Summer reading list, etc.

I've always been a bookworm. You'd think I would have taken up surfing or swimming or something outdoorsy since I grew up in Hawaii, but nope. I was shy and enjoyed holing up in my room with the latest Stephen King or Dean Koontz novel. I haven't been reading as much lately, not sure why, but here are a few books I've finished so far this summer:

Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen (stole this one from Chris and it inspired me to read the next one on this list)

1421, The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies (This isn't exactly new information; I remember learning about it in one of my college history classes. Also caught the PBS special in which the author was hammered by a bunch of historians from both the United States and China)

Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of growing up Iranian in America and American in Iran by Azadeh Moaveni

Here are the books I'm in the middle of reading:

Spunk and Bite by Arthur Plotnik (bought this one for the title alone, which is a play on the names of the authors who wrote The Elements of Style)

Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin (the author is autistic and while the book's observations are insightful they're also quite child-like)

That's about it. I officially have no TV now. Not that I want the latest Paris Hilton update anyway.