My Summer 2013 Reading List
By Jorge Antonio Vallejos
It’s summer time!
A new season means a new reading list.
I don’t fall into reading the books that the newspapers promote during summer. I have a ton of books at home I’ve not read, and I keep buying books at GOODWILL and used bookstores, and people give me books, and I find books.
So I make my own list.
Readers don’t have to write but a writer has to read. Here’s my list!
Poetry
Selected Poems of Langston Hughes
Hero of the Play by Richard Harrison
Living In Paradise by Pier Giorgio Di Cicco
Bulletin From The Low Light b J. Fisher
Dinner At Madonnas by Kevin Irie
Invisible Foreground by David Bateman
Land To Light by Dionne Brand
Rooms by Diane Glancy
Poems From France Edited by William Jay Smith
Execution Poems by George Elliott Clarke
Love Medicine and One Song by Gregory Scofield
Alabanza by Martin Espada
Fiction
The Poet by Michael Connelly
Because They Wanted To by Mary Gaitskill
Nothing More Than Murder by Jim Thompson
The Road To Jewel Beach by Christopher Adamson
Memoir
Pimp by Iceberg Slim
The Long Walk by Slamovir Ramicz
Assata by Assata Shakur
Essays
Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
A Way of Being Free by Ben Okri
Teaching A Stone To Talk by Annie Dillard
Non Fiction
Far From Over by Dalton Higgins
Dirty Work by Jeffrey Cole and Sally Booth
Spiritual
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
What’s So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey
The Life You’ve Always Wanted by John Ortberg
Motivation
You Don’t Need A Title To Be A Leader by Mark Sanborn
Mastery by George Leonard
The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin
I started reading some of these books on June 21st: solstice and the start of summer. Mastery and You Don’t Need A Title To Be A Leader are done. I’m halfway throught The Art of Learning.
I’m off to a good start!
And I’m excited to read The Poet (which I have been looking for at GOODWILL for a long time) and Pimp, a street classic that I have heard about since I was a teen.
Is this list big? Yes!
Is there a lot to read? Yes.
But that’s what writers do: read, write, re-read, re-write…
If you are interested in reading one, or some, of these books with me email me at blackcoffeepoet@gmail.com. If you are in my city we can meet for coffee. If you are far off we can skype!
I hope you enjoy the sun, rain, breeze and books, lots of books, this summer!
Here are my previous reading lists:
Black Coffee Poet 
This is a dope list man! I’m reading Assata this summer too and some Donald Miller as well but a newer book “Like Young” which is on Jazz Pop and Rock. They’re doing a documentary about Iceburg Slim that’s inspired by “Pimp”, you should check it out after you read the book. Thanks for sharing and happy reading!
Writinginatree,
Thanks so much!
I’m excited to read “Assata” and “Pimp”!
Maybe we can discuss them after we’re done? Maybe we can do a VLOG about them?
Hugs,
Jorge
Black Coffee Poet
YES!!! Let’s VLOG it for sure! Take care, friend 🙂