Revisiting the Classics

I don't know why every summer I get in the mood to start re-reading the classics.  Maybe, it's the weather, and when it gets so hot that you sweat when you walk to the kitchen to get a glass of water.  So, I have made a resolution to familiarize myself with the classics again this summer.  I know, I know, summer is a few months away, but I figure I would start compiling my list now, so I will be prepared for the lazy dog days of summer that will surely rear its head in the Midwest. 

Now, I am really excited, I can just picture sitting in my house or outside with the wind or fan going and sipping on a cool drink and revisiting my old friends, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, and Louisa May Alcott. Maybe I will throw in some serious reading too, but summer isn't really a time for seriousness. 

Not only am I going to read but I am going to explore.  Why not?  When did summer loose all it's fun?  It's been a while since I have actually had some summer fun.  Maybe it's because I don't get 2 months off from work during the summer ( although I am totally for that, if anyone out there is willing to start a the process to enact that into law).  I figure, it's time to find that old time fashion summer fun again.  You know what I mean, all the bbq's, days laying out by the pool, and visiting/seeing family and friends.  I am getting all giddy just writing about it!

Now, getting back to books, I don't want to get too ambitious, so I am not going to give myself a set number to read.  I figure I will compile a list of books and keep adding when I think if a new one, and you know, If I don't get to them, then I just read them next summer.  I am also not going to purchase them, but go to the library!  Yes my friends, remember the library?  An awesome way to read books if you are on a budget, and remember the way library books smell, mmm, that musty book smell to let you know countless others have enjoyed the writings of an author.  Don't get me wrong, going to a bookstore is fun as well, but I don't know what it is about going to the library that is just so much fun.  Maybe, because I used to do that when I was younger, during the summer walk to the library and just be there for a few hours. 

I was inspired by my friend Megan (who by the way has an awesome blog you need to check out here) who wrote a blog about summer road trips.  So that got me thinking about my summer favorites and reading was the obvious choice.  So, I implore all the readers, and even non readers, to pick up the classics or find some new classics that you will enjoy reading again and again.  

Here is my list so far, and let me stress, I will be adding more as summer nears, but feel free to suggest some of your favorites. 

Wuthering Heights - Charlotte Bronte

Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Persuasion - Jane Austen

Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackery

Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys - Louisa May Alcott

Happy Reading!!!