Summer Reading List, Pt. II

Don’t let the fact that Auburn’s been killing it on the recruiting trail this weekend distract you. Summer is quickly slipping away, and I bet none of you have completed the required reading. Strap in, we continue along with Summer Reading List, Pt. II: The Sequel.

CLIFFS (HARE’S) NOTES

STADIUM STORIES: AUBURN TIGERS

Chances are you’re familiar with at least the last several years, including Auburn’s BCS National Championship in 2010 and the madness of 2013. For those of you whose sense of history isn’t quite up to snuff, here’s a chance for you to cram before the final. Phillip Marshall’s STADIUM STORIES: AUBURN TIGERS covers basically everything you need to know for a passing grade in Auburnology 101. From a quick history about the formation and naming of the university to George Petrie putting together a team where everyone went by their first two initials (R.M. Stephens, H.T. DeBardeleben, etc.), Marshall then explains the major points of Auburn’s football history. The biggies like Shug, Pat, Bo, and Dye are heavily featured, along with major games like Punt Bama Punt, the first Iron Bowl in Auburn, and historic seasons like 1993 and 2004. A concise and easy read, this book provides what you need to know to get through your first term.

AUBURN HISTORY 2000

HIDDEN HISTORY OF AUBURN

So, you’ve gotten through your freshman-level history course and know the basics on the football field. But what happens when you put yourself out there a little too far and you get yourself into a Good Will Hunting situation?

You’re probably not going to have a Damonesque response ready to go, so you better be able to talk about those modalities. Thank heavens you would’ve read Kelly Kazek’s HIDDEN HISTORY OF AUBURN and you know all about the events that have shaped the town and the university off the football field. Kazek does indeed talk extensively about the Kopper Kettle, a greasy spoon on Magnolia, that exploded one Sunday morning in 1978. She provides first-hand accounts of events like that, and memories of old haunts long-since absent from the Auburn landscape. She didn’t ask me to contribute about what it’s like to climb the Samford Hall fire escape, but that’s okay.

HISTORY 3510: THEORY OF THE 2010 SEASON

SEASON OF OUR DREAMS: THE 2010 AUBURN TIGERS

Here we go, you’ve nearly reached the end of the line and you’re getting ready to graduate. First, you’ve got to be able to prove that you’re not only ready to spew facts and figures about Auburn, but that you understand what it all meant. That’s where we bring in Van Allen Plexico and John Ringer and their semi-stream-of-consciousness style book detailing their thoughts on the 2010 season. You’ll get bits on lucky articles of clothing, certain curses (The Hawg Hex chief among them), and some of the natural pessimism that made 2010 such a fantastic and unexpected year. Week after week you can relive certain thoughts you may have had yourself during that magical run, and hear their slight neurotic nature as you imagine them trying not to upset the universe’s cosmic mojo on the way to a national title. Altogether, it’s a quick and fun read that will take you back to some of the minutiae that’s likely been forgotten in the last several years.

Complete these three books and you’ll fare well in any Auburn conversation. However, education never really ends! We’ll continue in the next few days with the reading-for-pleasure portion (tell-alls!) of our Summer Reading List.