As an English major you have to buy a lot of books, which I'm not complaining about. If your school is like mine you probably had to buy a certain assortment of books for an Intro to English class (which was just about the worst experience ever). So I thought today I would make a list of the books that I think all English major's actually need, and really any major that is writing a lot.
1. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers 7th Edition answers any question you will ever have about where to place a comma, or how to use semicolons. High school AP Composition did not really prepare me for the kind of writing I have to do in college and some things have always baffled me, ever since I learned how to read and write. If you're like me, you learned how to read and write fairly early so you could fake everything you didn't know because teachers would always help the people that really needed it. Most schools require MLA anymore so it really is a useful book; I've used it in any class I've had to write a paper. 2. On Writing Well by William Zinsser is a classic. If you haven't heard about this book yet then you are truly missing out. I was introduced to this book in high school when my AP Composition teacher would read it out loud to us a couple times a week. Like the MLA Handbook, it will answer all of your questions, but these are different kinds of questions. It focuses more on voice and style than mechanics (although sometimes it does talk about mechanics). 3. Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms. Okay, I LOVE this book. The other two I've mentioned thus far are important, but buy this book if only because you love English. I have used this book occasionally when a professor continuously uses a word I do not know (like synecdoche) and I have also used it when writing papers to describe what I'm writing about. This is so much better than a dictionary. For example, synecdoche is not even in my Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, but Bedford has half a page about it including a definition, comparisons to other words, and several examples of what is and is not synecdoche. So basically, this book is a must have. 4. Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Major Authors, Volumes A&B was my first real English major required purchase, and it was a pricey one. I didn't sell back these books for two reasons. The first is that I liked a lot of the material in them, and figured it would be better to keep them for that than to sell them and have to buy lots of other books to get the same things. The second reason is that my teachers require me to print of poems, stories, and essays a lot. If I have the poem, story, or essay already, I do not have to do that. Volume A covers the Middle Ages through the 18th Century, Volume B covers the Romantic Period through the Twentieth Century and after. That is a lot of territory. 5. The Holy Bible King James Version: King James Version Economy. No matter what your stance on religion is, you need a Bible if you are an English major. The bible is probably the most referenced thing in English literature (Shakespeare is close) and if you do not know the Bible by heart than you will need this. Even if you're not interested in Christianity the Bible can still be a good read, and you should read it because it will help you understand so much of what you're learning.
I of course did not include a dictionary on here because I thought that was self explanatory. Are there any other books I missed?
Today I have an interview with up and coming author Alexandra Bracken. Her novel, Brightly Woven, debuts March 23. The short description of the novel from her website is, "Sydelle Mirabil is living proof that, with a single drop of rain, a life can be changed forever. Tucked away in the farthest reaches of the kingdom, her dusty village has suffered under the weight of a strangely persistent drought. That is, of course, until a wizard wanders into town and brings the rain with him." I haven't read her novel yet, though I plan to, so many of you might be wondering why I chose to interview her. Bracken is unique in that she was working on publishing her novel while she was still in college. She signed with an agent on her 21st birthday and after spending her senior year revising the novel her dream is finally coming true next week. How did she do it you might ask, and I think the work diligence pretty much sums up Bracken's story. I won't just leave it at that though, as follows you can read her answers to my questions about how she balanced school and writing and what path (or paths) she took to get there.
Where did you go to school, when did you graduate, and what did you go? I went to the College of William and Mary, graduated last Spring, and majored in History and English
Did you start as an English major? What made you decide to become an English major? When I was applying for schools, I focused on the Virginia area, mostly because I knew I wanted to study Early American History and I would freeze my butt off if I went to school in New England. I had always loved English, but my dad had convinced me to major in History and Government because he wanted me to be a lawyer. BIG mistake. I took one Government class and realized how stupid it was for me NOT to major in English--AKA the subject I really loved.
What were your plans for after graduation? How have those plans been fulfilled or how have they been different than you expected? Originally, I was going the pre-law route (I'm sure you've all noticed that when you say you're an English major, most people assume that you want to be A) a lawyer or B) a teacher)... but I realized, in the middle of taking the LSAT unfortunately, that being a lawyer would make me MISERABLE, and spent all of the summer between Junior and Senior year moping around without a life plan. My next idea was to work in PR/Communications (which I definitely recommend), but I ended up getting a scholarship to attend the Columbia Publishing Institute and decided to take it. I now work as an editorial assistant in children's publishing. Looking back, it seems like a natural choice since being an author had given me a lot of insight into the business.I'm not sure if it's what I want to be doing forever, but I'm happy to be employed and doing something I enjoy!
