Monday, March 6, 2017

Getting Back into Books

Since graduating with my Associate's Degree I've decided I need to start reading more on my own, especially books that I could really learn from, not just modern quick-read fiction. Last year I made a goal to read one biography or classic novel each trimester. I ended up reading more than just 3 books, and was so glad for the goal to jump-start me.

I began with Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations." Just adjusting to the different (and I would assert more intelligent as well) way of speaking from that time period made me feel like I was furthering my own education. I really enjoyed the whit and humor in the writing as well as the plot twists and connections, though the ending fell a little flat for me. Overall I enjoyed the read, and felt like truly classic stories and authors (like Dickens) really do have a lot to offer. Plus I didn't have to worry about coming across anything inappropriate in my reading - a HUGE plus for me.

I think the next book I read was "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe. We had gone to see Operation Underground Railroad at the theater, and Timothy Ballard talked about this being his favorite book and very influential in his beginning the operation. I also remembered hearing about it in The King and I while growing up, so I decided to get it from the library. It was such a fantastic book. The only thing that could have made it better was having my own copy so that I could mark the many passages that struck me. Seriously, SUCH a good book. She does a fantastic job showing the variety of views on slavery and blacks during that time period through words, thoughts, and actions of all the different characters. There were so many poignant passages about human nature, how we treat others, and trust in God all throughout the book.

After seeing Jenessa's recommendation on Facebook, I read "The Girl from the Train" by Irma Joubert. It's a foreign novel, following a young man and a little girl - from Poland near the end of World War II, down to South Africa amidst the prejudices there. It was really neat to experience so many different cultures through the characters in this book.

I'm pretty sure Jane Austen's "Persuasion" was my next book - which I absolutely loved. This was only the second Jane Austen book I had ever read. The first was "Emma" in high school, and at the time, I kept losing interest because of the long descriptions, archaic language, and huge age gap in the romance. It took me way too long to finish back then, and I think it kind of kept me from reading more of Jane Austen's work. This time around, I really enjoyed her writing style and the challenge of our language differences from then to now. Also, "Persuasion" has a great love story, and again, it was so nice to enjoy the book without worrying about content.

I checked out "The Screwtape Letters" by C. S. Lewis from the library, but never finished it. There are a lot of profound passages in it, but I had a hard time delving into the book. I think it would have helped if it was my own copy that I could write and mark in, so that I could interact with it more, since there's not much of a story-line to follow. I really liked what I did read of it - C. S. Lewis was a brilliant man with such a wonderful understanding of morals and moral truths - and I definitely want to finish reading it at some point, because I feel like there is a lot to learn from it. At the time, I just wasn't connecting with it for some reason.

After that I ended up rereading the Harry Potter series, minus the last book. These were definitely just for fun (although I would say these books have become modern classics), but I was ok with that since I had already reached my goal of 3 classics for the year. I think that was actually my first time to reread them, which also meant it was my first time to read them one right after another, without having to wait for the next book to come out. They are such fun books! And there is just so much you miss out on in the movies. I loved the added depth and humor that I had forgotten about. Sometime during my reading the series I got "The Cursed Child" from the library and read that as well. It was a super quick read with a very different style (obviously), but I enjoyed it for what it was. The only reason I didn't end up rereading the last book of the series was because I got busy with other things and waited too long to start it, so by the time it was due back at the library I was separated from the story enough that I didn't bother checking it out again.

I've set my goal for 2017 at 1 book per month (again, going for more classic/educational books and biographies). I'm already a little behind, and there's still a LOT of time that I spend watching tv that I should spend reading instead, but I'm making progress!

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