Merry Wanderer of the Night:
reading

I've become a huge fan of Enthusiasticast over the last year but their recent episode fifty really built a soft spot in my heart for them. For those of you who don't know, Enthusiasticast is a book podcast run by two hilarious guys, Jon and Mark. For the most part they review literary fiction or possibly "guy's fiction" by which I mean Hornby-esque writers. It's unfortunate that we have these gender distinctions in literature because as a woman Hornby is one of my all time favorite writers, and apparently Jon, suddenly, is a big fan of romance.

Okay, maybe big fan is a bit of a stretch-- but on episode fifty he reviews a book called Tell Me Lies

by Jennifer Crusie. This a book I've seen around but have passed off as a girly book.

I, a woman, have passed on this book because it looked too much like chick lit. And even worse: I started this blog to encourage people not to feel about what they read. I was sick of the English department telling me what books were good and what books were bad so I decided to go against it and say "Hey, there is good stuff in this here historical romance to ya'know!" For the most part I think I've succeeded in my mission. I've tried different kinds of books, like romance novels, and I've gotten over the "I haven't read that book guilt." I still do judge a book by its cover though-- I guess I've just gotten a little more liberal with the covers I choose.

As a side note, I think this is also partially the fault of publishers. I hate how books by women get slapped with pink high heels on the cover just because they are about girls. There is a lot of great women's fiction out there-- but it's a genre I've left mostly unexplored because the covers turn me off.

But why do we make ourselves feel guilty about the books we read? Why is a bad emotion like guilt associated with an awesomely fun activity like reading to begin with? I know I've asked these questions before, but Jon got me thinking about them again. He forced me to be a little more honest about how open I am when it comes to books. I'd love to hear your answers to these questions, and I'd also love it if you went and listened to Enthusiasticast.

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I am at home sick with the flu, but I have entertained myself by making charts of my reading habits. I reorganized my bookshelves earlier this week by read and unread, but then further by genre. I noticed some definite patterns taking place so I decided to see what the patterns looked like in numbers.

The first thing I looked at was how many books I had read my read shelf from each "genre."

As you can see, most of the books I have read are either general nonfiction or classic fiction, which didn't surprise me. What did surprise me is that I've read almost as many YA & MG books as I have essay collections. When I thought about this it made sense, since a lot of the books I have are from junior high and high school and several of those are YA & MG. I was really surprised by the amount of poetry I had!

I then looked at how many books in each genre were on my TBR shelf.

Once again, most of the books I own are general nonfiction with general fiction and classic fiction also making a large part of the books I own. Just by looking at these numbers it seems like I am extremely likely to read the YA and MG books that I purchase, but I'm less likely to read the historical fiction I purchase. When I first started blogging I was a lot more interested in historical fiction so I purchased more of it, but after awhile I became less interested and now I have some historical fiction I've never gotten around to reading. I've never bought much science fiction until recently, so it will be interesting to see how many of those books I end up reading.

The last thing I looked at was how many books in each genre I've read since starting my blog in October 2009.

Clearly I've spent most of my time reading general nonfiction and YA & MG. This, once again, surprised me. I never read many YA books before I started blogging and never thought I would. It must just be all the great YA bloggers out there! It's interesting that general fiction and classic fiction are evenly split, although I noticed most of my classic fiction is made up of books I read for class. If I wasn't in school I think general fiction would probably be a little higher.

How are your shelves organized? Are you surprised by the different genres you see there?

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It's Thanksgiving Break! It's Thanksgiving Break! Can I say how thankful I am for Thanksgiving Break? Yesterday I celebrated by doing zero homework, which means I have to write a paper today but I'm accepting of that. Instead of doing homework I finished Wide Sargasso Sea first thing in the morning, then I wrote a blog post about the essay film Chekhov for Children. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Netflix and then in the afternoon I got my next disc of True Blood from Netflix. I made chocolate chip cookies! Then I got a strong desire to go to Daydreams Comics downtown, so we fought the football game traffic to get there only to find out they were sold out of the comic I wanted, but I got the second Fables anyway. We tried to go to Harry Potter but it was sold out. We came home and drew while we watched A Beautiful Mind and Chicago. Yesterday was busy and awesome.

I went to a Thanksgiving Party with my friends on Thursday night and we went around the room saying what we were thankful for. Most people said they were thankful for their friends and all our yummy food (I made cranberry sauce and cranberry salsa) and so on. When it was my turn I said I was thankful for books and everyone laughed, saying they knew I would say that. But it's true, I'm really thankful for books.