What made you decide to take on writing a novel while in college? I first tried my hand at writing a novel my freshman year--I always say that NaNoWriMo made me very brave, and it's true. I thought I would just give it a go, and ended up getting hooked on the process.
Were you planning to publish this all along? No... I tried to be very realistic about it and not get my hopes up, but secretly I was hoping I'd be able to sell something before I graduated.
How did you balance school and writing? I get asked this all the time, and I'm still not sure what the right answer is. I was very disciplined and made a lot of social sacrifices on the weekends. You really do have to find a schedule that works, though. The first three years of college were incredibly reading and writing intensive (I was once assigned 2000 pages of reading a week in my Sophomore year. Not. Fun.), but that helped me write. Knowing that I only had an hour here or two hours there meant that I used that little time for writing and writing alone. When i was working on revisions with my agent, I gave myself a deadline to finish the first round before finals that May. Starting in March, I woke up at 6 AM every day and wrote until I had class at 1 PM, and when I was done with homework at night, I'd be back to revising. I tried getting up at 5 AM and squeezing in an hour of work out time, but... uh... I quickly decided an extra hour of sleep was more important than getting my fitness on.
What advice would you give college students who want to write seriously in college? What advice would you give those who want to publish? What steps should they take? The advice that I always give to high schoolers and college students that ask me this question is this: While you're in school, focus on being a writer before you focus on being a published author. I really miss the days I had before I was published, when I could write whatever I wanted regardless of how crappy it was and I didn't have to worry about another person's judgment. I can't reinforce this enough, being published in college is like having a full-time job, and one that isn't always fun. It's an incredible amount of stress and pressure to put on yourself, when you're already anxious about exams/papers/what-have-you. Not everyone will have a negative experience, but I would also add that a good portion of my friends thought that I had graduated a semester early because I was so deep in my revision hole that I only surfaced for food and class. School is such a unique and wonderful time, but you don't get to experience it when you're by yourself writing. There are a zillion and a half elements in Brightly Woven that I picked up from the classes I was taking at the time. Be a sponge and absorb as much as possible from your classes and friends. Make sure you're taking advantage of all that college life has to offer, and if you happen to write something that you feel is ready to be seen by the world, go for it! Revise it seriously, submit it to agents, and learn from the feedback you get. Make sure that when you're writing you are happy and excited, because the minute you start feeling stressed out or depressed, it often means that your life has become unbalanced, and you need to step away and refocus.
What advice would you give to English majors about how to make the English major work for them after school? Okay guys, here's a secret: what matters in the job world isn't necessarily what you majored in, but the internships and work experiences that you have. My current boss didn't hire me because I was an English major (though I'm sure that helped)--she claimed it was because I talked about coordinating our Student Assembly's Thanksgiving airport shuttle rides. So don't discount any work experience you have, regardless of how small or insignificant you think it is. I would also recommend networking with alums in the career field of your choice, and seeking out speciality programs like the Columbia Publishing Course, which often feed you directly into jobs. Besides the fact that companies are always looking for good writers (seriously--critical writing does not tend to be a strength of most business majors), so be sure to always play that up. Plus, you've spent how many years analyzing and forming your own arguments, right? That's another skill you have in the bag.
Alexandra's novel, Brightly Woven, comes out March 23. You can read a longer synopsis if you follow the Brightly Woven link.
In the most recent issue of Real Simple magazine there is a great article about things you shouldn't say to a college graduate. I mostly bought the magazine because of the one page article and I think it was worth it. So inspired by them I've come up with five things you shouldn't say to an English major.
1. Have you ever considered minoring in business? Yes, I have. No, I don't want to. If I wanted to minor in business I would and could but I've found a different path and it doesn't involve killing myself with a microeconomics textbook. Also, the business department is not the be all end all college. 2. So you want to be a teacher? Thousands of people get English degrees every year and obviously not all of of them end up being teachers. Some people like the idea of standing up in front of thirty pimple faced brats and attempting to explain why To Kill a Mockingbird is so great. I, for one, do not. 3. Recite some Shakespeare! I'm not sure where people get the idea that English majors sit in rooms and memorize lines from Shakespeare but someone asked me to do this once. I've never even taken a class on Shakespeare. I mean I've read Shakespeare for class, but only for a couple of weeks. I think this is just the first author most people think of. 4. So what do you want to do? Most college students don't know what they want to do but everyone seems particularly concerned about what English majors want to do. I don't really understand this. I usually want to ask them if they're offering me a job. There are a lot of majors out there that seem less applicable to the real world than English. Ones that immediately come to mind are American Studies, Leisure Studies, and Italian-- and I'm sure all of those people find jobs eventually. With all the typos I see on restaurant signs I think we could use a few more English majors in the world. 5. Why don't you write a book? A lot of English majors want to write books. A lot of English majors will write books or are currently working on books. But writing a book is not the solution to the "problem" of being an English major and truthfully there are a lot of English majors who I hope never, ever write books. Some English majors just like to read. Some of them are great technical writers. Some of them have no interest in writing at all. You're shocked I know.
