all done in 10 days...just two more exams to write and i'll be a real librarian!
in other news...i've discovered a book that was on my bookshelf that is perfect for all of my fellow twentysomethings: It's a Wonderful Lie...can't wait to read more of the essays!
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
SelfPortraits and BookShelves
I've always been a fan of the self-portrait. You can really learn what people like and dislike about themselves. I am also a huge fan of books and I think you can learn a lot about someone by looking at their bookshelves...today you will learn a little more about me.
Award Winners
For many years, I have been trying to read all of the Pulitzer Prize winning fiction...it's a lot of books and I have not done that great. Of the 83 winners in the novel/fiction category, I have read 10. However, those 10 have taught me that just because a book wins a prize, it doesn't mean it's any good. The few I've read are:
The Good Earth (1932) - I had to read it in high school...I still rememberWang Lung, Lotus and the ugly wife...however, I'm sure I didn't like it at the time!
Gone with the Wind (1937) - One of my favorites! I think everyone should read this book!
The Grapes of Wrath (1940) - Another required reading, pretty sure the chapter about a turtle crossing the road ruined it for me.
To Kill A Mockingbird (1961) - Awesome...I've read it more than once.
A Confederancy of Dunces (1981) - HATED IT!
The Color Purple (1988) - I really didn't get it, I have no idea what the fuss is all about!
Lonesome Dove (1986) - Love this book. One of my top 10 favorite books.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2001) - Enjoyed it. It made me want to read comic books.
Empire Falls (2002) - I think I liked it. Obviously, it wasn't terribly memorable.
Middlesex (2003) - Great book...read it more than once!
Of course, I own several of the books that I have not read becaues I have a horrible habit of buying lots of books and then not reading them. I'll get to them because seeing this list of so few makes me very sad.
The Good Earth (1932) - I had to read it in high school...I still rememberWang Lung, Lotus and the ugly wife...however, I'm sure I didn't like it at the time!
Gone with the Wind (1937) - One of my favorites! I think everyone should read this book!
The Grapes of Wrath (1940) - Another required reading, pretty sure the chapter about a turtle crossing the road ruined it for me.
To Kill A Mockingbird (1961) - Awesome...I've read it more than once.
A Confederancy of Dunces (1981) - HATED IT!
The Color Purple (1988) - I really didn't get it, I have no idea what the fuss is all about!
Lonesome Dove (1986) - Love this book. One of my top 10 favorite books.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2001) - Enjoyed it. It made me want to read comic books.
Empire Falls (2002) - I think I liked it. Obviously, it wasn't terribly memorable.
Middlesex (2003) - Great book...read it more than once!
Of course, I own several of the books that I have not read becaues I have a horrible habit of buying lots of books and then not reading them. I'll get to them because seeing this list of so few makes me very sad.
spent most of the day away...got a pedicure, went to the library, and then spent more than i should at barnes & noble. came home...watched some movies. it wasn't a bad day. i wish i had more time to read.
currently, i'm reading eat, pray, love...it's amazing and, i think, just what i needed right now. from previous posts, i'm sure everyone has gathered that i don't really prescribe/subscribe to a traditional religion and maybe lean toward atheism at times. i have my own beliefs about the universe and what we can get out of it...magical thinking, etc...but i'm still very intrigued by the spirituality that gilbert discusses. mostly because it is very personal and i like that. i like that she says that you can pick your own religion...heck! i like to believe you can even create your own. a belief is true when it is believed...that's one thing i remember from my world religions class in 10th grade (i actually remember quite a bit from that class!). it's also something that i truly believe. i try not to judge other's beliefs...not because i could be wrong or right, but because we're all correct. my friend nancy said that she read something that says that what happens when you die is based on what you believe, i like this idea. if you believe in heaven/hell, you'll go there...if you believe in reincarnation, you will be reincarnated...if you believe it's one big, long, beautiful nap, then get ready for the best nap of your life.
to change the topic real quick...i've seen a few movies lately...all entertaining. but it's complicated and (500) days of summer really stand out...both awesomely good and great distractions!
my resolution this year: drink more water and less soda...but i will not drop soda completely, that's just crazy and i would fail.
now it's bed time...
