My Summer Reading & a Book Review or Two

Despite juggling two jobs, this summer has surprisingly provided many opportunities for me to do quite a bit of leisure reading. That’s always what I dream of doing with my summers, (I know, I know…I have such high aspirations,) so I’ve enjoyed it. I’m not that great at analyzing a piece of writing, but I wanted to share a few of my thoughts on some of what I’ve read this summer.

Sophie’s World
Jostein Gaarder

I was somewhat disappointed and somewhat satisfied with Sophie’s World. I was so excited about reading this book because I had heard so many great things about it. (Mostly by people I didn’t know very well from places like the seat next to you on an airplane.) Sophie’s World is basically a textbook on the history of Western Philosophy. Each chapter is dedicated to a time period or a philosopher and Gaarder does a decent job of explaining that time period’s or that philosopher’s contributions to the world and the history of philosophy. I honestly don’t know enough about philosophy to know if his interpretations and explanations are accurate or not, but for the most part his teaching seemed to be in line with what I’ve learned in some of my classes, (Classical Philosophy w/ Dr. Anne-Marie Bowery, Modern European Philosophy with Dr. Steven Evans, and other philosophy classes and even some of my theology classes with Drs. Randal O’Brien, Charles Talbert, Sharyn Dowd and others.) The reiteration of what was learned in my classes was helpful and I enjoyed that part.

The underlying story, however, was most disappointing. Sophie is a girl who receives letters from a mysterious person who begins teaching her all of these philosophy lessons. The story is supposed to help keep you interested in reading the book and it is somewhat successful, but it ends up coming to a great suspenseful disappointment in the end. At times, Gaarder uses irony to explain a philosopher by what is going on in Sophie’s own life, but this comes to a huge disappointment in the end. If you are interested in reading the book, only read it for the informative overviews of philosophers. If you read it only for entertainment, you will inevitably be disappointed.

The Harry Potter Series
J.K. Rowling

My boyfriend raised my interest in Harry Potter and I’m so glad he did. I haven’t quite become a fanatic, but I have read the first three and have thoroughly enjoyed them. Rowling does such a great job of keeping her readers interested. Her books are so fun to read and they are a great break from school work. My mom has made sure to warn me of the evil dangers of Harry Potter, but I don’t think that I am in danger of these books become the demise of me being a Christian. Until my mom can give me a solid reason as to why she thinks HP is the anti-Christ, I’ll keep reading. (I may be exaggerating her view a bit, but I’m speaking out of irritation of ignorance.)

The Chronicles of Narnia
Jack Lewis

I made it a goal of mine to finish all seven before I finish my four years of college…well…that didn’t happen. I figured that since the movies are coming out, I better get going on them. My boyfriend and I took on the quest together. We have taken time on our road trips and at other random times to read through them together. I have one of the original box sets, (in written chronological order) and I got a beautiful hard bound book with full color pictures of the whole series (in event chronological order) and we have taken turns reading to each other. It may sound corny, of all the things we can do together, we choose to read to each other, but it has been utterly enjoyable for both of us. We have finished The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspianand The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and we are halfway through The Silver Chair. If you have never read any of The Chronicles, please at least read the first. Uh…that’s the first in written chronological order, not event chronological order, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Also, try to read it before you see the movie so it is not spoiled for you.

I re-read a good number of books this summer such as Mere Chrisitanity, Screwtape Letters, Alice in Wonderland, Pride and Prejudice and some other classics. I enjoy reading at the end of my day because it helps me clear my head. Harry Potter, and The Chronicles do however enhance the weirdness of my dreams, which is sometimes entertaining but sometimes annoying.