So what do you say instead? Ask them what kind of classes they are taking, what they like about their major, what they don't like about it. English majors are great at talking and I'm sure you'll find a great conversation with them somehow.
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Okay, I will warn all of you none University of Iowa English Majors that this is a hot topic here. Basically Intro to the English Major is a class that is required for all English majors. It spans the life of English literature, from Beowulf to present. It requires you to learn and memorize many things the English department decided were important, and then it tests you on them with these devils called Passage IDs. This means they give you a passage and you say who wrote it, what it was from, and what time period it was written in. It is basically death.
The thing that really annoys me about Intro to the English Major is that the way the class is set up is exactly the same way the major is set up. The English department requires that we take two classes in each of three time periods (16th &17th, 18th and 19th, and 20th & 21st) and that we take one class in each of the areas. So if I'm spending four years learning all of this stuff, then why do they have to jam it all into one class? It's important when talking about this class to remember that the professor isn't coming up with this stuff, it is the department.
I'm interested to hear from other English majors out there. If you don't go to Iowa then do you have a class like this? Do you think it would be helpful? I know that I did gain a few things from the class. I took it my freshman year and it gave me a much better understanding of what professors are looking for when they ask for close reading. Basically the class improved my grades. I think that element of the class is great, and maybe there should be some kind of class like that. I just don't think the way they are approaching it right now is quite right.
Finals week for English majors is never really about exams. It's about papers. I have two ten pagers due next Wednesday and I'm aiming to finish them by the end of the weekend. The paper writing process can be excruciating, somewhat like pulling teeth or so I imagine, as I've never had a tooth pulled. While this semester as been mundane, horrible, terrible, disgusting, whatever, I am actually super excited to write both of this final papers because my paper topics are so interesting to me.
I'm writing a paper on whether or not Sarah Silverman is essayistic at all by looking at her film Jesus is Magic
and her book The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee
. I just started reading The Bedwetter yesterday and I must say I am so glad I can consider that homework. I haven't read any books for class this semester! Only essays. I really miss reading whole books for class. And The Bedwetter is hilarious so far, I'm a little over a 1/3 of the way through it. This paper is relaxing and stimulating. It's reminding me that paper writing can be fun.
Everyone at Iowa has to take a rhetoric class their freshman or sophomore year. I took my mine first semester my freshman year since I'm an English major and while I didn't really enjoy the class, I did write an awesome paper for it. I wrote about German rap music and how it relates to ethnicity. I listened to a ton of German rap music as music. I got an A on that paper and writing it was a trip.
Currently, I'm also writing a paper about book catalogs in the Renaissance. The class I'm writing this for, Literature and the Book, is my favorite class I've taken this semester. I've loved analyzing how they sold books during the Renaissance and book catalogs is a perfect way to do that. I get to use some really great databases to look at microfilm and some actually books from our library's special collections. This isn't as relaxed as Sarah Silverman, but book history is something I really enjoy so it seems fun to me.
I've also written some papers about actual books (go figure) and analyzed passages. These kind of papers are awesome if you have a great argument. I remember my freshman year I took Intro to the English Major and did less than desired on the first paper. When we wrote about The Tempest
I got a really good argument going about gender and the New World in my paper. I was so proud to get my first A in the English department.
I complain about writing papers a lot, but honestly I feel pretty lucky to be an English major and write papers about things that interest me all the time, instead of just taking exams about things I don't care about.
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Last year around this time I made a list of Gifts for English Majors. Another year has gone by and there are a lot of new things out there for English majors, so I thought I would make an updated list for the English majors (or book lovers) in your life.
1. McSweeney's and Believer combo subscription. For ninety dollars you can get a whole year's worth of awesome literary goodness. I've been a Believer subscriber for one year now and even though it has a hefty price tag, I haven't regretted it at all. The Believer is an almost monthly publication (nine issues) that has book reviews, comics, columns, and literature. They also have special issues throughout the year. I don't subscribe to McSweeney's (yet), but it's a fantastic literary magazine with great contributing writers. A year's subscription gets you four issues, which is basically like getting four books in the mail. Speaking of which, McSweeney's also has a Book Release Club for $100.
2. Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don't Float: Classic Lit Signs on to Facebook
is a book I reviewed last spring. It's super cheap ($6 on Amazon) and will give any English major hours of fun. Ever since I reviewed it I've lent it out to at least four people and everyone loves it. For more info on this book check out my review of it.
