Mama Gone Green is a blog dedicated to raising happy children and reducing our impact on the Earth. My name is Taryn and I am the mother of 2 young kids and an environmental studies instructor at a community college in Portland, Oregon. Please join me as I journey through life as a mama, teacher, knitter, photographer, gardener, and environmentalist!

Thursday, June 11, 2015

My Summer 2015 Reading List

I am officially done with teaching for the summer! Sometimes, I feel like a kid, so excited for summer break. But it IS exciting. Woo-hoo!!!... I love the feeling of less responsibility---not having to check work email every day, no grading, no making sure I am prepared. Don't get me wrong--I love teaching and I love my job and feel so lucky to have it, but I also feel really lucky to have a break from the grind. A break to spend more time with my kids, to travel and camp, and to have just a little bit less responsibility. My overactive brain needs it.
 Every year, around this time, I put together my summer reading list. I never make it through all the books on my list (although I usually do make it through most), but I still enjoy setting goals and having a list of books my brain can focus on when it isn't focused on teaching. And who knows? Maybe one year (this year?!?) I will actually tackle all of the books on my list.
My biggest problem is that I still think about summer in the same way I did as a kid.... having nothing but TIME on your hands. Lazy days just asking to be filled. However, now that my kids will be out of school, time is really the last thing I will have.. There probably won't be much lazing. But, now that both kids are a little bit older, and Finn is reading like a champ, maybe there will be more mandated quiet reading times where I can read too.
Anyways, time or not, here are the 10 books I am hoping to read this summer. A couple are repeat offenders that I never made it through in years past. A few are new books that I am really looking forward to getting my hands on.  And a couple have been on my to-read list for many years. So, without further ado, I present my summer reading list to you!

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Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change

A Short History of Nearly Everything 

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Do you make a summer reading list? If so, what is on it for this year?!?
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5 comments:

  1. They all look really interesting! I must admit I read way more in winter than summer. So I should be making a reading list now! Hooray for being on holidays, and have a lovely relaxing time.

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  2. I have read "Desert Solitaire" some years back. It was my oldest son's favorite book and it is very good. It was the reason my son became a National Park Ranger for a while, although he is not working on his PhD so he is not a park ranger any more. Some of Edward Abbey's other books I did not like. I have also read Bill Bryson and have that Stephen Ambrose book on my "to read" shelf. I love summer break - one of the great perks of teaching. I am supposed to be writing curriculum but I am having a really hard time getting motivated for that! Enjoy your break.

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  3. You know, I still think of summer the same way too, and while I only have one teenager left at home, there are the adult things I need to accomplish each day.
    I love your book list. I've only read The Girl on the Train [loved it], and will be adding some of your list to mine.
    Happy summer!

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  4. I haven't read many of these - I'll have to check some out. The girl on the train is SO good...

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  5. Looks like a great list. I don't have a summer reading list, per say, just a reading list that never seems to end. I guess if I stopped adding to it it might that would help :)

    Enjoy your summer my friend. xo

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