The Bottom Line

As I walked through campus the other day, I couldn't stop hearing the Welcome Back, Kotter theme song in my head. For those of you who don't know it, it's a catchy little tune centered on the obvious words, welcome back. It put a bounce in my step and made me realize, as with every fall semester I've returned here (four to date) that it really was good to be back.

I thought about starting this article with, 'Where the Hell did summer go?' but I think I know. It went where all summers go. It was good, and I got a tan, made a little money and had loads of free time. The usual. But there's no denying that even with the headaches of classes and papers, school is better than working behind a counter or waiting tables any day of the week. So with that in mind, I want to earnestly welcome everyone back here at FSU, and I guess I should get to the point: books.

Summer, of course, is the rare time of year when teachers aren't cramming ten different books down my throat at once, so I get a little time to do some personal reading. Sometimes there was nothing else to do on a hot day besides pass the time wrapped up in some fiction, and with autumn and winter right around the bend, there'll be plenty more time to fill. So without further ado, here is a list of some of the books I read this summer. Each one I highly recommend. A few are classics while others represent the best in contemporary fiction. I hope you'll give some of these a chance:

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Simply, it's a masterpiece.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. Classic; A must-read.

Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix by J. K. Rowling. A blast to read.

Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling. Ditto.

The Once and Future King by T. H. White. The definitive fantasy classic.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. A simple tale to devour in a day or two.

You Shall Know Our Velocity! by Dave Eggers. Fiction's best new voice.

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. Pulitzer Prize winner.

The Old Man and the Sea by Earnest Hemmingway. Fourth read for me, but as good as the first. That's all I can say.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Contemporary fiction bound for the 'classic' section.

Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead by Alan Deniro. Short-stories from a desolate future.

The Stranger by Albert Camus. Classic existential literature.

So long, for now. I hope everyone has a great semester here. I'll be back in the next issue with a review of brand-new fiction, steaming hot and un-released! See you then.

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