Three Books I Want to Read this Summer

Now that school is almost over, I'll finally have time to read on my own!  Here are three books that I have on my list for this summer.

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan
This isn't the kind of book that I would typically read because it is historical nonfiction, but it caught my attention when I performed in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar this year.  The show is controversial because it interprets the life of Jesus in a way that isn't strictly biblical.  It portrays events that may or may not have happened, suggests the way that Jesus and his disciples reacted to them, and poses the question of whether Jesus was divine or just a man.  Our director wanted to put on the show in a way that was as historically accurate as possible, and she based many of her ideas on Aslan's book.  Having gone to Sunday School my whole life, I have learned plenty about Jesus's life from a biblical perspective.  I'm interested in reading this book to discover it from a historical one.  The book has created controversy because Aslan is a Muslim writing on the central figure of Christianity.  Aslan sets aside the divine and examines the historical context of the times in which Jesus lived.  He portrays Jesus not as a spreader of peace, but as a rebel trying to help the poor and overthrow the oppressive government by any means necessary.  This view is radically different from what most Christians are taught about Jesus in church, so I'm eager to learn about his life from a different perspective by reading this book.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
I've heard the name of this book tossed around but never knew what it was about.  Recently I heard one of my friends say that this is their favorite book, so I wanted to check it out.  This is a dystopian story set in a future overrun by criminals.  It contains dark material and concerns themes such as life, death, and freedom.  Apparently this book contains extremely graphic violence, but I don't mind the shock.  I like reading books with dark subjects because I feel like they have a lot to say about life and humankind.  I also love dystopian settings because they allow the reader to imagine and reflect on situations that aren't true in real life, but could be true in the future if humans fail to prevent them.  This book is hard to read because it contains a lot of made up slang, but Burgess introduces the words in a way that the reader will quickly catch on to and learn to understand.



World War Z by Max Brooks
What can I say?  I'm a fan of zombie literature.  I already read Brooks's The Zombie Survival Guide and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Brooks is capable of creating a breed of zombie all his own, and provides a credible scientific explanation for them.  His attention to detail is phenomenal.  The guide was written as if it was really a survival guide and gave lots of good advice on avoiding and fighting off zombies.  I'm interested to see what sort of plot about the zombie war Brooks could create.  The fact that the book was made into a movie suggests that it is very exciting and fun to read.  The story is about Brooks traveling the world after the zombie war, interviewing various people and recording their first hand experiences.  Like The Zombie Survival Guide, this book is written as though it is about a real event, and that is what makes it so fascinating.