September 3, 2012

Summer Reading List--2012 Edition

Labor Day marks the unofficial end of Summer. So as the tradition goes on this blog, it’s time for my summer reading list.

 
This is a book is a true story about a really fast runner who ends up serving as a pilot in WWII. On one mission his plane ends up crashing in the ocean. After weeks in a raft that survives sharks and being shot at, they are finally captured by the Japanese. The book recounts all of this and then his stay in a POW camp. It’s a miracle that he even survived. It really helped to show just how brutal the Japanese were towards their prisoners.  A great narrative about a real hero of the Greatest Generation!
 
This is a book about the English language. It talks about the origins of English and how it relates to other languages. It also talks about how English is very good at adopting other words into its lexicon. It also talks about how the use of Global English (English spoken by non-native speakers) is on the rise and most likely to stay for a long time. If you are into languages and how they work, I highly recommend this book. It presents the stuff in a way that a person without a PhD can understand.
 
This was the only fiction book that I read over the summer. I never had a chance to read this book in High School and I had always been curious as to what it’s about. This book is about Holden Caulfield, a troubled teenager who is on the verge of getting kicked out of school. It’s told from his perspective. It ends up being about him wandering around town and drinking at random bars. I thought it was okay, but really didn’t get the point of it. I thought there was some secret meaning behind everything, but turns out that it’s just about a rebellious teenager and the angst that goes along with it. Essentially, a coming of age story. It’s probably worth your time just to say that you have read this book.
First, this book was not written by Madonna. It was written by a professor that I had at BYU. It’s about the status of women throughout the world. It essentially makes the argument that a state’s “security” is highest when that state’s women have a high status in society. This book helps to show how women are treated throughout the world. The atrocities that happen to them are unthinkable. I agree with its conclusion that most of the world’s problems could be solved by treating women equally in status with men. Plus, I might be partial, but the preface is pretty good too.