October is going to be an insane reading month.
I have a few books I need to finish this October, and then a few I'll be reading. Of the books listed, 7 are for fun. but I'm nearly done with 3 of them and another is an audiobook. The rest are entirely for university. Things are getting real in uni, so a lot of what you see below is actually assigned reading. I'm not complaining. I love assigned reading! It's just... a lot this month.
FOR SCHOOL:
Silent Dancing: A Partial Remembrance of a Puerto Rican Childhood by Judith Ortiz Colfer. This is a memoir of Ms. Colfer's life growing up and is only 158 pages. I'm excited because I haven't read a biography/memoir in a long time.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. I really like Cisneros now. She's poetic, but accessible and I really like that. A lot of "high nose" writers take a lot of context to understand - which limits their audience - but Cisneros doesn't do this.
Paradise Lost by John Milton. I'm totally loving this. My presentation is on Book III of this (there's XII books, I believe). Milton is still the sassiest.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. Nearly done with this one. Once I figured out what Joyce was trying to say and what he was trying to transcend, I was completely on board. Although modernism still isn't my favorite.
Translations by Brial Friel. It's 91 pages and a play, thank God. So this is one of my shorter reads. This is for my Irish Literature class. No idea what it's about, but I'm kind of excited. I've never read a contemporary Irish play.
Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane. I'm really hoping that this isn't a modernist one, but I know Deane was a huge nationalist in Ireland. He also wrote an intro into Joyce's "Portrait" trying to find nationalist ties. Fun fact!
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs. I am super excited for this one. The first slave narrative I've ever read about a woman and it also has one of the only homosexual interactions between a slave and master - which is a concept I'm extremely interested in.
12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup. Really excited for this one, too, although I believe this was actually dictated to a white man and then he wrote it... so I'm sure there will be some embellishment.
Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave by William W. Brown. I know nothing about this one, to be honest. I didn't even realize we were reading it in my Slave Narratives class until just now.
Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb: An American Slave by Henry Bibb. Same deal as above. I only just realized I was reading this. Both books are only a little over 100 pages, but I have no idea how readable they'll be.
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. I don't know much about this, but I'm really excited. It's also on the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge (which I'll do a post on soon) so two birds and one stone.
Secrets in the Sand: The Young Women of Juarez by Marjorie Agosin. I believe this is a book of poetry about the women who were abducted and murdered in Juarez, Mexico. There were over 350 women and their remains are still being found. Tragic.
The Miltonic Movement by J. Martin Evans. A study of Milton's early works. This is supplemental reading, but the professor wants us to use outside sources on our Midterm and this is a book he mentions a lot.
Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages by Carolina Walker Bynum. Another supplemental reading request and another book he mentions constantly. Really interested about this one, though.
FOR FUN:
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I will be reading this for a book club. Reading this for the book club Sassy Reads. If you join, we'll also be using the hashtag #sassyreads on Twitter, too. My Halloween-y read!
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas. I haven't even looked at this since early September, so I'm still on chapter 3. I will finish it this month. (I hope.)
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I'm almost done with this one. It's really great, but this is a book that should be read slowly. So beautiful, though, and I really recommend it.
Stag's Leap: Poems by Sharon Olds. I this won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2013. (I'm trying to read more Pulitzers.) It's just gorgeous. I've already cried a few times. A collection of poetry about a marriage that fell apart after 30 years.
Wicked as They Come by Delilah S. Dawson. This is the Vaginal Fantasy Book Club read. I didn't get to read last month's, so I'd really like to take part this month. Also... it's got crazy good reviews for such a cheesy cover.
Commanded to His Bed by Denise Lynn. My bathroom book! I still haven't done a post about bathroom books, but I will... I will, lol. This one is ridiculously corny.
True to the Highlander by Barbara Longley. My audiobook that I've yet to finish, ha. The narrator is just... not my style and also, Thomas Bergerson's new album has come out so I've been a little sidetracked because he is my favorite composer ever.
What are you reading this October?