3. Moleskine Passions Book Journal
is another item I reviewed earlier this year and I absolutely love it. It's a great way for any reader to keep track of their notes from the books they read. I use this for school to keep track of the main ideas from books so by the end of the semester I can return to those notes and remind myself of the main points of the book. Check out my review of the journal for more info.
4. Penguin Classics Hardcover Collection
. I'm not suggesting you buy the entire $200 set, but a favorite book out of this collection would make a nice gift for an English major. I, of course, have my eye on Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. Several stores have these on sale for less than $15 right now, so it's a good time to get them.
5. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
, because English majors have to have fun too. I can just see myself coming home after a long day of school and work, curling up in front of the television to play with my Harry Potter LEGOs. That actually sounds very nice.
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Okay I have recently received a lot of awards, and unfortunately have not been on top of award posts. This means that I have gotten a few awards that I am not quite sure where they came from. Also, since I have gotten so many awards at once I'm not going to be passing them onto 30 gagillion blogs because that would mean I would have to go out and find blogs I don't actually read, and then give them awards. Since I don't want to do that I will just pass on these awards to blogs I truly love and feel deserve them. So the list...
I received the Silver Lining Award from my good friend Jade at Chasing Empty Pavements. As I understand from her post, this award means that I always try to look at the upside of things. It's pretty amazing I got this award, because I was known as the resident debbie downer at my high school when I was about 15. But hey, what can you expect from a 15 year old? I have five more years of wisdom now! Thanks for this award!
I am now going to pass this award on to Displaced English Major, Southern City Mysteries, Helen Loves Books, and Confessions and Ramblings of a Muse in the Fog.
The next award I received was from a blog I truly respect (not that I don't respect the others), A Guy's Moleskine Notebook. This reading journal is a daily go to for me and I know I can always depend on it for honest reviews and musings that have a lot of heart.
I am going to give this award to Dyxie Land: Gay/Straight Take on Nothing, Books and Movies, and Laura's Reviews. I realize some of you have probably gotten this award before, it circulates quite a bit (this is my second time) so sorry about that. But I wanted to give you all something!
Laura at Reading and Rooibos gave me the Kreativ Blogger award. I only recently discovered her blog but it has quickly become a favorite of mine. For this award I am supposed to list seven things about myself... but more on that later. Thanks Laura!
I am giving this award to A Guy's Moleskine Notebook, The Book Whisperer, Bookmarked!, and A Bookish Way of Life.
And last but not least, I received the Sugar Doll award from Michele at Southern City Mysteries. Hers is a wonderful writer's blog that I urge you to check out. She also has a new weekly meme called Writing Prompt Wednesdays, be sure to join in on that! This award requires to me say ten things about myself...
And I am giving this award to Stuck in a Book, Boarding in My Forties and Chasing Empty Pavements.
So what I'm going to do is tell you fifteen things about myself. I think that's fair. I think I should get some kind of theme going though. So maybe I will tell you fifteen things about since college.
1. I only applied to one school, the University of Iowa. I knew I would get in, I knew it was where I wanted to go, and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on application fees when I knew I was only going to consider Iowa. 2. When I first came to Iowa I was a Journalism and English double major. At the end of first semester my freshman year I quit Journalism, even though that is what I thought I really wanted to do. My roommate and I had a very lengthy discussion the night I decided to quit Journalism. She was a Journalism major too. 3. Since quitting Journalism I have considered French, Communication Studies, Linguistics, American Studies, and History as possible second major or minors. Right now I am interested in History and Museum Studies. That seems to be where life is taking me. 4. My freshman year my boyfriend and I were attending different schools. He was at Kansas State and I was obviously at Iowa. He decided to transfer to Iowa this year and it has made a world of difference in both of our lives, but I am thankful we had that time apart because it makes us appreciate each day together even more. 5. A couple other people joined me at Iowa this year. My best friend from high school, Katharyne, and my other good friend from high school Benjamin. Having both of them with me makes school quite the trip! 6. I asked for a coffee pot my senior year so I could have coffee in my dorm room. I rarely make coffee now, just like my family told me I wouldn't. I just don't have time. 7. Last semester I took all English classes. A hint for everyone else: Never, ever do that. 8. Going on a year and a half now I have worked at the lovely Currier-Stanley Residence Halls Front Desk. I steal pens (But don't tell Barb!) 9. The first English class I took at Iowa was a class on Virginia and Leonard Woolf taught by the lovely Lara Trubowitz. It was a fascinating class and sparked my interest in Victorian literature, mostly because Virginia hated those Victorians so much. 10. In my Victorian Lit class last semester there were two males. And about thirty students. It was an interesting class, and my prof brought Christmas cookies to our final! 11. I have started four (I think?) blogs since I came to college. This is the only one that has stuck. Why that is I do not know. I think I had a different attitude with this one, and an actual purpose. 12. I had season tickets to Iowa football games my freshman year. Yeah, that was a waste of my parents' money. I rarely went to football games in high school. 13. My class was supposed to be the last class to graduate from out old high school, but they didn't get the new high school finished in time so we were the second to last class to graduate from our old high school. I will lie to my children about this because second to last sounds stupid. 14. Last year I saw Ben Folds twice. I also saw Jack's Mannequin twice. I geek out for pianos. 15. Since coming to college I have found out that I love to read literary criticism. So sue me.
