My summer reading list

A couple of months ago, when I realised that, according to my calendar at least, summer was descending upon us and that I had a six week overseas holiday coming up, I decided that it was time to think about some appropriate summer reading material.

While I did have that six week holiday up my sleeve I didn’t want to be too optimistic about how many books I could read over the course of the holiday, and the remained of the summer.  I have chosen five books that I have either wanted to read for some time, been recommended by friends or that I have heard good things about.

So the contenders are:

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood

Offred has one option - breeding. Should she dissent, horrible outcomes await her: death by hanging, or expulsion and likely death from radiation sickness.

The White Tiger

Aravind Adiga

Balram comes from a poor village in India, he is bright but with little hope of escaping the Darkness for the Light.  That is until he is hired to chauffeur a rich man and is taken to New Delhi, where he realises the wealth of opportunities that could be his, but only if he does something despicable.

Catch-22

Joseph Heller

Bombardier Captain Yossarian is stationed in the Mediterranean during World War II.  He is a serious man, a sane man, possibly the only sane man in the army.  Satirical look at military madness, and one man's desire to stay alive.

Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro

The story of three close friends, Kathy, Ruth and Tommy, who grow up together.  Never Let Me Go see Kathy reflect on her time Hailsham School and how their special destiny brings them together while tearing them apart.

The Year of Living Dangerously

C.J Koch
 

Guy Hamilton is an Australian foreign correspondent on his first posting in Jakarta, Indonesia.  It's 1965, President Sukarano has delivered his 'The Year of Living Dangerously' annual address.  The country seems to be coming apart at the seams, Sukarno's grip is loosening and it seems that everything is spiraling out of control, so too is Guy's life.

Over the coming weeks I want to share with you what I thought about each of the books.  This post is to provide a bit of a taster or what’s to come, and to see if any of you out there have any opinions on what’s been chosen...

Feel free to share below.