Thursday, April 28, 2011

I love those Pulitzer Prize winners!

     I don't know about you, but I'm already planning my summer reading.  For some reason, the warm weather makes me want to read more.  I know...most people do lots of their reading in the winter when they have to stay inside more.  But me...well, I just seem to love reading outside on my porch, in my favorite chair, with a big glass of cold iced tea, where every once in a while I can rest my eyes by looking at the tall green trees, the blue sky, and the puffy white clouds.
     For this summer I plan to do my reading from the Pulitzer Prize winners list for the past ten years.  I found just what I was looking for by checking out Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia.  Believe me, I have some good reading I'll be doing.  Such as:
2000 - Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx, Waiting by Ha Jin.
2001 - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon, Blonde by Joyce Carol Oats, The Quick and the Dead by Joy Williams.
2002 - Empire Falls by Richard Russo, The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead.
2003 - Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, Servants of the Map: Stories by Andrea Barrett, You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett.
2004 - The Known World by Edward P. Jones, American Woman by Susan Choi, Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins.
2005 - Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, An Unfinished Season by Ward Just, War Trash by Ha Jin.
2006 - March by Geraldine Brooks, The Bright Forever by Lee Martin, The March by E. L. Doctorow.
2007 - The Road by Cormac McCarthy, After This by Alice McDermott, The Echo Maker by Richard Powers.
2008 - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, Shakespeare's Kitchen by Lore Segal, Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson.
2009 - Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, All Souls by Christine Schutt, The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich.
2010 - Tinkers by Paul Harding, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin, Love in Infant Monkeys by Lydia Millet.
     So!  How about that list?  Surely, there is a Pulitzer Prize winner there for everyone to read.
     I noticed that Ha Jin is on that list twice.  I've made Waiting one of my books to read.  I think I'll put Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout on my list also.  And since I've read several other books on the list, I'll just have to ponder over what my third book will be.  It's really a toss up since I like Annie Proulx, Marianne Wiggins and Alice McDermott.  Maybe I should read Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson, or The Echo Maker by Richard Powers, or American Woman by Susan Choi.
     Gee!  I didn't think it would be this hard to pick several Pulitzer Prize winners for my summer reading.  Hopefully by June 1st, I'll have my list completed and will be starting on my first book.
     I can hardly wait...comfortable chair on the front porch, big glass of cold iced tea, and a great read!  Couldn't ask for much more than that...unless it's lots of time to read!
     Join me!  Pick a winner and READ.
(Source: Wikipedia, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)

1 comment:

Kris... farm snippet writer said...

Sounds like a great list to chose from. Keep us posted as to which ones you read and like and then I'll check them out too! Hope summer comes soon!