For my birthday, I received The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis (edited by Walter Hooper) in two volumes. One wouldn’t think reading letters would be particularly interesting, but I’ve been so fascinated by them, especially his correspondences to his best friend Arthur Greeves, who shared many of the same interests in literature. Basically all they do is write about books! It’s been great discover Lewis’s taste in literature, especially as a young man. And how uncanny to read him raving about the same stories and writers that I’ve so enjoyed over the span of my teenage years so far! Also, it’s incredibly interesting to read about his philosophical viewpoints, especially as Arthur remained a Christian while Lewis wandered off into atheism. I could share so many quotes that gave me sweet little pleasures of discovery about this great writer whom I’ve loved since a childhood.

Anyway, that is the origin of my title for this post. He sometimes wrote at the end of his letters to ask what Arthur was “doing, reading, and thinking.” So often, most of what they were “doing” was reading, and nearly all of their thoughts were directed toward books. So in the end, they still ended up just writing about “reading”. ;) The same could probably be said for me in regards to the recent weeks of summer…here are some of the books that have been hitting my log lately:

Fiction:
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes [Quite amusing, but overly long.]
The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain [ugh…I never realized how bitter Twain was toward Christianity! This was eye-opening!]
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte [Not my favorite of the Brontes, but I can still see why it’s a classic.]
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling [So much to say about this…message me on goodreads or something if you want to chat about it!]
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde [haha…so brilliant! It’s one of those plays that everyone needs to read]
Watership Down by Richard Adams [Good book, but not my style]
Black by Ted Dekker [I had to see what this Dekker fellow was like…and I was pretty intruiged. This book actually reminded me quite a lot of Lewis’s Space Trilogy, not just in form, but in theme.]
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens [About halfway through now. After reading so much modern lit my craving for Dickens pretty much took over…lol]
The Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter Scott [Just started it today…Scott is always lovely]

Non-fiction:
Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton [PURE BRILLIANCE.]
Every Young Woman’s Battle by Shannon Ethridge [Very candid and relevant to pretty much any teenage girl.]
The Lessons of St. Francis by John Michael Talbot [Great content, though not a very stirring read. I have a lot of respect for JM Talbot.]
Crossing the Threshold of Hope by John Paul II [Still getting through this one. It’s not something to be read fast. I’m trying to soak everything in.]
The Olympic Games by M.I. Finley [In honor of the games in Beijing…I’ve been reading this during the commercials…lol]
The Rhythm of Life: Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose by Matthew Kelly [I don’t normally read books like these, but this was given to me so I thought I might as well.]
The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis Volume I: Family Letters 1905-1932 edited by Walter Hooper [of course]

So there’s a quick overview of my summer reading. I’d love to hear what books you’ve read over the past few months! Add me on goodreads (if you haven’t already), send me a message or something and we can CHAT LIT! ;)

As for what I am (or will be) doing and thinking…

Normally, by this time in the summer, I am making schedules for my new school year, creating lists of things I want to accomplish, and planning for all of my classes. For some reason, though, I have a total lack of motivation right now. It seems like summer hasn’t been long enough; as if I haven’t even had my break yet. Perhaps it’s because I’ve known ever since the beginning of high school that this was going to be my most challenging year. Tenth grade was actually comparable to a nice, breezy ride down the river. I only had 5 classes and none of them were particularly difficult. Now I have two big monsters glaring down at me: Intro to Chemistry and Algebra II. Chem I’ll be taking at the college along with American Lit and Government. Algebra will be my main class with K12, accompanying Health and Latin I (yes, I dropped French for Latin…I just had to. Hopefully I’ll be keeping up with French on my own, though). Maybe the reason that I’m so intimidated is because I’ll be going to a different (and much bigger) campus for my college courses (though it’s still the same school, it’ll all be very new and unfamiliar).

I suppose I should also mention that I started driving school last week. I don’t like it at all, but it’s something I’ll have to get over with. I don’t mind driving in general, but the class is just a pain.

This post has become freakishly long, but that’s to be expected as I haven’t written any entries at all for…well…too long. I guess this will just have to pass as my single summer update. Maybe I’ll just write one post each season to keep things simple…lol.

Don’t forget to tell me all that you’re “doing, reading, and thinking!”

Regards,
Sylvia