Summer Reading

People always try to give you advice when you're down, and it's not always wanted. I remember my now-former friend and current tenant of my ex, John, telling me I should volunteer in my unemployment. I don't volunteer, I'm not that altruistic or kind. I'd end up becoming even more resentful and bitter that I'm doing something-- working-- for no money at all. No, unless it's something I really, truly believe in, I'm not doing it for free.

I decided, then, that I was going to make the most out of my unemployed time by reading as much as possible. When I was younger and had free time like this, I used to go through about 4 books a week, sometimes in a weekend, depending on the books and my mood. So far I've read the entire Hunger Games Series, the entire Twilight saga (very, very large books, each of them, except the novella) and various other novels. I always have a few pieces of nonfiction hanging around as palate-cleansers between books, and I've been working on a collection of the Marquis de Sade's short stories. Right now I'm reading a romance novel by Kresley Cole (she's actually really, really good. No bodice ripping, and actual, developed characters). Here's the rest of my summer reading (assuming I don't go to the book store again):

you can click the picture to make it bigger

So. Icelandic sagas, Heaney's translation of Beowulf (although I might shelve it until I track down my copy of Raffel's translation; I had wanted to read them side-by-side for comparison) and an academic work by Tolkien. And amongst things I'd like to study on a graduate level are Anne Rice, Mercedes Lackey, an early African-American novel, Afghani non-fiction, and a classic. I do enjoy a little variety. That pile of books (especially all of the Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian literature) makes me really excited; these are new friends waiting to be introduced, held, embraced, loved. I can't wait.

If you're curious and want an incomplete list of everything I've read and some things I want to read, here's my goodreads profile. I try to keep it up to date. I am obsessed with cataloguing my own books.