Summertime Pleasures
By Kristina Van Amerongen

As the end of the semester quickly approaches and we are bogged down with last minutes projects, the question always arises: "What are you doing over Summer Break?" Notice I said doing. Well, those of us in the Writing Center ask: "What are you reading over the break?" Not because we are nosy or anything but because, as English majors, we (tutors) love our books.

While the Writing Center is for the whole university, it is staffed by "Book Geeks," as I have heard our tutors referred to within the confines of Coleman Hall. The fact of the matter is we have worked with all types of students who have many varied interests and we are intrigued by the snippets we read quoted within their papers.

I have sent a general call out for books that are on the "must read" list of the average person on campus and here are a few suggestions:

• Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Grendel by John Gardner, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Stoppard will probably be read on plane to Turkey, Scotland, and other European countries by our very own world traveler Andy E.
• The English Department's Dr. Hanlon will be on his way to Harlaxton with his family (Dr. McGregor and Tilda) where there are plenty of tranquil spots on the grounds, and in the manor itself, to read his selections: Race, Citizenship, and Law in American Literature by Gregg Crane, Patriotism and Other Mistakes by George Kateb, and Save the World On Your Own Time by Stanley Fish.
• Our beloved bohemian, Scott, will be relaxing on a peaceful sailboat lighting out for destinations unknown or swinging in his hammock while engrossed in The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie, On Beauty by Zadie Smith, and The King by Donald Barthelme.
• Angela Vietto, who teaches American Literature and whose interests range from Colonial to Revolutionary eras, will be immersing herself in Ulysses by James Joyce, The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Richard Pevear, and Larissa Volokhonsky, The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot, Swann's Way by Marcel Proust, Elizabeth Dalton, and C. K. Scott Moncrieff, The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, and Crash.
• One of our talented creative writers, Dr. Moffitt, will be reading A Stranger in this World by Kevin Canty, Drown by Junot Diaz, and Breathing Underwater by Julie Orringer.
• The Writing Center’s very own Dr. Kory will be enjoying A Long Way Down by Nick Hornsby and How They Met by David Levithan.
• Dr. Markelis (retiring from her post as Writing Center Administrator) will be immersing herself within the pages of Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt, Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris, & Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella.
• Carissa, a creative writing major, will be reading Travels with Charley by Steinbeck and Moon's Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon.
• Amanda, our esteemed Editor, will be spending time with her son and checking off some books on her “shame list,” like Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë and Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

While asking random people walking through the library I was given the following titles:

• An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England: A Novel by Brock Clarke,
• Bitter is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass, Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office by Jen Lancaster,
• DC: The New Frontier, Vol. 2 by Darwyn Cooke and Dave Stewart,
• The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East by Kishore Mahbubani,
• Breaking News: A Stunning and Memorable Account of Reporting from Some of the Most Dangerous Places in the World by Martin Fletcher,
• The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier by Tony Jones,
• Divine Canine: The Monks' Way to a Happy, Obedient Dog by The Monks of New Skete,
• Shaking the Tree: A Collection of New Fiction and Memoir by Black Women by Meri Nana-Ama Danquah, and
• Chili Con Corpses: A Supper Club Mystery by J.B. Stanley.

Yours truly is looking forward to lying on a raft in my small pool while reading 7th Heaven (The Women's Murder Club) and The 6th Target (Women's Murder Club) by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro, and Hold Tight by Harlan Coben. I will be greatly anticipating the May 6th arrival of Phantom Prey by John Sandford (my all-time favorite author of detective fiction). I have missed my diversion to the pop-fiction genre during my class readings and look forward to once again delving into the familiar world of the "who dunits."

This was my last semester as a tutor and I have really enjoyed the different types of papers that have come through the Writing Center over the past two years. As a literature focused student, one would think I have had to read numerous books that I would not have thought to read on my own. This is quite true - I would not have read 3/4 of the books if they hadn't been assigned, but the fantastic thing is that my world is a bit broader and become so much more expanded into genres I find completely enjoyable. This is the new perception I will take with me into the summer break and beyond. This prospect of reading beyond the Best Seller List and looking for depth within the bindings of a book is thrilling. Imagine that - reading substantial literature for the fun of it!