(thank you all for your support, knowing you guys are out there really does help. thank you.)
currently, i'm reading eat, pray, love...it's amazing and, i think, just what i needed right now. from previous posts, i'm sure everyone has gathered that i don't really prescribe/subscribe to a traditional religion and maybe lean toward atheism at times. i have my own beliefs about the universe and what we can get out of it...magical thinking, etc...but i'm still very intrigued by the spirituality that gilbert discusses. mostly because it is very personal and i like that. i like that she says that you can pick your own religion...heck! i like to believe you can even create your own. a belief is true when it is believed...that's one thing i remember from my world religions class in 10th grade (i actually remember quite a bit from that class!). it's also something that i truly believe. i try not to judge other's beliefs...not because i could be wrong or right, but because we're all correct. my friend nancy said that she read something that says that what happens when you die is based on what you believe, i like this idea. if you believe in heaven/hell, you'll go there...if you believe in reincarnation, you will be reincarnated...if you believe it's one big, long, beautiful nap, then get ready for the best nap of your life.
to change the topic real quick...i've seen a few movies lately...all entertaining. but it's complicated and (500) days of summer really stand out...both awesomely good and great distractions!
my resolution this year: drink more water and less soda...but i will not drop soda completely, that's just crazy and i would fail.
now it's bed time...
(thank you all for your support, knowing you guys are out there really does help. thank you.)
Good book alert! (And maybe spoilers...)
Just finished one of the most shockingly good books...The Pillars of the Earth. I had NO IDEA it was so good, I just thought it was one of those books people are so proud of themselves for finishing that they brag about it to everyone but secretly hate themselves for wasting the time reading it (I do this with Crime & Punishment). I finished all 973 pages in just 3 days. Fantastic book...it's right up there with Gone with the Wind, Lonesome Dove, These is My Words...just phenomenal.
I would like to say that William Hamleigh might just be at the top of my list of Most Hated Character in Literature. He has zero redeeming qualities. Really hate him. He deserves what William Wallace did not deserve in Braveheart!
Also just discovered that Pillars is currently being made into a mini-series. How exciting! I read the synopsis and they've changed the story around a little...Jack is born when his father is killed, Tom doesn't deliver the baby, he leaves Alfred there so he can go find Ellen for assistance...according to the synopsis, the Jonathan story is left out completely...and Regan Hamleigh is described as beautiful, but with an ugly birthmark. Oh the changes they make...
Spent all of the book trying to figure out how to pronounce Aliena...Follett says: Alley Ain Uh (I say Alley Ahn Uh).
I would like to say that William Hamleigh might just be at the top of my list of Most Hated Character in Literature. He has zero redeeming qualities. Really hate him. He deserves what William Wallace did not deserve in Braveheart!
Also just discovered that Pillars is currently being made into a mini-series. How exciting! I read the synopsis and they've changed the story around a little...Jack is born when his father is killed, Tom doesn't deliver the baby, he leaves Alfred there so he can go find Ellen for assistance...according to the synopsis, the Jonathan story is left out completely...and Regan Hamleigh is described as beautiful, but with an ugly birthmark. Oh the changes they make...
Spent all of the book trying to figure out how to pronounce Aliena...Follett says: Alley Ain Uh (I say Alley Ahn Uh).
religion...ramblings...
After I wrote all of this, I realized some may be offended. Please don't be...I'm not trying to upset or make fun or anything, I'm just trying to understand. This is my crisis of faith that's been going on for years that has been piqued by what I'm reading and watching.
I wish school was as interesting as the books I read for fun. Right now I'm reading The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible by A. J. Jacobs. He is agnostic, but he decides to live his life as Biblically as possible for one year. He spends most of his time focusing on the Old Testament. He tries to follow it as literally as possible. He has several spiritual advisors that he talks to, he prays 3 times a day for 10 minutes, and he seperates his fibers. Instead of focusing on the 613 laws set by Rabbis many moons ago, he picks some to focus on because if he tried to follow them all at once his brain would explode. He's not picky about what specific organization/sect/religion he speaks to...he visits an Amish farm, he celebrates Simchas Torah, and he goes to the Creation Museum.
