Here’s my one piece of advice about what you should read over the summer: whatever you want. If you want to read trash, so be it. I’m serious. I think you should read escapist, nerdy trash. Nothing that really opens your mind or expands your horizons.
Don’t read anything about college students or actually anything that has happened in the past 20 years. Nothing that’s a bummer. Load up on the candy bars of literature my friends. You’ve earned it. I want you to focus on everything else that makes you who you are—not being a college professional. You have plenty of time for that.
Here’s my required reading for the summer.
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. This is one of those penultimate fantasy books. Here’s the deal my fellow geeks. If you hate this book either there is something signficantly wrong with you or you hate dolphins. It’s one of my all time favorite books. Everytime I turned a page I thought, It’s going to be over. And I’ll be sad. The sadness happened. And it’s sequel: A Wise Man’s Fear—pretty awesome as well.
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. A great science fiction book—the flip side of Ender’s Game. Instead of recruiting young people for war, you recruit the elderly. You just have to make some adjustments.
A Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin. A great book about humans overthrowing the gods and enslaving them at the cost of everyone. Made me consider a lot of social structures in the face of tradition. Plus it’s a romance. I still liked it nonetheless.
Also, pick ONE thing you want to learn aside from something to your career. I’ve been learning how to grill thanks to Just Grill This by Sam Zien. Love this book. And I’ve made more friends!
Throw me some comments about what you’ve been reading, but keep it geeky.
