My 2016 Summer Reading List
As I stated earlier this month summer reading is important. Now, I’m an avid summer reader. I’m an avid reader in the the fall, winter, and spring too. But regardless of the season, books pile up on my dresser waiting for me to read them. Inspired by author Elizabeth Foley, I decide to pull some out of the stacks to make an official list of the volumes I want to read before fall. Here are the dozen I selected:
- Flying U Ranch by B. M. Bower
- I Love You, Ronnie-The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan
- David Harum by E. N. Westcott
- Wild Man Of The West by R. M. Ballantyne
- American Women and World War II by Doris Weatherford
- American Guerrilla in The Philippines by Ira Wolfert
- 1776 by David McCullough
- The Banditti of The Plains by Mercer
- The Great American Broadcast by Leonard Maltin
- West Is West by Eugene Manlove Rhodes
- The Whoop-Up Trail by B.M. Bower
- A Treasury of Great Mysteries Vol. 2 by Various Mystery Writers
My list is a 50/50 split between fiction and easy reading non-fiction. This list is not exhaustive, and doesn’t contain all my deep study books and theology volumes I’m working through. It is nice to have an official list to start with, many of these books are stunning vintage pieces that I’m debating on weather to keep for my shelves, or to be generous with and make them available to you all in the shop.
In particular I’m excited about reading The Great American Broadcast, it’s a book all about the history of old time radio, one of my favorite subjects. I’m looking forward to learning more of the history, shows, writers, ideas, and people that made up one of the most popular pastimes for several decades, and ultimately studying how they affected culture (then and now) and the entertainment industry!
Do you have a planned summer reading list? Have you read any of the titles above? I’d love to hear about it!
May 31, 2016 @ 6:31 pm
Whoa, I didn’t know you had a vintage-books Etsy shop! I’m going to have to keep an eye on it to see if any of the hard-to-find old books on my to-read list turn up there. 🙂
Great list! Is the Rhodes book a novel or short stories? I was just thinking recently I need to find another of his books to read; it’s been a while. And the WWII books look interesting too. I’ve been a bit fascinated with the Philippines campaigns ever since I saw the movie They Were Expendable, and have read several books on the subject even though it’s outside the WWII topics I’m actually researching. I skimmed The Whoop-Up Trail on Project Gutenberg Canada once—that one and The Flying U Strikes are sort-of prequels to the Flying U series that Bower wrote late in her career, though they don’t exactly match up with the backstory to Chip of the Flying U!
May 31, 2016 @ 9:41 pm
Yes I also sell vintage books! I love doing it, though it takes many hours of hard work and sends me on countless adventures trying to dig up lost book treasures in forgotten places. 🙂 If you ever need a certain title just contact me and I’ll be on the lookout for it!
Elisabeth, you are the only other Gene Rhodes fan I’ve ever known! When I looked through West Is West it appeared to be about the same characters all the way through…but it is divided up into sections as well as chapters, so it could be short stories about the same “ranch family”. I’ll have to find out when I read it. If you’re looking for another of his books to read Bransford Of Rainbow Range is a good one!
I have not seen They Were Expendable yet. I’ve seen a couple of Wayne’s other WWII films, and this one was already high on my list (Donna Reed!), but I think I should make a list of films to watch this summer and put it on the very top of that list! WWII reading is a lot of fun, but there is so much material out there that it can be a little overwhelming at times, though always fun.
I’ve never read any of the Flying U series yet, only her other books. I am looking forward to getting to know the series!