The Creation Museum really intrigues me...in the museum there are dinosaurs and humans living together. They really believe that the Earth was created 6,000 years ago. The organization that opened the Creation Museum is called Answers in Genesis and they have a way to explain everything. According to the organization, dinosaurs were created on Day 6, the same day as Adam and Eve and all the other land animals, and they were on Noah's Ark. Of course, the fossils are from the animals that died in the Great Flood. Where are the dinosaurs now? Well, a few hundred years ago when everyone saw dragons flying around, those were dinosaurs. And Job references a "behemoth" which is a dinosaur. If you were wondering, the reason we don't have dinosaurs today...well, after the Flood, the Earth was different, they just couldn't survive in the new surroundings.
They are very convincing. They don't just give you their spin, they also tell you what scientists say. In the Jacobs book, he even says there is an astrophysicist (or someone like that) that works there and even he believes the Answers in Genesis theory. It's incredibly intriguing.
Bill Maher visited the Creation Museum in Religulous...he also went to the Holy Land Experience in Orlando. It's a Biblical theme park. He also really brings up information that I never heard in my church going days. Maher mentions previous gods that are similar to Jesus in many ways...virgin birth, baptism, disciples, etc. He mentions Mithra, Horus/Osiris, and Krishna to name a few...I'm going to need to look into those some more for my own information. He isn't kind to any religion, he calls Scientologists crazy. But he also makes a good point...who's to say what's crazy? A virgin birth or aliens inside us or men flying away on horses? I've never seen a pregnant virgin, an alien or a flying horse. (For the record, Maher says religion is a neurological disease and everyone is crazy...except it's sanity by consensus.) Maher even talks to Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda a man that believes he is the second coming of Christ (and apparently the Antichrist at the same time). There's also people in Amsterdam that smoke a lot of pot and call it a religion (Cantheism). And, one of my favorite parts is when Maher visits the Muslim gay bar. (But really, my FAVORITE part is when he's dressed like a crazy man yelling the tenets of Scientology.)
While both Religulous and Living Biblically are both two men seeking answers, they do it in very different ways. I appreciate both. Maher is funny...it's what he does for a living, but I think he makes very valid points along the way. Jacobs is attempting to get his answers by doing and I can respect that. Sometimes to get answers, you can't just ask questions, you have to experience it for yourself and learn along the way.
Bottom line...I don't know what I believe. I started going to church when I was a baby with my aunt and uncle, essentially I was raised Baptist. When I was around 10, my parents started going to church, so I went with them. My parents went to (and still attend) a Pentecostal church. Two VERY different denominations of Christianity. By the time I was 14, I stopped going to church. My dad was not pleased. I just didn't get it...I never felt the pull or maybe I did and I don't remember anymore. When I was 14, it was hard for me to look around and see all the other people my age that were going these really horrible things, and I was supposed to keep going to church so that I wouldn't do those things? We're talking drugs, drinking, and sex....I didn't do any of that at 14...and not at 15, 16, 17, 18 or even now!...I was a really good kid and it wasn't church that made me that way.
Now with everything going on, I just don't know. Mark talks about going to church, but would it help? If he believes it will, then yes...I think it will help. But if he's just going because everyone else tells him he should, then it's not going to change anything.
See...I believe that a belief is true when it is believed...and it's true for the believer, not for everyone else. Essentially, it's impossible to argue with believers because in their head it's true...there's no changing it and really no reason to judge because they could be right.
I have to stop now...I'm going to start rambling even more and not getting anywhere.
Bottom line...I think Religulous is something that everyone should watch because if you're going to believe something, eventually someone will question you and you have to be able to defend your belief intelligently. That's part of what makes the movie funny, some people have no idea how to get their point across without sounding silly. Maher even gives props when someone has a genious analogy (the Holy Trinity like water/ice/vapor - from the man that plays Jesus at Holy Land).