Without books and reading some of the hardest times of my life would have been a lot harder--- this semester included. When I read I get to pretend I'm someone else, somewhere else, for awhile. I've also made some of my best friends in college through books. When I started blogging I became a pretty public reader and then people around me I'd kind of known for awhile became more interested in me because they wanted to talk books. I love to talk books! I will talk books with anyone! I love texting a friend (I'm talking about you Liz) right after I finish a book and saying I must talk to you because I know you read this book too. And I love getting texts from friends to hear they're starting a book I've already read.

Are you thankful for books? If yes, why are you?

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This semester has been absolutely crazy. I'm working at the library, I have a writing internship with a nonprofit, I'm volunteering at the Women's Resource and Action Center, I'm taking 6 classes (16 hours), and I'm living off campus for the first time. In short, I am exhausted. All of this running around has definitely been getting in the way of my reading time. Last night I sat down and read a graphic memoir, The Imposter's Daughter by Laurie Sandell

, just to feel like I'd read something. One of my friends told me I should be Wonder Woman for Halloween because she can't imagine how I manage to get all of this stuff done, and I'm wondering how I manage to do it too. I'm planning on changing my work schedule in a week though, so hopefully that will give me a little bit more free time. At the very least I shouldn't have to wake up so early every day.

One great thing about my job though is that it gives me time to read. Sort of. I started listening to audiobooks at work in addition to my favorite podcasts and I've finished two books so far, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim

by David Sedaris and Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son by Michael Chabon. I really enjoy the experience of listening to an author read his or her work and so far that is the only experience I've had with audiobooks. Over the summer I listened to a Bill Bryson book that he narrated. I've decided to mix things up a little bit though, and I got the audiobook for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. This is obviously not narrated by her and it's also about twice the length of any other podcast I have listened to. Fifteen hours, I actually had to download two separate files from Audible. I never really thought I'd be an audibook person, but with the job I have now I'm grateful for them because I'm getting paid but also getting some reading done.

But I must say, listening to an audiobook is just not the same as reading a physical book. When I'm done with an audiobook I just add it to my list of books read this year, write a review, and that's it. But when I finish a physical book I actually feel a sense of accomplishment. I can put the book back on the shelf, or drop it back off at the library. I get to feel the relaxing experience of reading. Of sitting on the couch with a good book in my hands. I get to watch as the pages dwindle down until I'm only 50 pages from the end, 30, 15, 5, 1. That is so exciting. On my iPod I see I have four hours left, or two, or fifteen minutes, but I just don't get that same sense of putting the book back on the shelf. I don't have anything against audiobooks, I really need them in my life right now because otherwise I would be getting zero reading done, but I do miss being able to sit down and read, read, read.

How do you feel about audiobooks versus physical books?

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Maybe something else good came out of Sleeping Naked is Green, or maybe this is something I've been thinking about for awhile and the book just got me thinking about actually doing something about it. I read. A lot. And I buy a lot of books, which means my paper use is astronomical. I mean really, I look around my house and I see it everywhere. So how do I reconcile the fact that I use all of this paper but still consider myself a green activist?

One way to think about it is that everyone has their vice. Some people have gas guzzlers, some people buy a lot of coffee at Starbucks and use the paper cups instead of bringing their own, and some people buy a lot of imported foods. I just happen to be a reader, and if it wasn't this it would be something else. But that doesn't mean there aren't things I can do to make my vice, say, my hobby, a little nicer on the environment. I have some ideas on how I can do this, and maybe you have some ideas too (I'd love to hear them!).

Here are few things I'm asking myself to do.
1. Simply buy less books. Only buy books you know you will read, no matter how discounted they are, what deal is going on, or how popular a book is. Do your research before you buy, and keep a list of books you hear about. If you continually return to that book as something you want to read then go for it.
2. Buy books used whenever possible, and if the book is unavailable in a local used bookstore but you still want to buy it, order it from a company that has green shipping like Better World Books. Used books are just fantastic. They're usually cheaper, they're better for the environment because it's recycling, and used bookstores are just fun to browse. I've also found that almost anything that is a year old or more can be found on Better World Books, which is a great organization. They have eco-friendly shipping and they help fund global literacy!
3. Use that library card. For books I want to read once, or I'm not sure I want to buy, I need to start using the library. There are so many books I have that I shouldn't have bought. I just read them once, I'm never going to look at them again, I just wanted to read the story and now I'm done. Why did I not use the library?
4. Sell, give away, or donate books that I am no longer using. I might try to give away some of my books on here, and then whatever is left I'll try to sell and donate the remainders. I'm just sick of some of these books taking up space in my house, and even if I don't get anything out of them (monetarily) I would still love to have that extra space and now I'm not wasting the book.
5. Walk or bike to the bookstore and library. If I'm able to obtain the book in Iowa City than it's best to get there without a car. If I do go to the bookstore in the car, then I need to put it with my other car errands/work.

