Here and There: Barton Springs Pool

Photo by Michael Coté. Some rights reserved under Creative Commons.

Despite predictions of rain, we enjoyed some pretty nice weather here in Austin this recent holiday weekend. On Monday, after all the fireworks had been launched and all the sparklers sparkled, I headed down to Barton Springs Pool to spend some quality time with my current summer reading project: David Foster Wallace’s Girl With Curious Hair.

I wasn’t the only one toting a book inside my beach bag. From classics by Steinbeck and Fitzgerald to current bestsellers like Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love, and from decidedly beach-y reads to more challenging works like Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, the spectrum of poolside picks was impressive.

Here’s a sampling of what folks were reading last weekend:

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald  (Lauren, 15, was dipping into this classic for the first time.)

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Barbara Kingsolver  (Kingsolver seems to be a popular choice this summer; I spotted multiple people reading this memoir of the author’s year-long experiment in eating locally, as well as her most well-know work, listed below.)

The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders, Vincent Bugliosi

The Winner Stands Alone: A Novel, Paul Coelho  (“Not as good as his other work,” according to reader Kat, 24.)

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, Christopher McDougall

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, Elizabeth Gilbert  (A movie based on this 2006 bestselling memoir will be released this summer.)

Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro  (Also being made into a film, to be released in the fall.)

Spiral Jetta: A Road Trip through the Land Art of the American West, Erin Hogan  (The chapter on Marfa was of particular interest to reader Tom.)

Scar Tissue, Anthony Kiedis  (John was perusing this memoir of the Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman on a nook, the portable reading device from Barnes & Noble: According to its owner, the nook is perfect for summer reading: “the pages don’t blow in the wind and it’s easier to read in the sun.”)

Black Hills, Nora Roberts  (Also read on a nook.)

Seven Days in the Art World, Sarah Thornton

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference, Malcolm Gladwell

The Rainmaker, John Grisham

The Help, Kathryn Stockett (on the bestseller lists for a full year!)

Girl With Curious Hair, David Foster Wallace  (I highly recommend this collection; it’s far less daunting than Wallace’s Infinite Jest and, so far, a surprisingly warm, funny, and accessible read. Not a bad way to spend a lazy day by the pool.)

###

Got a favorite place in Austin or beyond to cool off with a good book? Let us know.

This post is part of a series exploring the relationship between place and fiction.