Seriously, I'm done now.
I wish school was as interesting as the books I read for fun. Right now I'm reading The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible As Literally As Possible by A. J. Jacobs. He is agnostic, but he decides to live his life as Biblically as possible for one year. He spends most of his time focusing on the Old Testament. He tries to follow it as literally as possible. He has several spiritual advisors that he talks to, he prays 3 times a day for 10 minutes, and he seperates his fibers. Instead of focusing on the 613 laws set by Rabbis many moons ago, he picks some to focus on because if he tried to follow them all at once his brain would explode. He's not picky about what specific organization/sect/religion he speaks to...he visits an Amish farm, he celebrates Simchas Torah, and he goes to the Creation Museum.
The Creation Museum really intrigues me...in the museum there are dinosaurs and humans living together. They really believe that the Earth was created 6,000 years ago. The organization that opened the Creation Museum is called Answers in Genesis and they have a way to explain everything. According to the organization, dinosaurs were created on Day 6, the same day as Adam and Eve and all the other land animals, and they were on Noah's Ark. Of course, the fossils are from the animals that died in the Great Flood. Where are the dinosaurs now? Well, a few hundred years ago when everyone saw dragons flying around, those were dinosaurs. And Job references a "behemoth" which is a dinosaur. If you were wondering, the reason we don't have dinosaurs today...well, after the Flood, the Earth was different, they just couldn't survive in the new surroundings.
They are very convincing. They don't just give you their spin, they also tell you what scientists say. In the Jacobs book, he even says there is an astrophysicist (or someone like that) that works there and even he believes the Answers in Genesis theory. It's incredibly intriguing.
Bill Maher visited the Creation Museum in Religulous...he also went to the Holy Land Experience in Orlando. It's a Biblical theme park. He also really brings up information that I never heard in my church going days. Maher mentions previous gods that are similar to Jesus in many ways...virgin birth, baptism, disciples, etc. He mentions Mithra, Horus/Osiris, and Krishna to name a few...I'm going to need to look into those some more for my own information. He isn't kind to any religion, he calls Scientologists crazy. But he also makes a good point...who's to say what's crazy? A virgin birth or aliens inside us or men flying away on horses? I've never seen a pregnant virgin, an alien or a flying horse. (For the record, Maher says religion is a neurological disease and everyone is crazy...except it's sanity by consensus.) Maher even talks to Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda a man that believes he is the second coming of Christ (and apparently the Antichrist at the same time). There's also people in Amsterdam that smoke a lot of pot and call it a religion (Cantheism). And, one of my favorite parts is when Maher visits the Muslim gay bar. (But really, my FAVORITE part is when he's dressed like a crazy man yelling the tenets of Scientology.)
While both Religulous and Living Biblically are both two men seeking answers, they do it in very different ways. I appreciate both. Maher is funny...it's what he does for a living, but I think he makes very valid points along the way. Jacobs is attempting to get his answers by doing and I can respect that. Sometimes to get answers, you can't just ask questions, you have to experience it for yourself and learn along the way.
Bottom line...I don't know what I believe. I started going to church when I was a baby with my aunt and uncle, essentially I was raised Baptist. When I was around 10, my parents started going to church, so I went with them. My parents went to (and still attend) a Pentecostal church. Two VERY different denominations of Christianity. By the time I was 14, I stopped going to church. My dad was not pleased. I just didn't get it...I never felt the pull or maybe I did and I don't remember anymore. When I was 14, it was hard for me to look around and see all the other people my age that were going these really horrible things, and I was supposed to keep going to church so that I wouldn't do those things? We're talking drugs, drinking, and sex....I didn't do any of that at 14...and not at 15, 16, 17, 18 or even now!...I was a really good kid and it wasn't church that made me that way.
Now with everything going on, I just don't know. Mark talks about going to church, but would it help? If he believes it will, then yes...I think it will help. But if he's just going because everyone else tells him he should, then it's not going to change anything.
See...I believe that a belief is true when it is believed...and it's true for the believer, not for everyone else. Essentially, it's impossible to argue with believers because in their head it's true...there's no changing it and really no reason to judge because they could be right.
