Too Many Books, Too Little Time-or the Summer Reading Race Starts Soon

I teach literature to freshmen college students, and we just finished our last novel of the semester, Dr. Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe. Before that, it was The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. and before that... too many to mention.

I teach these books every year, but I have to at least skim them closely each time in prep, for after a 4 to 6 month hiatus, I get foggy over themes and plot elements. I love the characters that populate these books: the lusty Wife of Bath, the irreverent friars and crafty Mephostophilis, but these re-reads don’t leave me much time to devour other material.

Now, I’m suddenly free to read exactly what I please until next September. Happy Day! During the school year, I compile multiple novels on my kindle, and on my nightstand. I’m about 20 or 30 pages into at least ten things, and now I need to figure out which novel I’ll pile through first. HELLLLP!!! Here’s the list. (Interesting to see where I purchased the novels, and hey, a shout-out to the indie bookstores I frequent, and every other one in the country!):

Amanda Hocking’s eBook, Switched, from her Trylle trilogy (Bought on amazon)

The Demon Trapper’s Daughter Jana Oliver (Picked this up at my local B & N)

Dust by Arthur Slade (Bought online via Arthur’s blog)

Altar of Bones by Phillip Carter (A giveaway ARC at awesome indie Greenpoint, Brooklyn Bookstore WORD.

Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest (From Forbidden Planet, a great scifi and graphic novel bookstore in Manhattan)

Black Hole Sun by David Gill (From my local B & N)

Noodle Maker by Ma Jin (from ultra-cool Manhattan indie bookstore McNally-Jackson)

Faking It by Elisa Lorello (Bought on amazon, for my kindle)

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers by Yiyun Lee (Bought on amazon for my kindle)

On top of this, I’m looking forward to reading and critiquing a colleague’s 400-page first draft YA novel.

EEEPPP! What should I read first?

What’s on your summer reading list, and where did you buy your copies from? What’s on your kindle, your nook, your kobo reader, or your iPad? What’s on your night table? Your coffee table? Your kitchen table? What will you cart to the beach? And how many books do you think you’ll actually get through before September rolls around?