Shot on the beach in Asbury Park

Time for my yearly Summer Reading List post!

I’m a pretty good reader all year long, so it being summer doesn’t really spur me into any other action more than what I’m already doing.

But, because all the pubs are running the readings lists of various people, I’ll kick in with mine.

I split my reading between paper books and Kindle books. For about two years now, I have to read on my Kindle before I go to sleep. I know all these studies say the blue light is bad for sleep…well, not for me.

I can get home from shooting a concert at 12:30 a.m. download my photos to a USB drive, spoon down an almond milk vanilla yogurt, do a super quick edit of 5-10 images so that the band has them when they wake up, then do a second back up to my DropBox and THEN go up to bed around 2-2:30.

And I STILL have to read for 10 or 15 minutes to completely wind down.

But anyway, the image above shows what my paper copies will be:

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe ~ C.S. Lewis. I’ve never, ever read this but pulled it out of a Little Free Library, so I thought I’ll give it a go. It may go with me to Yellowstone in July as it’s small to keep in my carry on.

The Front ~ Patricia Cornwell. I haven’t read her in about 15 years. It’s small. I’ll try it.

Bleachers ~ John Grisham. I haven’t read him in about 17 years. It’s small. I’ll try it.

Shelter ~ Harlan Coben. Back when my wife and I were dating in 2001, we took a trip to the Dominican Republic. I remember reading a Myron Boliter crime fiction book by Harlan Coben. I loved it, devoured the series. Plus, Harlan is from North Jersey, the books are set in Jersey and I thought this was cool. I finished the series and started to read Harlan’s one-off books, and just didn’t dig them as much. Then I came across this one, and saw it’s a MICKEY Boliter book (Myron’s nephew). So, I’l give it a try.

Invisible Man – Harlan Ellison. Another classic I’ve never read.

East of Eden/The Wayward Bus ~ John Steinbeck (the book without a spine) I’ve been reading, in fits and starts, East of Eden for about a month. It’s really good, but it’s long. This ain’t no novella, it’s an epic. I still have 100 pages to go.  So, that’s not really on the Summer Reading List but it’s June and I’m still reading it.

The Midnight Line (A Jack Reacher novel) ~ Lee Child. I’ve never read a Jack Reacher book, but this cover pulled me in so I’ll try it.

A word about this stack: All these books were free. I swing by a few Little Free Libraries around me, drop off a couple of books and maybe pick one or two up. A few of the others were rescued from the recycling plant. I don’t understand why people throw books away – schools, libraries, senior citizen homes are always looking for books. Why throw them out, to recycle or otherwise?

My Kindle Stack (it’s not a definite as I often come across something and just add it in. We have Kindle Unlimited so there are a lot of books to choose from)

Sherlock Holmes and the Vampire Case Files ~ Mark Coggins. Seems like a strange twist on the Holmes cannon but it’s short and Mark and I have been internet friends for about 10 years. He’s a really good photographer too.

This Storm ~ James Ellroy. I have a confession: I’ve tried reading Ellroy quite a few times and while I like the pictures he paints…I just don’t love him like it seems like I should. I have come to love historical fiction set in the 1940s and 1950s, and this one is set right after Pearl Harbor. I don’t know much else about it, don’t wan to know.

The other thing I’m going to read a lot of is the New York Times. I’ve been getting the Sunday Edition these last few weeks and daaaaaammmmnnnn it’s fine. Especially the NY Times Magazine. And the photography. And the profiles.

Oh, and I’ll probably get a book or two about the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, since we’ll be visiting them in late July.

And, of course, there’s always something on the internet to read.

It’s all about finding the time.

So, there’s mine. What’s on YOUR summer reading list? Drop me some titles in the comments!

© Mark V. Krajnak | JerseyStyle Photography | All Rights Reserved 2019

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