Perhaps it would be better if I introduced the blog a little bit before I get into what I'll be reading the summer.
I've always been a little bit Victorian by nature; I love the fashion and all the best parts of the etiquette, oh, and heavens, the literature and art!
My last blog was a little restrained. Part of this was because I started it for a course, but part was because I thought I had to make some grand effort to completely reinvent myself as I started college. Now I am older, and too wise to attempt to be anything other than what I am. This blog is a window into my life, my mind, and (it must be said) my misadventures.
Now, to the business at hand: as I had been thinking of starting this blog for some time before a dear friend requested I share my summer reading list, my first post seems like a perfect place to do just that!
So here goes:
- Looking for Alaska by John Green - I start 5 books at a time. As a nerdfighter for two years, it is high time I finished this.
- Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Murder of Lord Darnley by Allison Weir - I've had a bookmark in this one for years. It's a fascinating history that covers Mary Stuart's whole life leading up to the part where she (probably) had her second husband murdered. In her defense, to call him a lout would be a compliment.
- The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - I am told anyone who ever hopes to write well, especially fantasy, ought to read this.
- A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin - Why yes, I am tackling two long fantasy series in one summer.
- Mrs. Dalloway and Orlando by Virginia Woolf - it was my dear friend and roommate, Jess, who pointed out that my writing voice was remarkably like Mrs. Woolf's, which I take as a high compliment. So these count as the most enjoyable sort of research for two of my own projects.
- Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour edited by Andrew O'Day - As a bred-in-the-bone Whovian, I couldn't resist this collection of scholarly articles about Matt Smith's term as the last of the Time Lords. What better way to accomplish my goal to read more non-fiction books?
- The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson - I may or may not be a wee bit obsessed with the World's Fair, particularly the Columbian Exposition of 1893. This book, so far, presents it brilliantly.
- The Meaning of Night: A Confession by Michael Cox - a brilliant-looking little thing I can't wait to dive into; based in Victorian times (+5), it tells the story of a man who, well, I'll tell you more once I've read it but it sounds divine.
- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - Technically, this is a re-read, but I'm not the same girl who read it the summer before her senior year of high school and took Holden Caulfield's word at face value.
- Monster by A. Lee Martinez - Not your typical novel about an exterminator in Florida; so far, there is a yeti in with the Klondike bars in a grocery store freezer. I only hope I can write this amusingly some day.
- Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - Jess has been saying I need to read this book for some time, so on to the list it goes. Worst case scenario, I'll read it as part of my fall reading list.
- Macbeth and Hamlet by William Shakspeare - I adore what I've read and seen performed of these, but I do need to read them all the way through.
- Finally, The Help by Kathryn Stockett - a copy of this has been sitting on my bookshelf, in my possession since January, I have no excuse.
What are you all planning to read? Let me know in comments or any other way you like!
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