Thanks everyone who gave me an award! Sorry this was such a sloppy post, it'll teach to be more on top of this in future!
Well I've been spending a lot of time buying textbooks recently, which is always frustrating for me because textbooks suck a lot of my funds. One day my bank account is overflowing and the next it's maxed. I look in there and think, "Oh my God! Someone stole my money!" Then I remember, oh yeah, I'm a college student. I love to buy books, but it's a lot more fun to buy books when someone isn't telling you you have to buy them. I'm actually only taking ONE English class this semester, which is almost the opposite of last semester. I only took English classes last semester. You see, I'm taking more history classes now, which is nerve racking for me because I was really bad at history when I was a kid. But I'm more interested in history now. So wish me luck on that...
The English class I am taking is about sensation fiction and the authors in focus are Wilkie Collins and Mary Elizabeth Braddon. I'm reading Armadale (Collins), Wyllard's Weird (Braddon), The Woman in White (Collins), The Moonstone (Collins), and Lady Audley's Secret (Braddon), which I read last semester for a different class. For my other classes I'm taking American History since the Civil War, Art History since 1400, Civilizations of Asia, and Nonprofit Organizational Management (woohoo, betcha want to hear about the book for that class).
Honestly though, I complain about buying books but English major's have a pretty sweet deal going. My boyfriend spends twice as much as I do on books. Even though he can sell most of them back it's still a chunk of change that is gone, and if he can't sell the book back he will probably never look at it again. With me, I keep most of my books and would probably have bought them at some point anyway. So being an English major is kind of fun! Sometimes...
Since it seems like everyone I know is having an emotional crisis right now I thought I would try and cheer you up. I know how hard it is to be an English major and feel directionless, I am a directionless English major myself. Here are a list of probably similarly directionless people that are now famous, even though they were English majors.
1. Joan Cusack 2. Chevy Chase 3. Kathryn Fuller (World Wildlife Fund CEO) 4. Conan O'Brien 5. Joe Paterno (Football Coach, Penn State) 6. Sally Ride (astronaut) 7. Diane Sawyer 8. Steven Spielberg 9. Renee Zellweger 10. Pete Wilson (former governor of California)
I tried to include a good mix of people to encourage you to think outside the box about you want to do with your life. Supposedly sophomore year is the worst year so for those of you stuck there with me, we can pull through!
It's been a big day for me! Today I was on KRUI's show Not Your Literati to talk about English Major's Junk Food. It was a great show and if you haven't heard about it before and are in the Iowa City area you should tune in next Sunday at 11 AM. They also put a post about our interview on their blog today, and you can download the interview if you care to listen to it. Just head over to Not Your Literati. They also have posts on their blog about past shows so be sure to check it out!
Last week was crazy busy for me so I didn't get quite as much reading done as I wanted but I was a lot better about getting posts done on time. This week I reviewed Harriet the Spy and Villette. My children's book this week was Old Bear. Rather than writing a review of the children's book this week I decided to do a vlog and read the book. This seemed to work out pretty well so I think I might do this more in the future. Friday I complained about the University of Iowa's Intro to the English Major and yesterday I had a picture of a weird initial letter.
This week I'm planning on finishing three of the four books I'm reading. I'd like to finish The Woman in White, The Jungle, and The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. I'm going to put Pride and Prejudice on hold until I finish those three. I've got three awards recently and I will probably post those this week, and then I'm considering doing a post on literary talk shows. I was inspired to do this by Not Your Literati. There are a few other podcasts I listen to that I'd like to highlight. It should be an exciting week!
I was a very unsuccessful blogger this week, mostly due to an illness which left me exhausted pretty much every night. This is the last day of January though! With February we are all one step closer Spring! Hopefully as the days get longer I will get more energy, I become quite the bear during winter.
I really only had three good posts this week. On Monday I posted a review of Rumors and on Friday I posted a review of Emma: Volume 2. I also did a post on The Lorax, an amazing children's book by Dr. Seuss. One thing I have been meaning to do for a long time though was make a Facebook fan page for English Major's Junk Food. And guess what!?! I finally did it! So if you would like to be a fan go to the English Major's Junk Food Fan Page and join all of those who have beat you to it. Excellent.
