Summer Reading

My sister has been blabbering on about reading throughout the whole school year: how she misses it and can't wait for the summer to return so she can soak up as many novels as possible. Well, summer is gracing all of us with its presence, and she, along with my mother, are indulged in their book clubs. Both have about ten newly bought books ready to be read. I used to read just as diligently, but after finishing the Harry Potter series, nothing seemed to be up to par with my content standards. It has been a few months, and with this family reading fever heating up, I decided to try and reintroduce my brain waves to the literary world.

Since I am a creative writing major, you would think that reading would be a huge part of my education. However, it is more focused on my own writing which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I wish I had more time to read because I forgot what it feels like to read another's work and feel inspired to write my own. Today, that feeling has finally returned and my eyes are smiling. It is so refreshing to read a pure story that connects to that inner part of you. As a writer, that part of me is the electricity connecting the soul to my fingers that makes them want to skip around and sprinkle pages with something alive and breathing.

My first summer read has jump charged my battery. Katie Crouch writes an intimate novel about a southern girl trying to balance her crazy, rebellious insides, with her stictly taught polite outsides. It has a hint of old fashion flavor, with the simple living of the Camellia society that settles in Charleston, SC. Crouch flares the story up with bold characters trying to break free from the traditional expected lifestyle. Her main character Sarah Walters brings us through her life beginning as black sheep in her high school years, growing into a very curious and defiant college student, and finally ending up as a woman who has learned everything she needs to know about love and life by the unexpected turns awaiting her at every corner.

Girls in Trucks is Crouches first novel, and a definitely one to be proud of. She grabs the reader in with the very vulnerable truthes of life as a woman searching for love and acceptance in all the wrong places. We travel through a fast forwarded life, but still able to stop and smell the roses that thrive along memory lane. It is a must read for every woman who wishes to immerse herself in the ups and downs of life that make us the strong beauties we are today.