Summer Reading List: What's In Your Book Bag?

We're heading into the Labor Day weekend, which to me always feels like the unofficial end of summer. White shoes go to the back of the closet (hey, I'm from New England) and I scramble to finish up my summer reading. I finished Lisa Delpit's Other People's Children, a provocative discussion of the struggle to create a culturally sensitive learning environment in diverse schools. My summer reading list also had a few classic titles I've been meaning to get around to for years, including Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy. Can I just say: Wow. I understand why Dresier's 1925 novel fell out of favor with teachers of English literature, replaced by more fluid modern writers who emerged in the 1940's and beyond. But Dreiser paints an incredible portrait of class struggle, yearning and the price of selfishness. On a lighter note, I also read The Help. Unfortunately this seems to be my English Patient moment. I absolutely despised the book. On Monday, I'll tell you why. What are you reading right now?