And to continue to make myself feel like I've had a mildly successful week I will list all the book I have read in January. Technically I haven't finished two of these books yet but I will finish them today.
1. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray (B) 2. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (C) 3. Sorcery and Cecelia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer (C) 4. The Virgin Queen's Daughter by Ella March Chase (B) 5. Rumors by Anna Godbersen (B) 6. Lessons From a Scarlet Lady by Emma Wildes (C) 7. Emma Volume Two by Karou Mori (B) 8. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (B) 9. Villette by Charlotte Bronte 10. The Girl Made of Cool by Alan Fox
Happy Valentine's Day! In order to celebrate I am joining in on the Books With Love Hop hosted by Good Choice Reading and One Upon a Twilight. The giveaway closes on February 16, 2011. This giveaway is only open to the United States and Canada. This time around I'm giving away a copy of the same book I got for myself for Valentine's Day-- Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
by Mary Roach. This is a nonfiction book about, well, sex. I haven't read it personally, but I've heard nothing but good things about Mary Roach and I thought Valentine's Day would be a good time to dissect the topic a little further.
I think you'll enjoy this book if whether you are in a relationship or not. If you'd like to enter the giveaway please fill out the form below. Note: You do not have to be a follower to enter this giveaway, but followers will get extra entries.
This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered!
If this is your first time at English Major's Junk Food please take a minute to look around! You can check out the About Me or if you're in for the short side of things: I'm an English major blogging about nonfiction, literary fiction, and YA books as well as comics, bookish crafts, and environmentalism. Thanks for stopping by!
Be sure to check out the other great giveaways:
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This isn't so much gifts for English Majors as it is stuff that I really, really want that is kind of related to being an English Major. But isn't that how these lists always turn out?
1. Peeramid Bookrest.
They have these downtown and I want one so bad, except the ones downtown are a lot prettier. I always read on my bed and my arms get tired when I have to hold my book up all the time. I asked for one of these but I don't think my parents understood what I meant. Perhaps I'll get one for myself after Christmas. If I was good at sewing then I would make the reading pillow that Dreadlock Girl made. Even you haven't seen it then you can check it out here. 2. Literary Note Cards, I particularly want the Bronte Sisters Note Cards.
I still write letters to my grandma and I love pretty stationary. I actually need to write her a letter this afternoon and I wish I had a nice Bronte note card to send her. She doesn't really know about the Brontes but I think the pictures are nice. Besides, when I become a famous writer and people want to read my letters to find out who I was I don't want them to find ugly stationary! (Insert hysterical laughter here). 3. Classic Novel Posters, like this ridiculously overpriced Mrs. Dalloway print. I happen to have the cheaper On the Road poster and I get quite a few compliments on it. These are nice because they're not too postery, if you know what I mean. You can frame them and they look like nice art work and not boy band posters. 4. I already have this, but Secret Lives of Great Authors: What Your Teachers Never Told You About Famous Novelists, Poets, and Playwrights
is a great gift book for book lovers. I use it sometimes before I take a class about an author so I can get the dirt on them. Plus then you can say interesting things in class, depending on who your teacher is as some of the things are quite dirty. Like James Joyce's sex life! 5. Literary Action Figures, I am personally dying to have this Jane Austen Action Figure.
They are kind of stupid and I'm not sure what I would do with one, but I think they make nice gifts. I wouldn't mind having a Jane Austen action figure on my desk. I might have deep conversations with her or perhaps she could help me on my papers.
Okay, I stole this idea from Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin'? Since it's the holidays and everyone is annoyed but trying to appear happy, I figured I'd just be honest and tell you all what's making me angry! Or not angry, but slightly peeved.
I went to the dentist this morning and now that I'm [almost] twenty I have to start worrying about gum disease. Gum disease! My teeth have always been great. I never had braces and they line up perfectly. I've always loved going to the dentist because it's the only place I know I will receive at least three compliments. Well not anymore! I'm already missing teenagedom.
The word [h]istoric. All my life it has been historic. With an 'h.' A strong 'h.' Now I'm in college and suddenly there is not 'h.' Historic has become Istoric. And what's even worse is that I'm starting to pronounce it that way too!
The world glean. I had never heard the word glean until I came to college. Last semester it seemed to be a favorite word of all my professors. "What do you glean from this?" I glean that everyone is using the word glean to make themselves sound a lot smarter than they are. Glean sounds like something you would clean your windows with.
