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19 Summer Reading Ideas

Ah, summer. For those of us in academia it means time to work for yourself, and that includes feeding the mind literary goodness.  For when you're in the mood for word food, here are some ideas. 

Hyperlinks will take you to an excerpt on Google Books, if there is one.


About Percussion

The Percussionist's Art, by Steven Schick
Sticking it Out, by Patti Niemi
When the Drummers were Women, by Layne Redmond
Drumming at the Edge of Magic, by Mickey Hart and Jay Stevens
The Girl in the Back: A Female Drummer's Life with Bowie, Blondie, and the 70's Rock Scene, by Laura Davis-Chanin
Keiko Abe: A Virtuosic Life, by Rebecca Kite


About Artistry

Creativity, by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi
Flow, by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi
The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron
Walking in this World, by Julia Cameron
Finding Water, by Julia Cameron
Leonardo's Brain, by Leonard Shlain


About the Self

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey
Notes to Myself, by Hugh Prather
The Consolations of Philosophy, by Alain de Botton
Art is a Way of Knowing, by Pat B. Allen
The World in Six Songs, by Daniel Levitin
This is Your Brain on Music, by Daniel Levitin
Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy, by Robert Jourdain

This is by no means exhaustive, so if you have a favorite, please leave it in the comments!

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