Summer Reading on Its Way!

My summer reading will commence late next week, on and around Friday, May 6th, because classes end Thursday, May 5th. Yes, I'll still have final drafts of research papers and final exam essays to grade, but my time-consuming commute will be over and time in general will free up a bit; enough at least to permit some real reading.

I want to escape most of all, so I want my first titles to encourage me to travel far, far beyond academia. I'll be thinking this week about which titles I want to gobble up first.

Yes, postwar Germany, the immediate aftermath of World War II, is a recurring interest for me. And, when I can, I'll continue my research in this area.

I'm hoping to audit a class in Children's Literature in late May and June at the college. A reknowned specialist is teaching the course, and as I am slated to teach it upon the retirement of the professor currently teaching it, I'm auditing to observe how college students respond to an immersion in Children's and YA Lit. It will consume me two days a week--from around 8am to 3pm. And, just think, I won't have any papers to grade. I'll be able to read as much children's lit as I can swallow and that's it! Not a bad schedule at all. And my mileage will be tax deductible.