reading is really cool!

a bookstore in west va
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i got my college degree in english. i think i originally chose the major because english classes in high school were always my favorites, and they came so easily to me. however, i really, really fell in love with literature during my four years at roanoke college. especially in my senior year, when i was able to really focus on everything i was reading.

one fallback to majoring in english in college was that i had very little free time to read anything of my own choosing. this meant that once i graduated, i was beyond overwhelmed by all of the choices in books that i had. it was like this ridiculous floodgate opened and i had no idea where to start. obviously i want to read everything ever written, so i needed to find a way to do it. ;)

thus began self-induced reading lists. this way, i give myself about ten books at a time to work through, and while i'm reading those, i can mark down anything else that catches my eye during that time, and that'll go on my next list.. and so on and so forth. i'm about to finish up my last book in my most recent list, and i thought i'd post my next one here. they are usually full of things that don't make sense together at all, since there's no rhyme or reason to them.

currently, i'm reading "geek love" by katherine dunn. it's kind of creepy, and not something that i'd normally read.. at all, but amazon kept suggesting it so i finally gave in. sometimes i think amazon knows me better than i know myself. i love carnival themes, and so far this book is beautifully written (and nothing that i expected it to be). so, when i finish "geek love," i'll start something from my new list! besides getting them only from my list, i don't read them in any particular order, i just go with whatever sounds good when i finish a book. this is why i ended up reading "the year of the flood," which is the second book in the maddaddam trilogy, then "the great house" which is kind of like a book of short stories, and THEN "oryx and crake," which is the first book in the maddaddam trilogy. totally weird and out of order, but it worked for me.

here's my new list:

"just kids" by patti smith

i have heard nothing but good things about this book, from all kinds of people. i love biographies and patti smith, but honestly, i just really love reading about friendships. i'm really excited.

"the borrower" by rebecca makkai

this book is on my list solely because at some point, some review compared her to both nabokov ("lolita") AND helen fielding (the bridget jones' diaries series) and that's awesome and weird and i want to see if it's even possible.

"how to be alone: essays" by jonathan franzen

a lot of people really don't like franzen, but i'm not clear on the reasons why, so i'm interested to see how i feel about him once i read something of his. i like essays (i read a couple by joan didion this month and now i'm a little obsessed), so this'll be a nice break from all of the novels.

"the fault in our stars" by john green

this sounds a little bit like a soap opera (or at least just a little bit dramatic), and sometimes i just want to read a soap opera, ok!?

"so big" by edna ferber

honestly, i've been wanting to read this book for so long that i can't even remember my original reasons. and i haven't picked it up yet, because it isn't available on kindle (i KNOW, but it's so so so easy to just rent an ebook from my bed).. i'd really like to get out to the library anyway, to look for more books to add to lists later. amazon tells me that this book remains current, because it deals with issues like poverty, sexism, and the want for success in a way that resonates with modern readers. sounds good.

"the stranger" by albert camus

mostly i'm just angry that i never came across this book in my 17 years of schooling. it's about time i read it.

"a confederacy of dunces" by john kennedy toole

see above. ugh.

"an american tragedy" by theodore dreiser

when i was way too young, probably middle school sometime, i attempted to read this book and gave up due to the fact that it was literally one thousand pages long (not literally). i saw it on one of the rory gilmore reading lists, and my interest was renewed. plus, kindles don't tell you page numbers - they give you a percentage of the book read, which makes it way harder to be discouraged. :)

"the devil in the white city: murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed america" by erik larson

really, the title says it all. ;) austin just finished this book about a month ago, and was super into it. i'm not usually interested in historical literature, but apparently this story is DRAMATIC, so i'm probably going to love it, haha.

there are a few reeeaally long ones in this list, so i'm curious as to how long finishing them is going to take me! we'll see.

what are you reading right now (i really want to know!!) ?! <3

ps, i found this a long time ago and i come back to it quite often when i can't figure out where to even start to find a book to read. start with a general mindset, choose an author, and go from there. it works! :)

pps, i REALLY want this book to be made, because i really want to own it and use it. i began the long trek into margaret atwood's work totally unaided a couple of years ago, and i know something like this would've helped. i'm going to donate when i get paid on friday, would you consider a donation, as well?

ppps, i spent about 2 hours tonight putting the finishing touches on my "everyone must read these before they die" list, and blogger ate it. no drafts, no nothing saved. needless to say, i'm a little bitter and that list probably isn't coming for a long, long time. just know that i have a list! i just have to retype all of my reasons and babbles. i could talk about books for a lifetime.