What are some of your ideas for greening your reading?

When I reached 100 followers in time for my six month anniversary I made a new goal to reach 200 by the end of my first year. My one year anniversary is in October, about a month and a half away. But if you take a look, I've already reached 200 followers. This is a ginormous accomplishment and I have all of you to thank for it because my readers are the best advertisers of this blog. You guys put me on your blog roll, retweet my posts, and tell your friends about my blog. This is awesome! When I started this blog I had to know sense of what I was doing or where it would go, but in less than a year I've find an amazing community of people who love books as much as I do and are willing to spread the word about what I do here. I'm so grateful for that.

The question I get asked most frequently about my blog is how I make time for all of this reading. The answer is simple: I make time for it. I make time for reading just like I make time to go hiking on Sundays, go for walks, ride my bike, cook healthy meals. I spend a lot of time trying to live a healthy lifestyle and to me reading is a part of that. Reading feeds my mind. Sometimes when I'm done with all of my homework I look at my TBR pile and think, "Ugh, I don't have time for this. I just want to dink around on the Internet." But when I come to the Internet I see hundreds of tweets and blog posts all about reading. That is one of the greatest encouragements. When you see that there are other people out there reading books that look good and talking about them, it gives you a reason to leave the laptop and pick up a book for awhile.

Another encouragement is making someone decide to read a book based on your review of it. This is my favorite part about blogging. I love, love, love when someone leaves a comment on a review that says "I think I'm going to have to read this!" Even better than that, I love when someone comes back to my blog a few weeks later and says, " I read that book because of your review and I loved it." To be a part of helping people decide what to read is a beautiful thing. And all of you have given me some great recommendations too! You always come to the rescue when I say, "Gee, I don't know if I should read this book or this book." You give me reasons why, all of you.

So basically what I'm trying to say is thanks. For being cheerleaders, mentors, recommendationists, and friends.

For the majority of this summer I have been gravitating towards shorter books. Two hundred to three hundred pages has seemed to be my limit, and because of that I have already read quite a stack of books in June. I have always been a big fan of short books. I like to be deeply involved in something for a short amount of time, and then put it aside. As teenager and child I would sometimes go after a larger book and really enjoy it, but it would always be sandwiched by several smaller books. I think my favorite book length is about 250 pages- but this, of course, depends on the book. Some books demand more and some demand less. Some books I get to the end I think to myself No! You can't end yet! I want you to keep going! But in general I like books I can finish in a weeks' time. I can't explain it, I just do.

But since I've read so many short books lately and I've been reading several quick books this summer, I have decided to end out the month by reading two humongous bricks (accompanied by two medium length books of course). I've been reading lots of posts about Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell lately, in particular the recent posts at A Literary Odyssey. I have wanted to read this book since Christmas and I am finally going to do it, I'm finally going to discover if I like Scarlett O'Hara or not. A word I have often heard used to describe Gone With the Wind is "epic," and I really don't know the last time I read 1037 pages of epic so this seems like a sure bet.

The other brick I've decided to pick up is The Passage by Justin Cronin. Usually I don't pick up books just because I see them everywhere, but that is basically the case with this one. Books on the Nightstand made a real fuss over this book back in early spring (I remember listening to the podcast while walking back from the library with a stack of art books that wouldn't fit in my backpack and I was terrified I would drop them in the snow). I don't read just anything Books on the Nightstand suggests, but I think Michael and Ann are pretty convincing and they were especially convincing about this book. They might have described this book as epic as well, but don't quote me on that. When they first described this book on the podcast I wasn't entirely sure I would end up reading it, and I think what put me off was actually the length of 766 pages. I can't be sure what made me decide to commit to this book but I think it was Michael and Ann's reassurance that the book reads fairly quickly. Let's hope they're right!

