the Happiness Project: fun reading

One of the main things that has kept me sane this summer, and kept motivating me to read my school books, is always having something that I am reading simply because I want to. Reading fun books reminds me why I love reading, and keeps my mind engaged and stimulated so that when I do sit down to read Darwin or Melville, I know how to be present with the book. Here's a list of the fun reads I've tackled thus far this summer:

The Little Prince ~ Saint-Exupéry

I re-read this book at the beginning of the summer after finding a beautiful copy at Half Price Books. It's so good. It totally made me cry. And the illustrations are always a winner.
I read this a bit at a time at night, just a chapter here and there when I could stay awake for it. I finished it in a week.

A Grief Observed ~ C.S. Lewis

I've had a tiny paperback copy of this for about two years but never got to it. I was so glad I chose to start my summer with this because it felt like he put words to my own journey with doubt. Interesting, heartbreaking, but fascinating. I went back and re-read sections when I was done.

Bread and Wine ~ Shauna Niequist

I've heard this book recommended by several bloggers whose book recommendations I trust, but I checked it out from the library as a last-resort when the book I wanted was out. I was so glad I did. A memoir on hospitality, community, and food, this book is full of stories that will make you want to cook and have people over. I've still got it sitting on my dresser with post-it notes where I want to copy recipes.



Out of Solitude ~ Henry Nouwen

This is a tiny little devotional book I snagged from the library with a few of his others. It was good but nothing in it particularly stuck with me. I always appreciate his monastic viewpoint in a modern world, but I wasn't overly impressed by this.

All the Light We Cannot See ~ Anthony Doerr

This was on the NY Best Sellers list and for good reason. It's a WWII novel which moves between a boy in Germany and a girl in France, reminiscent of the Book Thief and just as good. I took this on the plane to MA and it was fantastic.

Delicious! ~ Ruth Reichl

I just finished this one last night. It's a mash up of food-storytelling, historical fiction and summer romance reading. That is to say, it's definitely summer fluff reading, but well-written. I enjoyed it, but I probably wouldn't ever re-read it.


I have a few books I'm working on still: Practice of the Presence of God, and Life Together. We'll see how far I get, since I got my desk my school books are staring down at me from behind my computer every day and so I've been a bit more motivated to get to them.

What's been your summer fun reading?

~j.l.s.