Here are some more excellent recommendations for summer reading:

With gas prices at an all time high, this summer is a great time to learn about different cultures through books. An added bonus is that many colleges will ask you on the application or during the interview what you've read, so make it something you really enjoyed and can talk about. Reading is also a great way to improve SAT scores. Here are a few great reads by country:

RUSSIA

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

If you liked the movie Matchpoint by Woody Allen, you'll love C&P. I read it in college with initial dread, but once I started reading it, I was hooked.

GERMANY

A lot has been written about Germany and how the Holocaust impacted the Jews and other victims, but what was Germany like for ordinary Germans during and after the Holocaust? The following three books give interesting insight into Germany during and after World War II from the German perspective.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Imagine "Death" as a person, narrating a story. That's what Zusak does in this extraordinary tale of how books feed life to a German girl and her family and friends during WWII. The first 75 pages is a little weird because "Death" narrates the story, but once you get past the idea, it's a wonderful read.

Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi

This book chronicles the life of Trudi Montag, a Zwerge or dwarf born between WWI and WWII. As a dwarf, she knows what it means to be different and as the Nazi regime gains power and she sees the negative impact it has on her small German town, she must make difficult decisions about how to lead her life. For some, it may start off slowly, but keep reading because it is a magnificent story that will make you question your own actions in difficult times.

The Reader by Bernard Schlink

Set in post-WWII Germany, this story gives yet another perspective. The prose is straight forward and reads like a memoir. It describes how a 15-year-old boy's encounter with an older woman influences his life in numerous ways. I don't want to give too much of the story away, but it's a relatively short book and a thought-provoking read. I must warn that if it was a movie, it would be rated R.

INDIA

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahari

A great book that traces the coming of age of an Indian boy. Great writing and an excellent portrayal of the culture. It was made into a movie last spring.

AFGHANISTAN

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Amazingly written and told coming-of-age story about an Afghanistani boy set against the politics of Afghanistan. His most recent book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, describes the culture from a girl's perspective. Both books bring you into the culture and make you realize how different our lives are in the United States.

CHINA

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See and The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

The first chronicles two women’s friendship in nineteenth-century China from their childhood days of footbinding to their later arranged marriages. This is a wonderful story about friendship and quite literally, the ties that bind and how they can be broken. The second book, The Good Earth, was first published in 1931 and won a Pulitzer Prize. It tells the story of an honest, hard-working farmer during the early part of the twentieth century. The historical context adds to the richness of both of these stories.

 
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Lisa Bleich

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