I remember when I read the Harry Potter books in sixth grade and how proud I was that I read a book that was really long. The Goblet of Fire especially (my favorite) was a great source of pride for me. I realized I could finish a ridiculously long novel and that made me feel like a grown up reader. I had been reader my whole life just to reach the point where I could read something that was 400 pages plus. And really that is my definition of long to this day, maybe 500 plus. And now even though I know I can read a long novel, I rarely do. Part of me recent distaste for them might be rooted in the three Wilkie Collins novels I read for my English class in the Spring though (his are too long in my opinion).

Accompanying me in my brick reads are No one belongs here more than you. Stories by Miranda July, and The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. I mostly need to read two smaller books because The Passage and Gone With the Wind will not fit in my purse, and I simply can't walk around without a book in my purse. Also, I tried to pull both of the books off my bookshelf to do this post and I quite possibly twisted my wrist. That's how big these books are. If I got several I could probably build a home.

So what about you? Do you love long books, or do you prefer short ones? Do you remember what your first really long book was? What is a long book?

Grabbed this from A Literary Odyssey, kind of fun since my brain is shot from finals.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favourite reading snack:
Sometimes, but not normally. If I do snack it's probably candy. I do go to a coffeeshop in Iowa City called T-Spoons and they have excellent cookies, so if I read there I'll get a cookie and some English tea.

What is your favourite drink while reading?
Tea, as I said previously. Otherwise water.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
I mark most of my books, especially literary fiction or nonfiction. This is the main reason I don't check books out from the library very often.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
I love bookmarks and try to use them as often as I can. If I don't have a bookmark I'll usually rip a piece of paper out of a notebook or use a napkin until I get home with a bookmark. My favorite bookmark is from Barnes and Noble and it has a painting of Virginia Woolf on it.

Fiction, non-fiction, or both?
I love to write nonfiction but I probably read more fiction. I think this is a recent development though, because when I look over the books I read before I started blogging more than half of them were nonfiction. I'm starting to get into it again.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I always try to read to the end of the chapter, it really throws me off if I have to start in the middle. That being said, I read on the bus quite a bit and I can't really help where I have to stop there. Sometimes I'll get off the bus and finish the chapter though, especially if it's just a few more pages.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
I will not throw anything (usually) but I do talk when I read. I'll make grunting noises, or laugh, or shout at the author or characters in the book.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
Rarely. I've never been a big fan of that.

What are you currently reading?
I am still reading Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick and Scrolling Forward by David Levy.

What is the last book you bought?
I think it was Catching Fire.

Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?
I used to only read one book at a time, but with school I've gotten into the habit of reading two or three at a time and I actually enjoy it more. I find I finish books faster because I don't get bored as easily.

Do you have a favourite time/place to read?
I always read at night before bed, but I prefer to read during the day. As for a place to read, I usually read in my bed but I'd like to get a nice comfy chair to read in instead because reading in bed has a tendency to hurt my back.

Do you prefer series books or stand alones?
I like series a lot, but I read more stand alones. I probably prefer stand alones.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
I recommend Notes From No Man's Land by Eula Biss to anyone and everyone with the ability to read.

How do you organize your books? (by genre, title, author's last name, etc.)
I don't organize at all right now. It's too hard when I have to move everything around all the time. Maybe someday when I have a library in my house I'll come up with a system.

Let me know if you fill this out!

Normally Thursdays are Children's Books Thursdays (although I have not been so great at keeping up with this lately). In case you don't know what the reason for Children's Books Thursdays is, I wanted to explain it. For the past year I have participated in a program where I tutor two children three times a week for thirty minutes. I've worked five children this year, but the two I had this semester have really grown important to me. Today I am sad because tomorrow is the last day I'll get to see these kids and it is also my last day as a tutor. Next year I'll move onto my new job and leave behind the two jobs I've been working for what seems like forever. So today I thought I'd talk about the experience of teaching children to learn.

Tutoring is time consuming, and a lot of people don't put in the right amount of time. I often fall short myself. Choosing books for children is difficult, especially if the children are having a hard time reading. The books they "should" be able to read are too hard for them, but the books they can read aren't right for them because of the content. "The dog ran" is only interesting for awhile and then it becomes embarrassing. I learned how to read very early so I never experienced what the children I work with are experiencing. That is, I never experienced it in regards to reading, but I did experience it with many other things. Like math. And sports. And learning to ride a bike. I always say I can relate to the anger the students I work with sometimes have. If someone came in and said I had to do math for a half hour I'd probably be pissed too.

As difficult as tutoring has been though, it has been seriously rewarding. One of the children I tutored this year had difficulty reading even the shortest of words and now she has mastered the word "about." This may seem small, but after tutoring for a year I realize what a huge accomplishment this is! Another student I worked with wouldn't read pages that had more than one sentence on them. Now he reads pages that have paragraphs (although he does so begrudgingly sometimes). This is another huge accomplishment.

