I would guess that every vacationing writer has one goal in common: plow through that towering, teetering stack of end table reading. Well, I achieved that goal, and then some. Here are a few of my vacation reads.

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I started this book months ago, but it took vacation time to finish it. I’m enormously proud of myself for making it through the entire tome. The section near the end about mining nearly killed me, but I persevered. Overall, it’s an enlightening read.The links he draws between political events and environmental degradation have certainly made me view world events through different eyes.

Matilda
An elementary-school teacher friend recommended this to my daughter, and the next time we were at the library, she sought it out all by herself. Then she read it, loved it, and recommended it to me. This is a whole new world of family reading!

I found it hard to shut off my book-club critique brain during this book. I mean, who gets to start their middle-grade fiction with a diatribe about parents’ non-objective love of their children? Roald Dahl, that’s who.

(Incidentally, did you know Dahl was a Royal Air Force ace in World War II? When you combine that with an unhappy childhood at boarding school, he really has an unfair advantage as a children’s writer.)

The Toss of a Lemon
I’ve been wanting to read this book for months, since hearing an interview with the author. You’d think, with two weeks of vacation time, I’d have dived in. And I intended to. Really. But we checked into our lakeside cottage and there was a fat, sappy romance novel sitting on the sideboard, pink cover winking at me. Can you guess which one I read?

The Toss of a Lemon, Round 2
I did eventually get through my pink book and onto The Toss of a Lemon which, once I sorted through all the multi-syllable names, was wonderful. I’m not usually a fan of family epics. I get too attached to the first character, and then I’m disappointed when the story moves on to future generations. Not so with this book. I loved every generation — and the story looped back constantly, so I never had to part with grandma. It’s really a spectacular book, and quite an achievement in writing. I can’t personally imagine trying to manage a story of this magnitude.

It was only tough to finish the book because half way through, I was distracted by a gift. And more on that news tomorrow!

In the meantime, what did the rest of you read in the August sun?