Summer reading

Heather recently posted this stack of books she read over the summer:

Yay! I got inspired to take a picture of my stack, with some in common because we both took "Reading and Writing Personal History" with Barry Spacks:

All of my books were for summer English and Literature classes; I wouldn't read that much on my own. I got most absorbed in This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff, When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago, and Kindred by Octavia Butler (I'd already read it in 10th grade, but it was good the second time too).

In other news, the CCS Student Lounge now has a set of this year's New Yorker issues for reading and borrowing but not stealing. We're watching you.

Isla Vista

As a Lit major, you probably have opinions about the local coffee. Here are mine. Nicoletti's (and its branches at the Arbor, by Buchanan, etc.) is pretty much the only option on campus, and it's sufficient between classes but not great. Luckily Caje in Isla Vista is reasonably good. It's tastier, quieter, and less crowded than Java Jones. This is what Caje looks like:

Isla Vista in general gets a lot of loathing, but I'm fond of it. Check out this detailed UCSB and Isla Vista Walking Tour by a Physics professor. A few of the highlighted locations: the entrance to a long-defunct asphalt mine, the memorial to the symbolic Isla Vista tree, the geodesic dome house, the Celtic cross at Coal Oil Point, and remnants of Isla Vista's primeval oak forest. You also can't miss the Food Co-op.