Last month I laid out my summer reading list but shortly afterwards I ended up at my favorite used bookstore with a $40 credit. Consequently my list has expanded considerably. I also realized I had a few books leftover from Christmas that I had never read. So here is the addendum to my original list:
So we're up to a total of 22 books to finish before the semester starts. How am I doing, you ask? From the original list I read most of My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales. I'm not a big fan of short stories or rather I enjoy them but I have a hard time reading one after another. So I was very surprised that I managed to get through most of this book before I had to pick up a novel. For the fairy tale lovers out there, there are some amazing ones in this little collection.
I also found Jane Smiley's Private Lives at the used bookstore and have finished that. It was an interesting read as it portrayed a woman's life from 1883 to 1942, a time period that you don't normally get in a modern novel. However I am often disappointed with Jane Smiley and this was no different. I think I'm always hoping for another A Thousand Acres and never get it.
For book club we read Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls are not for Sale, an Activist Finds Her Calling and Saves Herself. Since book club is meeting tomorrow and there is a lot to say about this book, I'll leave that for another post.
From the above list I've read The Witch of Blackbird Pond. For the life of me I could not remember why I had placed this book on my Young Adult To Re-Read list. Not that it wasn't enjoyable but rather that I had no specific recollection of reading it originally (although I must have) and it didn't seem like the kind of book I would have particularly enjoyed as a young adult. Some interesting historical fiction but too much silly romance.
I also read Francine Poser's Primitive People. I discovered Francine Poser when I picked up the book of fairy tales in the book store. Her fairy tale was the first I read in the collection and the reason I bought the book. She has a very engaging style and I do love satire. This may not have been her best novel but was fun none-the-less. I'm looking forward to reading more.
I'm also pages away from finishing Fire in the Blood. I adored Suite Francaise and while this is not as magnificent, it is a beautifully written little book. I've pretty much devoured it in a day.
So that is 6 down and 16 to go. For book club next month we are turning back to fiction and will read Father of the Rain. In the meantime I think I'll visit with Carson McCullers. I am a big fan of A Member of the Wedding and don't know how I've gotten this far without reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.
- Fire in the Blood by Irene Nemirovsky
- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
- Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
- Nerilka's Story by Anne McCaffrey
- The Mystery of Breathing by Perri Klass
- Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin
- When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present, by Gail Collins
- Primitive People by Francine Prose
- The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
So we're up to a total of 22 books to finish before the semester starts. How am I doing, you ask? From the original list I read most of My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales. I'm not a big fan of short stories or rather I enjoy them but I have a hard time reading one after another. So I was very surprised that I managed to get through most of this book before I had to pick up a novel. For the fairy tale lovers out there, there are some amazing ones in this little collection.
I also found Jane Smiley's Private Lives at the used bookstore and have finished that. It was an interesting read as it portrayed a woman's life from 1883 to 1942, a time period that you don't normally get in a modern novel. However I am often disappointed with Jane Smiley and this was no different. I think I'm always hoping for another A Thousand Acres and never get it.
For book club we read Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls are not for Sale, an Activist Finds Her Calling and Saves Herself. Since book club is meeting tomorrow and there is a lot to say about this book, I'll leave that for another post.
From the above list I've read The Witch of Blackbird Pond. For the life of me I could not remember why I had placed this book on my Young Adult To Re-Read list. Not that it wasn't enjoyable but rather that I had no specific recollection of reading it originally (although I must have) and it didn't seem like the kind of book I would have particularly enjoyed as a young adult. Some interesting historical fiction but too much silly romance.
I also read Francine Poser's Primitive People. I discovered Francine Poser when I picked up the book of fairy tales in the book store. Her fairy tale was the first I read in the collection and the reason I bought the book. She has a very engaging style and I do love satire. This may not have been her best novel but was fun none-the-less. I'm looking forward to reading more.
I'm also pages away from finishing Fire in the Blood. I adored Suite Francaise and while this is not as magnificent, it is a beautifully written little book. I've pretty much devoured it in a day.
So that is 6 down and 16 to go. For book club next month we are turning back to fiction and will read Father of the Rain. In the meantime I think I'll visit with Carson McCullers. I am a big fan of A Member of the Wedding and don't know how I've gotten this far without reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.
2 comments:
Can't believe you've never read Heart!
I loved The Witch of Blackbird Pond when I was a child, and I do remember re-reading it as an adult. I think what I remembered the most as a child was the character's independence and her willingness to be herself even though she was at risk with the restrictions of her society- so I remember it as being a positive influence.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is my favorite Carson McCuller's novel. I read it when I was probably 17 or 18. Somehow I came across it. After that, I read the rest of her work. I re-read it once as an adult, and I think it's time I read it again. I have a copy just waiting for the time.
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