I have to stop now...I'm going to start rambling even more and not getting anywhere.
Bottom line...I think Religulous is something that everyone should watch because if you're going to believe something, eventually someone will question you and you have to be able to defend your belief intelligently. That's part of what makes the movie funny, some people have no idea how to get their point across without sounding silly. Maher even gives props when someone has a genious analogy (the Holy Trinity like water/ice/vapor - from the man that plays Jesus at Holy Land).
Seriously, I'm done now.
all alone...
Mark, Vanessa, and Syd went to San Diego to visit friends, Sea World, and the zoo. I stayed home to reclaim my sanity. I think it worked! They've been gone since Tuesday...since then...I hung out with Sara, studied for and took a Math placement test, registered for a Math class, finished a great book (The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder - lots of crying), watched Role Models, drove over to see Sara and her new house, and now I'm getting ready to go hang with Deacon and Beej. (I probably should have done more homework while I was alone, but that's no fun!) It's been so nice to be free to do whatever I want without anyone asking me 20 questions about what I'm doing or where I'm going. I actually felt 26 instead of 16 again!
more austen spoofs...yes, please!
I would like to thank living read girl for bringing to my attention the next batch of Austen Monsters. I loved Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and coming in September, I will get to enjoy Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters! Sweet! Bring it on Quirk!
surviving...
First...thank you to my Chicks on Lit...knowing someone is out there helps!
Self-Portrait: Me and Shayla
Family Portrait at the Canyon
A scenic stop...
Sedona...we are dorks.
Tomorrow, I'm taking Shayla and Anthony to Wet n' Wild! Hopefully, it will not be too busy on a Monday!
Second...still 10 of us in this 2000 sq. ft. house, but it's not so bad! We went to the Grand Canyon and drove through Sedona on Thursday.
Family Portrait at the Canyon A scenic stop... Sedona...we are dorks.
Tomorrow, I'm taking Shayla and Anthony to Wet n' Wild! Hopefully, it will not be too busy on a Monday!
School is OK...I'm just over my classes.
Started reading the Kitty series by Carrie Vaughn that I won from living read girl. It's a fun series! Kitty is a mix of Sookie Stackhouse and Stephanie Plum! She's a werewolf just trying to be a regular girl...except she's also a radio DJ and outed herself as a werewolf. Oopsie!
I can't sit in silence anymore. I have to be doing something at all times to stop thinking about Mark. For instance, today on my drive back to Tucson, I called Volkswagen and refinanced my car. I have a 2005 VW Beetle Convertible that I was leasing...now I'm buying! I think I got a pretty good deal. Considering this is the first and only car I've ever had, I really have no idea. My interest rate is under 6% and my payments will be lower than I'm currently paying. So in less than five years, I will no longer have a car payment!! Then I called my mom to tell her my exciting news...I know she was dreading my phone call for her to cosign. Then I called my sister...then I called Mark, but he couldn't talk for long. However, I know he has to be pleased because his name was on the lease...now it's not! After talking to him for a couple of minutes I called Sara...then I was home for a couple of hours, but I was busy reading, checking email, getting ready for work, etc...
When I got off work, I called Sheila (she didn't answer...I blame the 3 hour time difference)...so I called Nancy (also a 3 hour time difference but the other way) and talked to her. But then we got disconnected so I tried BJ, but she didn't answer. By then it was time for prime time TV! So I started watching The Big Bang Theory which I have missed several episodes of because it's not available on the Internet. Then BJ called me back and we chatted a while...then How I Met Your Mother and Heroes was on...so I successfully kept myself distracted and mentally never alone for most of the day. But now I need to shower...and I can't really talk on the phone while in the shower and I can't obsessively check my email or Goodreads while in the shower. So it's tricky...maybe I'll just shower in the morning. That way I'll be really tired in the morning and my head will be too cloudy to think.