Tutoring has also taught me the importance of literacy especially in regards to children. I knew how important reading and writing was to me, but working with kids has made me realize how important reading actually is. Especially in today's world where we are constantly being bombarded by text. Emails, ads, signs, texts, newspapers, websites, and on and on and on. We're reading constantly, yet there really are a great deal of children struggling with reading. And this is just in the US, children's literacy is a much bigger problem on a national level.

There is another purpose to this post, possibly a more fun purpose. Since I'm done tutoring this week I want to change my regular Thursday post and I'm looking for ideas. Is there a meme or weekly post you'd like to see on English Major's Junk Food? If you have any idea let me know!

While I was avoiding homework this morning I ran across an article on Twitter called 20 Books Every Teen and Tween Should Read Before They Hit 16. It's a pretty good list, although I haven't heard of some of the books before and I have read less than half of them and most of the books I definitely did not read by the time I was 16. Some of these I've actually read during the course of writing on my blog! Books from the list I have read are:

To Kill a Mockingbird
The Harry Potter Series
Animal Farm
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Macbeth
Go Ask Alice
The Outsiders
Are You There God? It's Me Margaret

Books on the list I haven't read are:

The Catcher in the Rye (Although I've read pretty much everything else by Salinger)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Maus
The Lord of the Flies
The Golden Compass
The Island of Dr. Moreau
Flowers for Algernon
A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Treasure Island
Slake's Limbo

Some of these I'm not that interested in reading, but some of them I feel like I really need to read. And since I didn't quite make it by sixteen, I think I'm going to try to get some of them in before 21. I have about eight months until my 21st birthday and there are 12 books I haven't read. I think I'd like to read at least six. Does anyone have any ideas on what books would be the best to read from this list? Have you read the books on this list? What do you think is missing? Personally, I think On the Road should be on there.

I felt like posting today, but really had nothing to post since I'm a bit defunct right now and I'm trying to save up reviews for when I get back in school. I saw this post at Books and Movies this week and decided to do this myself!

Book next to your bed right now: Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine, Armadale by Wilki Collins, and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.
Favorite series: Recently my favorite series is probably The Luxe series by Anna Godbersen. Otherwise probably Harry Potter.
Favorite book: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Middlemarch by George Eliot, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, and A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby.
The one book you would have with you if stranded on a desert island: Right now I'd say Shirley by Charlotte Bronte as it is quite long and I have yet to read it.
Book/series you would take with you on a long flight: Well I just went on a fairly short flight and I took The Creation of Eve by Lynn Cullen on my flight in (great plane reading!) and I took The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (not so great plane reading, but still enjoyable). If I were going on another flight tomorrow I would take Just Kids by Patti Smith. I just got it and after listening to her on Bookworm with Michael Silverblatt I'm really excited to read it.
Worst book you were made to read in school: No contest: Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell. That book made me question my love of reading.
Book that everyone should be made to read in school: The Stranger by Albert Camus.
Book that everyone should read, period: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.
Favorite character: Mr. Rochester.
Best villain: Count Fosco in The Woman in White.
Favorite concept series: I'll tell you as soon as you tell me what a concept series is.
Favorite invented world: I'm not sure if it's really an invented world but it's definitely a different world. A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore.
Most beautifully written book: The Awakening by Kate Chopin.
Funniest book: Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don't Float was hilarious.

So awhile ago my bloggin' sister Sasha at Sasha & the Silverfish had a post about romance novels. She called it Are Some Books Too Personal? Are Some Books Truly Bad? I urge you to go over there and read it when you get the chance because it poses some really interesting questions. And when you read the post you will come back over to my post and you will say, "I don't think she understood that post." But I did! I really did! And it got me thinking that I should try reading a romance novel. So I read one, and that is what this post is about.

For those of you wondering but novel I picked for my first ever romance read, I will tell you. It was Lessons From a Scarlet Lady by Emma Wildes. Why did I pick this book? Mostly because it was a regency romance novel and I figured I'd stay with what I know. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first started reading it. I kept thinking about that scene from 10 Things I Hate About You where the principal is writing a romance novel. And about Chandler Bing's romance novelist mother on Friends. What kinds of words was I going to encounter. Engorged? Immortal Sword? I had no idea. So I did what you do when you don't know what to expect. I opened up the book and started reading.

