(Photo from artist Jane Mount’s Ideal Bookshelf)

I love to read. Lately, I have had so much trouble finding something that captivates my interest, which proposes a problem for this time of year, because I like to have a book list prepared for lazy summer days in the sun. After scouring the shelves of Barnes and Noble and clicking around on Amazon to no avail, I decided to make a list of classics to re-read in the spirit of #throwbackthursday. I remember required summer reading to be such a nuisance to finish before school started, but the list below captures the ones that I didn’t mind. I think with a different perspective and more experiences, I will read these classics through a different lens. Here’s the list:

1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

I loved this when I read it in grade school, but I really can’t remember a lot of it, as I haven’t picked it up since. I do remember, however, that it was very wordy. I think after all the wordy reading I did for Rhetoric & Communications in college, this won’t seem so bad. ; )

2. To Kill a Mockingbird

This one seems a little cliche, but again, I haven’t read it since the 7th grade. I think reading it with an older perspective will be totally different the second time around, as I probably didn’t fully understand the details of the trial and the complicated character relationships the first time I read it.

3. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in high school and fell in love with our protagonist, Francie Nolan. The scenes of a poor Irish-American family in the early 1900s were so intriguing to me and I loved Francie’s spirit and hard work ethic as she navigated adolescence – can’t wait to read it again.

4. The Great Gatsby

I skipped ahead to read this before my class finished it as an assignment; I was dying to know how it turned out for Nick Carraway. I remember being a little bit disturbed by the turn of events and class discussions – it was the first book I read at school that wasn’t totally innocent. The descriptions of the lavish Long Island parties were also so much fun to read and imagine, and it will be good to read this before the movie comes out next month. 

5. A Separate Peace

A Separate Peace is intense and compelling. Author John Knowles tells his story against the backdrop of a New England prep school at the start of World War II. The characters are so developed and you truly empathize with different parts of each of them; good and bad. I think reading this novel now will help me to understand Knowle’s message better, instead of considering it just a sad story.

Do you have any classic favorites? Or any recommendations for me to add to my list? Would love to hear!