Split ends. I have never had a major problem with split ends. But then I decided to grow my hair back out and since I have to walk everywhere and Iowa City is fairly windy it is now a major problem. I comb my hair, I swear I do, but after a ten minute walk outside all of that hard work is down the drain. Yesterday I had to make a hair appointment at a completely different hair salon because I was so desperate to get my hair cut. This has had a great psychological effect on me. I am a creature of habit.
Sweatpants. I didn't bring any with me to school and began to regret it greatly when it started snowing.
Professors who say they will do things and don't follow through! One of my teachers said she put our portfolios in her mailbox. I walked all the way to her mailbox (fifteen minutes in the COLD!) and they were not there. I went back four hours later and they had magically appeared. Why didn't she just email us when she put them in there? I also had a professor who said he would email us a response to our papers. Grades have come in, two weeks have gone by, and still no response.
Those are all of my grievances. Thanks for listening.
I officially declared my history major this week and so far I have received fairly negative reactions to it. I'm not surprised really, because I never thought I would become a history major until I started getting interested in history through my English classes. The reason I never though I would become a history major is because I hated history in elementary school. I remember my mom trying to help me study for tests and I just could not figure it out. I was excellent at understanding concepts, but I wasn't good a memorizing dates and I have never been good at multiple choice tests. That was pretty much what history was like all through high school. I did enjoy my history classes in high school though, I was a big fan of Government even though most people hated it.
It old my mom I declared my history major this week and she said "You didn't get that from me!" It's true, my mom is not a fan of history because it is boring. She says she doesn't care about what has happened already, but instead she's more concerned with what is going on now. I kind of wish I was more like that sometimes, because I think my interest in history is related to my obsession with reanalyzing my own past. I told a guy I work with about my history paper as well and he asked what class it was for. When I said American history he said, "Eh, I hate American history." I just laughed but... how could you hate American history! It's like the best reality tv show ever!
My favorite thing about the history classes I've taken so far is the many mediums my professors use to convey information. I've read comic books, novels, autobiographies, short stories, and textbooks and also listened to music, watched movies, and looked at propaganda posters and artwork form the time period. This has given me a greater interest in learning on my own through different mediums. I've actually purchased nonfiction books about historical movements, something I'd never considered before, and bought documentaries and movies to watch in my spare time. I mean, what is up with that?
So why do we hate history? I think it all goes back to what I said at the beginning of this post. It's a preconceived idea that history is boring, when really history is anything but. I'm not very interested in war itself, but the movements that surround wars are fascinating and usual more interesting than the war itself. So do you hate history? Or do you love it? Why do you think you feel the way you do about history?
This week at the Broke and Bookish we're talking about our top ten favorite book blogs. Since I was listed on their top ten I will definitely have to share the love! These are in no particular order.
1. The Broke and Bookish. I love the idea for this blog! It's great that they have multiple bloggers because each one has a different way of reviewing and reads different books. Lots of variety here! 2. Reading on a Rainy Day. Quite a few reviews of books dealing with India, which is different from other blogs out there. She really has eclectic taste and has reviewed some great books this year, including The Bell Jar which I love. I always come away with something I want to read. 3. 1330V. You can always count on this blog for really thoughtful posts about reading and great reviews on an assortment of books. Quite a few graphic novel reviews and lots of books I've never heard of before! 4. Sophisticated Dorkiness. A journalist and book lover blogs about mostly nonfiction. This is the only book review blog I can think of that focuses on nonfiction and that is part of the reason I love it. Since I found Sophisticated Dorkiness I have started to review more nonfiction myself because it's my favorite genre as well! 5. Sasha & the Silverfish. Sasha was one of the first blogs I read when I started blogging. Her posts are long but wonderful. It's like discussion in an English class, except you don't have to worry about getting a grade! Lots of great books here. 6. A Literary Odyssey. This blog attempts to read 250 classics and does multiple posts on quite a few of them. I like that about this blog because you get to hear so much more about her thoughts on a book than you would with just one post. With classics I think that works really well. 7. Drunk Literature. On a bit of a hiatus right now but still one of my favorite book blogs. Rebecca blogs about more than books, that includes art, music, and just what's she into at the moment. She has great taste! 8. A Guy's Moleskine Notebook. He reviews quite a few classics but also a lot of newer books so there is a lot of variety. The reviews are very thoughtful and specific, and he is great at starting discussions. 9. The Displaced English Major. Similarly to A Literary Odyssey this blog is trying to read a list of 100 books. I've been amazed at how patient she can be with books she doesn't really care for. She's read some fairly obscure titles so be sure to check out her thoughts! 10. Iris on Books. I didn't find Iris until this summer but it's quickly become one of my favorite book blogs. She reviews mostly literature and classics, but I really enjoy her posts about reading. She's funny too!