The very first chapter gave me a quick introduction when the two main characters have a tryst in the carriage. I could feel my face getting warm as I read. I couldn't believe how fast I tore through the page and I couldn't help wondering, "Why is everyone so against romance novels anyway?" I read Lessons From a Scarlet Lady at the same time I read Mansfield Park, and I'll be honest with you, I was enjoying Lessons From a Scarlet Lady a whole lot more. It was my reward for pulling through a few chapters of Mansfield Park.

But I still kept the book face down underneath a pile of other books I was reading. To be fair I was reading this book at home, and I didn't really want to explain my newfound interest in romance novels to my parents. Why not though? I'm sure my mom has read a few in her day and my dad is mostly oblivious to everything I'm reading. There was really no reason to hide it.

I talked to my best friend about it too and she said she could never read a book like that. That she would just be blushing the whole time. But you get over it, at least I did.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Hello all. Since it's almost the new year I thought I would discuss a few things. First of all, I changed my layout. I am much happier with it now. My old layout felt very disjointed to me and it was kind of like I just threw a bunch of stuff together. This is more me. If you have any comments I'd love to hear them! Please don't be too harsh haha. It took me quite awhile to get everything right. I haven't edited so much html since my Livejournal days.

Second of all I would like to thank everyone who has taken a chance on my new blog. Those of you who follow, comment, and read, you have no idea how much your support means to me. As I've said before I have started blogs and quit them. This one is going well and I'm really enjoying the community I have fallen into!

Lastly, I am going to be implementing a rating system in the new year (starting tomorrow). My new rating system will be as follows:

A: Loved it, nothing (or mostly nothing) would make this book better.
B: Really liked it, very few things would make this book better.
C: I liked it, but had a lot of problems with it.
D: I did not like. How did this get published?
F: Fail.

We will not be using plus or minus grading in this class.

I'm also going to try and kind of have a schedule this year. The schedule will be as follows:

Monday: Review
Tuesday: Teaser Tuesdays
Wednesday: Review
Thursday: Children's Book of the Week (based on the books I read at my tutoring job)
Friday: English Major Musings
Saturday: Confetti! (Or whatever I didn't get around to during the week)
Sunday: Sunday Salon

This is of course very tentative and might change if I'm not feeling like posting something.

Happy New Year and Happy Reading!

I mentioned yesterday that I got a lot of books for Christmas. I thought I'd go through which ones I got as a preview for what I'll be reviewing in the next few months. The coolest book I got is probably The Wild Things (Fur-covered Edition), which I received from my boyfriend. For those of you who don't know this is an expansion on Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. I haven't read a lot by Dave Eggers but I am a big fan of Best American Nonrequired Reading. This book averages four stars on Amazon, hopefully it will hold up well under my critical eyes.

I received A Good Man by Larry Baker from my boyfriend as well. Baker lives in Iowa City as well so I am eager to read his book. The man character of this novel is essentially at the end of his rope. He is failing at everything until he meets a strange man named Peter Prophet. This man makes many claims that the main character is skeptical about, but they begin to turn around his life.

I got two Bronte novels, Emily's Ghost: A Novel of the Brontë Sisters and The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte

. Emily Ghost is about the three Bronte sisters but seems to concentrate on Emily. As a child Emily goes to school and says she can see ghosts. She is punished for this and it later inspires a scene in Jane Eyre. It averages four stars on Amazon. The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte begins with Charlotte trying to clear her name against an accusation of plagiarism. On the way to London she witnesses a murder and this is the beginning of her adventures. The book averages four and a half stars on Barnes and Noble. I will be reading both of these books for the All About the Brontes Challenge.

Gone With the Wind is one of the longer books I received this Christmas, which is frustrating because I am very eager to read it. This is the description of the book from Amazon: "Gone With the Wind is a sweeping, romantic story about the American Civil War from the point of view of the Confederacy. In particular it is the story of Scarlett O'Hara, a headstrong Southern belle who survives the hardships of the war and afterwards manages to establish a successful business by capitalizing on the struggle to rebuild the South. Throughout the book she is motivated by her unfulfilled love for Ashley Wilkes, an honorable man who is happily married." This book averages four and a half stars on Amazon. Another book about the Civil War I received is A Separate Country. Both of these books are historical fiction and a little different from the normal historical fiction I read. I'm looking forward to them both.

I got a few other books but these are the most exciting ones that I actually got for Christmas. I've bought a few other books using gift cards and other books I just couldn't resist because they were on sale. Needless to say I won't be buying new books for awhile. (And I mean it this time!)

