Making Lists

I have always been somewhat of a list person. When I was young I would go through the Sears catalog deciding what to order for my back to school clothes. As summer approaches I am equally excited about making two of my favorite
lists: Summer Reading and Summer Hiking.
Here are some of the books I hope to read this summer:

I read and enjoyed two young adult novels but Rainbow Rowell this year (Fangirl and Eleanor and Park). So I want to give her adult novel a try.
From Publishers Weekly
In sweet, silly, and incredibly long digital missives, best newsroom pals Beth and Jennifer trade gossip over their romances—What they don't know is that the newly hired computer guy, Lincoln, an Internet security officer charged with weeding out all things unnecessary or pornographic, is reading their messages. But lonely Lincoln lets the gals slide on their inappropriate office mail and gets hooked on their soapy dalliances, falling head over heels for the unlucky-in-love Beth.

Amazon Book Description: In a snug New England fishing village, Charlie St. Cloud tends the lawns and monuments of an ancient cemetery where his younger brother, Sam, is buried. After surviving the car accident that claimed his brother's life, Charlie is graced with an extraordinary gift: He can see, talk to, and even play catch with Sam's spirit. Into this magical world comes Tess Carroll, a captivating woman training for a solo sailing trip around the globe. Fate steers her boat into a treacherous storm that propels her into Charlie's life. Their beautiful and uncommon connection leads to a race against time and a choice between death and life, between the past and the future, between holding on and letting go — and the discovery that miracles can happen if we simply open our hearts.

Amazon Book Description
Publication Date: November 6, 2012
Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart--he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone--but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.

This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.

Every summer I read and enjoy a book by Kristin Hannah. I like her characters and always feel like I am with old friends. I have not yet decided which one I will choose for this summer- probably whichever is checked in at the library when I go tomorrow.

I like memoirs and I am constantly trying to cut down on sugar.... A "delightfully readable account of how one family survived a yearlong sugar-free diet and lived to tell the tale...A funny, intelligent, and informative memoir." —Kirkus

I really liked Nickel and Dimed and this topic interests me.

Book description from Amazon: From the New York Times bestselling author of Nickel and Dimed comes a brave, frank, and exquisitely written memoir that will change the way you see the world.

As for the hikes, check back at the end of the summer and I will have an update on which hikes I got to do with my favorite photo from each one.