There are a lot more I'd like to list. Basically, check out any blog in my blogroll and know that I love what they do!
Earlier this week was my one year blogiversary so I just wanted to take today to thank all of you who have supported me until now. I've had some awesome experiences and have done so much more than I ever thought possible through my blog! I made a little video with pictures from everything I've done over the past year and it's set to an awesome song (Wrapped Up in Books by Belle and Sebastian).
When I started this blog a year ago I was really just frustrated with not getting to read very much and I wanted to change that. And I have! I'm well on my way to reading 100 books this year which is more books than I've read in a long time. I've made so many great connections and encouraged other English majors to pick up a book and read.
Thanks everyone!
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.
Do you have friends and family to share books with? Discuss them with? Does it matter to you?
I talk about books with people I know a lot because I take so many English classes where everyone has to read the same book. This can be extremely enjoyable or incredibly painful depending on the class, the professor, and the book we're reading. Talking about books is probably my favorite part of being an English major. Outside of the classroom I have a small group of friends who read a lot of the same books I read and we talk about them when we get the chance. These are usually less in-depth conversations that are more about what we liked or didn't like about the books, but the kind of books we've read typically yield this kind of talk rather than a more formal analysis. I would say it does matter to me, I don't need to have someone to talk to about every book I read, but I think I get a lot more out of reading when I can talk about how I feel about the book with another person. Sometimes my boyfriend ends up listening to me drone on about books he hasn't read just because I have things to say about it. He's a good sport though! And of course I have all of my blogging friends who I love to talk books with!
How about you? You can join in the conversation or look at other responses at Booking Through Thursday.
Oh, how I miss going to Target with my mom, list in hand, and purchasing exactly seven folders and several brightly colored pens. School supplies shopping was like Christmas when I was a kid, nothing made me happier than buying the supplies and going home to figure out exactly how I would utilize all of them. Now, of course, things are different. Instead of school supplies shopping I have to go book shopping, and as much as I love books it's a really a pain to shell out the money for them all at once. I still find some solace in office supplies though, and these are my favorites.
1. Pens. I don't use pencils anymore because they basically erase themselves once the pages have been rubbing together. I write in my books (as do most people I know) and it is important that my notes stay. I know this is kind of an obvious one, but I use pens more than anything else. I also have several red pens for editing my papers. I used to use brightly colored pens to write in my books so that I would be able to find my notes easier, but this became a hassle because colored pens seem to run out of ink faster than black ones. I also get most of my pens for free (by which I mean I take them from tables at fairs or a I pilfer them from front desks) and most free pens are black.
2. Post-it Notes. I use Post-it notes differently from most people I know, so here are the two ways I see people using them. The first is like me, I just use them like bookmarks. I use one large Post-it to mark my place in the book, and I use smaller ones to divide my reading into sections. I can't sit and read one book for four hours (usually) so I divide it up into thirty page sections. I read faster if I can see that I'm getting close to the end of the section, so it saves me time and gives my brain a rest. Other people I know use Post-its in lieu of or in addition to writing in their books. Sometimes you have a great idea, but there is only so much room in the margin of books which is where the Post-its come in. This probably makes passages easier to locate and helps when making points in class. I don't do it because I summarize my thoughts at the end of chapters where there is usually lots of room.
3. File Folders. I get a lot of papers as an English major and most of the time I only need them once. I like to keep everything until the end of the semester but I don't like carrying it all around, so I use file folders for all of my classes. When I have to print out an essay and read it for class I put it in my backpack for the day, and then when I come home I put it in the file folder. I also use file folders to document any submissions I've made to literary magazines, progress towards my degree, and information for programs I'm interested in.
4. Stapler. I'm kind of being hypocritical here because I do not have a stapler, but I vow to purchase one this weekend since I'm telling all of you that you need one. It is embarrassing to turn in papers that are not stapled. I've always been a paper clip kind of girl, but so far that has not worked for me. I NEED a stapler. It's not working to use the one at my job because I always forget or run out of time. Once a teacher actually made fun of me for not having a stapler. Even one of those mini-staplers. A girl in one of my classes has one in her backpack that she lets me use and I am grateful to her every day. So, I will be buying a stapler.
5. Planner. When I say planner I mean planner, not tiny little thing that only has room to write down Lunch with Mackenzie, because that is literally all you will do that day. You might have to buy an ugly planner, I'm not so fond of mine, but it gets the job done. Unless you have an amazing memory you really need a planner. I divide large tasks up into small ones and do a little every day. Chances are, if you write it down in your planner and you look at it, you will do it. I also write in parentheses after the task how long I think it will take to get done. This can either be incredibly daunting or comforting. Usually it is comforting. Write down fun things in your planner too! You'll look at it more.