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I slept in until noon today and I definitely wasn't planning on that. Actually, I got up at eight to finish my cookies and then I went back to sleep at ten, planning on only sleeping for about thirty minutes. Silly me for not setting an alarm. It wouldn't be a big deal but I'm going to a Christmas/Birthday party at two o'clock so I have zero time.

I am not in Iowa City anymore, I'm at my parents house very far away from Iowa City. Actually not really, only about in a hour and a half. So far my mom has pushed a hydrating nasal rinse on me because I have a small nose and asked me if I'm eating enough fruit in Iowa City. Gotta love moms! My boyfriend brought his presents for my parents over yesterday but my dog has started to open them. Woops!

Last week was a good reading week for me because I had nothing else to do. I didn't finish quite all the books I wanted to, but I never expect that I will. I finished The Eyre Affair, The Moment Between, and The Red Necklace. I also posted a review of In A Gilded Cage, which I finished two weeks ago. I did some deep thinking this week about how people look at you when you read certain types of books, and how it doesn't really matter. Today I plan on finishing The White Garden by Stephanie Barron and The Clumsiest People on Earth edited by Todd Pruzan. I am also reading The Luxe by Anna Godbersen right now and I must admit that I am hooked! This week I also plan on reading The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and Sex Lives of the Roman Emperors by Nigel Cawthorne. I was only planning on reading four YA books for my self challenge, but I ended up purchasing the first three of The Luxe series and I might end up reading all three before I turn 20. We shall see!

Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!

I've been thinking a lot lately about being embarrassed about reading certain books. I'm definitely guilty of it, and it seems like there are times and places where I'm okay with reading different things. When I'm at work I don't care if I'm reading The Luxe or some other hardly literary book. I don't think I would feel comfortable reading that in the English Philosophy building, although things are starting to change for me with reading. Since I've started this blog I've started to care less about only reading great literature and care more about just reading. When I was a kid I read nonstop because I loved stories, not because I wanted everyone to think I was super smart and cool. I do miss the days in elementary school when reading was the cool thing to do though.

Maybe part of the change has been my job tutoring. When I pick books for the kids I don't necessarily pick books that are going to expand their mind, but I pick books that I know they will be interested in. That's the best way to expand their minds right? So what's wrong with reading The Jane Austen Mystery series by Stephanie Barron or The Luxe series by Anna Godbersen.

I was really ashamed last year by how little I was reading. Second semester I read a lot, but they were all books for class. When I look back at the books I tried to read during the semester it doesn't surprise me that I didn't finish many. How was I supposed to pay attention to a book that took me 2 minutes per page when I was exhausted from school and work? I've definitely changed my reading habits this semester. I am reading a lot of books, and I'm interested in all of them. They might be a little silly sometimes, but I don't watch a lot of television and that is what most people do to relax from homework.

I love to do analysis of literature, I'll admit it. I love reading novels by Charlotte Bronte, Virginia Woolf, and George Eliot. Part of me thinks that if I read only these books though my brain will just fry itself. I was so worn out after reading Middlemarch that I just had to escape into something else for awhile. Something simpler, but not bad. I can't read a bad book, I just can't do it. And plot is usually not enough to get me through a book, I have to fall in love with the characters.

Well I'm two hours in to the readathon. I didn't start reading until about an hour ago because I had a bit of a problem getting out of bed. I'm sure no one can relate to that! I had some pop tarts and Vitamin Water for breakfast, that was good. The first book in my readathon is Are You There God? It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume, which I'm reading for Booking Mama's Shelf Discovery Challenge. I didn't think I'd read it before, but now that I have gotten into it I think I have read it. I recognize the story. I obviously relate to Margaret with the whole growing up teenager business (I can sure remember those days) but I'm surprised that the person I'm really relating to is her teacher, Mr. Benedict. The first day he shows up and it's his first job so he is scared of the kids. I can really relate to that as a tutor and also just as someone who is young and scared about the real world.

So here are my stats:
Books Read: Are You There God? It's Me Margaret
Pages Read: 72
Total Books Finished: 0
Total Pages Read: 72
Total Time Spent Reading: 1 hour

I'm also going to do I Heart Monster's meme right now. Happy reading!

Okay, so I know I said no more challenges, but this isn't an actual challenge really. It's more of a personal goal and growth challenge. The Reading Resolutions Challenge is hosted by Jenny Loves to Read. I was going to wait to post this until it was closer to new years, but since I have finished signing up for challenges now seems like a good time. I am a new blogger, English Major's Junk Food has only been around for three months, but I have been a reader for a long time and every year I say I'm going to do certain things and stuff (friends, school, life) gets in the way. Hopefully publishing it for all of you to read will help keep me on track.