I'm currently reading Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. I'm not a zombie person...never seen a zombie movie...in fact, when I was little that Night of the Living Dead movie was always on my Uncle Billy's TV...freaked me out. Not to mention, I've always been terrified that dead people really will rise up from the grave and try to kill me. I blame my Uncle Billy's TV...When my Granddaddy died (I was 5 or 6), I was so freaked out I couldn't sleep by myself for years. And funerals freak me out...I can't go to a funeral that's open casket because I won't be able to sleep alone for days. In fact, after a brief stint of obsessively watching scary movies in high school and for about a second in college, I completely gave them up. I can't watch scary movies alone. I did break down and go see the new Prom Night with my friend Vanetta, but I had issues sleeping after that...anyway...I digress. The point is, I'm not reading it for the zombies. Pride & Prejudice is one of my favorite books and Pride & Prejudice & Zombies is hilarious. I believe Jane Austen would be a Buffy fan if she were alive today...and I think that if she were a modern lady, she would have added zombies herself. It's definitely Joss Whedon kitschy. I love it! I can't wait to get my copy of Pride & Prejudice from my sister so I can read it again (for the 30th time) and see exactly what changes were made.
When I got off work, I called Sheila (she didn't answer...I blame the 3 hour time difference)...so I called Nancy (also a 3 hour time difference but the other way) and talked to her. But then we got disconnected so I tried BJ, but she didn't answer. By then it was time for prime time TV! So I started watching The Big Bang Theory which I have missed several episodes of because it's not available on the Internet. Then BJ called me back and we chatted a while...then How I Met Your Mother and Heroes was on...so I successfully kept myself distracted and mentally never alone for most of the day. But now I need to shower...and I can't really talk on the phone while in the shower and I can't obsessively check my email or Goodreads while in the shower. So it's tricky...maybe I'll just shower in the morning. That way I'll be really tired in the morning and my head will be too cloudy to think.
I'm currently reading Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. I'm not a zombie person...never seen a zombie movie...in fact, when I was little that Night of the Living Dead movie was always on my Uncle Billy's TV...freaked me out. Not to mention, I've always been terrified that dead people really will rise up from the grave and try to kill me. I blame my Uncle Billy's TV...When my Granddaddy died (I was 5 or 6), I was so freaked out I couldn't sleep by myself for years. And funerals freak me out...I can't go to a funeral that's open casket because I won't be able to sleep alone for days. In fact, after a brief stint of obsessively watching scary movies in high school and for about a second in college, I completely gave them up. I can't watch scary movies alone. I did break down and go see the new Prom Night with my friend Vanetta, but I had issues sleeping after that...anyway...I digress. The point is, I'm not reading it for the zombies. Pride & Prejudice is one of my favorite books and Pride & Prejudice & Zombies is hilarious. I believe Jane Austen would be a Buffy fan if she were alive today...and I think that if she were a modern lady, she would have added zombies herself. It's definitely Joss Whedon kitschy. I love it! I can't wait to get my copy of Pride & Prejudice from my sister so I can read it again (for the 30th time) and see exactly what changes were made.
abusive boyfriend or perfect man?
I'm currently reading Twilight and 198
4 and the strangest thing just happened...last night, I was reading about Winston and his Junior League Anti-Sex girl having their first rendezvous in the meadow in the Oceania/British countryside. As I was reading I thought about the Twilight scene in Edward's meadow...and I just read it. Isn't it interesting how both books have similar scenes, but one can make your heart race while the other makes you feel kind of dirty?
This is my second reading of both books...of course, 1984 was read the first time around a few years ago, while Twilight was just a few months ago. Twilight still makes my heart pound...but I'm also seeing the flaws this time around. Still a good story...but not such great writing. I was reading on Goodreads in a review who men should read Twilight for insight into women and relationships...it's so true. We don't need bodice-ripping romances to make out hearts race...we just need men that want us so much that they can't even touch us.
However, as much as I love the story...Edward reminds me a little of an abusive boyfriend...he's got a quick temper and Bella has to live in constant fear that he's going to kill her. Not a healthy relationship at all!
