncle, i didn't feel like i had really fufilled my literary goals. it was over the winter that my father recommended one hundred years of solitude to me and it's been since then that i've been running around declaring my intentions of reading "one million years of solitude" or "ten thousand years of solitude" or some other similar iteration to anyone who inquired about my summer plans. this book was preempted in my summer reading queue, however, by another, the water is wide which is a memoir of a young twenty-something in the 70's, Pat Conroy, who teaches a year on a small island off the coast south carolina whose population of poor black folk, time has seemingly forgot. it's one of those, teacher goes in and does good for under privledged kids stories, but i have to say, it's better than most. if you're into memoirs or literature about teaching, i'd totally recommend it. it preempted solitude because i received a signed copy of it from my future mother-in-law and hey, signed books get priority in reading for me. does that make sense?
the real point here is that yea, last week i finally got around to starting one hundred years of solitude and i've really been enjoying it! not only because it's a great book (although i was initially weary - this is first time i've ever read a book that's part of oprah's book club) but it's just nice to relearn the joy of reading. i haven't read a book that's not about education in so long, i almost forgot what it's like! oddly enough, though, most of the books in my summer reading queue are about education, at the top of the list are the montessori method (because i have a masters in education and i was never required to read it, wtf) and growing minds on becoming a teacher (because it's demanding a reread from me, and kohl is one of my personal heroes). the top non-education book is the talisman, by stephen king and petter straub, recommended to me by alex kargher like three years ago but i've been hesitant of because of the massive time commitment a 6,000+ page book requires. i recently had the opportunity to buy it for a buck fifty though, so it looks like i'll be soon taking the dive.