In the short amount of time that I've been blogging I have really seen a change in how I read. I read a lot more for one thing, mostly because I feel like I have a reason to read. I want to thank everyone who has helped me learn the ropes and get involved in the community. It's been a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to the upcoming year!

My first resolution is to keep reading often and posting often. I have started a few blogs in the past and usually they only last a week or two and I quit. I don't want that to happen to this blog because I am loving it.

My second resolution is to get out of my historical fiction and classics box even more. I posted about the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge and mentioned that I want to read different kinds of historical fiction that I haven't read before. I would like to do that in general all year. I'm okay with staying inside my preferred genres but I really want to try some new things out. Specifically I would like to try out some more YA novels. There are some great ones out there but I never really pay attention to them.

My third resolution is to post more about the children's books I've been reading. On average I read about four-five children's books per week. I probably won't post about the meh ones, but ones that I really do not like or do like will be spotlighted on this blog.

My final reading resolution is not exactly a reading resolution, but we'll go with it. I want to start keeping a journal again. I used to be an avid journal writer but when I came to college I quit. I'd like to keep a journal to write about what I am reading and my life in a way that I really can't on my blog.

Finally, here are a list of all the challenges I am signed up for:
Shelf Discovery hosted by Booking Mama.
Reading Western Europe hosted by Samantha's Reading Challenge.
18th and 19th Century Women Writers hosted by Becky's Book Reviews.
All About the Brontes Challenge hosted by Laura's Reviews.
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by Royal Reviews.
First in a Series Challenge hosted by Royal Reviews.
Second in a Series Challenge hosted by Royal Reviews.

EDIT
I couldn't resist this one: You've Got Mail Challenge.

I was a very bad reader last week. Lots of things are to blame, it was the week before Thanksgiving break and I just wanted to relax. I did finish Philip Graham's The Moon, Come to Earth. I also attended his reading at Prairie Lights. Graham is very gregarious, I enjoyed his reading. He read three dispatches from the book though, which took quite a long time. I'm always more interested in hearing authors talk about their books than read from them.

The book that has taken up most of my time is George Eliot's Middlemarch, which I plan to finish tomorrow. If I haven't mentioned it before, I will mention it again: Middlemarch is a beast. It's a multi-plot novel with what seems like one thousand characters. It takes me a long time to read, but thanks to a couple 4-8 AM shifts at work I am almost finished with it. I'm really enjoying it too, but that doesn't surprise me. Eliot is a genius.

Today I plan on finishing The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James. I wasn't sure what to expect with this one, I am obsessed with Charlotte Bronte and I'm always iffy on books that make the authors the characters. I am happy to say that I have not been able to put it down. James has really done a great job researching all the Brontes and I like how she documents her research in the back of the book. There are footnotes in this, which I know have put some people off, but I kind of like them. Some are unnecessary to me because I know enough about the 19th century, but some of them are helpful and interesting. The character that has interested me most is Branwell. I knew that he was a drunkard but James creates a fully developed character out of a man that has always baffled me.

Next week I plan on reading A LOT because I will just be sitting at home anyway. Books I plan to read are The Last Great Dance on Earth by Sandra Gulland, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, The White Garden by Stephanie Barron, and Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? by Thomas Kohnstamm.

My tumble down the stairs last week required me to go to parents over the weekend; therefore, I didn't get as much reading done as I had planned. That being said, here is what I'm reading right now and what I plan to read this week. J.Kaye's Book Blog is the source of my What I'm Reading Mondays is J.Kaye's Book Blog.

Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere

by Jan Morris. I am finishing this book today for my travel writing class. The first half was not what I expected at all but I'm enjoying the second half more. It is about the city of Trieste which is in Italy (although it is unknown by most Italians).

A Little Princess

by Frances Hodgson Burnett is my first book for Shelf Discovery. I wanted to finish it over the weekend but it just didn't happen. I am enjoying it though. I grew up watching the movie and it is similar but the differences really change the way you understand the story.

I am embarking on a journey with George Eliot's Middlemarch starting today. It will be a very long journey, but I am looking forward to it.

I'm planning on reading The Lover

by Marguerite Duras later this week for the November Novella Challenge. I started this book once before and didn't finish it, even though I really liked it. So hopefully that will get done this week.