4 and the strangest thing just happened...last night, I was reading about Winston and his Junior League Anti-Sex girl having their first rendezvous in the meadow in the Oceania/British countryside. As I was reading I thought about the Twilight scene in Edward's meadow...and I just read it. Isn't it interesting how both books have similar scenes, but one can make your heart race while the other makes you feel kind of dirty?This is my second reading of both books...of course, 1984 was read the first time around a few years ago, while Twilight was just a few months ago. Twilight still makes my heart pound...but I'm also seeing the flaws this time around. Still a good story...but not such great writing. I was reading on Goodreads in a review who men should read Twilight for insight into women and relationships...it's so true. We don't need bodice-ripping romances to make out hearts race...we just need men that want us so much that they can't even touch us.
However, as much as I love the story...Edward reminds me a little of an abusive boyfriend...he's got a quick temper and Bella has to live in constant fear that he's going to kill her. Not a healthy relationship at all!
second time around...
I realized today while at the library talking to a classmate that I've unconsciously been rereading a lot of books...the Shopaholic series, Austen, classics and "required reading". I've always had a bad habit of reading books too quickly...I enjoy them, but I end up missing a lot. Right now, I'm rereading Twilight because the first time around I read it in a few hours. Now that I've discussed it with so many people...I'm no longer sure of my own opinion. However, just 70 pages in, I'm still getting that tension between Edward and Bella that I loved the first time around. No...the writing isn't Austen, or even Rowling, but it's still a good story. I'm also reading 1984 again. It's been so long since I read it the first time, I'm excited to give it another shot! I'm also looking forward to rereading The Great Gatsby...and The World According to Garp (love it!)...and the other Austen novels (I read Emma in Feb)...and Harry Potter (something I've done every summer for the past few years)...and Summer Sisters...and My Sweet Audrina and These Is My Words (truly an incredible book)...and Circle of Friends! The nice thing about rereading my favorites is that I can also read something new at the same time. I really love to read.
i love reading.
I'm reading a collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short stories and I think I want to continue on my journey through American history via fiction. Next, I can read Hemingway or Steinbeck (but not Faulkner, it's too painful)...then Salinger. I've never been a Hemingway fan, but he was frenemies with Fitzgerald and a mentor to Salinger so I have to read at least a short story by him. However, I wasn't a Fitzgerald fan in high school either, which is the only time I've ever read Hemingway. I'm thinking I had bad taste in high school...we'll see if I still enjoy Catcher in the Rye in my mid-twenties. I think I'm more interested in the progression of writing and genres in America versus the actual history of our country. After Salinger, I'm thinking probably Kerouac and Kesey, then on to Vonnegut and Updike. After that the world is my oyster because in the 70s Postmodernism started building and hasn't really stopped...Toni Morrison, Cormac McCarthy, Chuck Palahniuk...I may stop with Salinger and move on to Flannery O'Connor.
I'm always amazed when I discover that authors were friends or rivals. I think it's hilarious that Charlotte Bronte considered Jane Austen a rival while Mark Twain greatly disliked anything Austen. (Personally, I love Austen.)
To be totally honest...I'll never read all of those authors in any kind of particular order. I have so much that I want to read that's on my shelf that I have to get through first. (Some of which includes the above authors like Flannery O'Connor's short stories and everything published by Salinger...sadly, I even have Faulkner that I've never read). I should probably focus on school and studying for the LSAT...but it isn't nearly as much fun as dreaming of all the free time I will have to read for pleasure. Or, better still, actually reading for fun!
I'm always amazed when I discover that authors were friends or rivals. I think it's hilarious that Charlotte Bronte considered Jane Austen a rival while Mark Twain greatly disliked anything Austen. (Personally, I love Austen.)
To be totally honest...I'll never read all of those authors in any kind of particular order. I have so much that I want to read that's on my shelf that I have to get through first. (Some of which includes the above authors like Flannery O'Connor's short stories and everything published by Salinger...sadly, I even have Faulkner that I've never read). I should probably focus on school and studying for the LSAT...but it isn't nearly as much fun as dreaming of all the free time I will have to read for pleasure. Or, better still, actually reading for fun!
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