Day 1. Year 2.

On repeat:

Sipping: a black & white mocha from the Beanery

First day classes: French 211, Film Noir

Wearing:

Mode of transportation: Bus

Writing: a chapter of my thesis and a proposal for a conference on pop culture

Reading: Double Indemnity (school), Watership Down (pleasure)

Last film I watched: Casablanca

Last tv episode I watched: Gilmore Girls 6x13

Highlight of my day: a friend in French class unexpectedly

Hoping for: a good year

What I'm reading

Thanks to my sister for informing me of the "what i'm reading" party, sponsored by Emily of Jones Design Company.

So, what have I been reading?  Since the New Year began, I've been focusing on reading more... and I think it's working because this weekend I'm set to finish my 4th book of the year :)

I started off the year by finishing Return of the King - 2nd time through and I loved it!  But from my multiple blog posts / instagram pictures, I think you knew that ;)

After spending 6 months in Middle Earth (I read The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and a bio of Tolkien last summer/fall), I wanted a quick, contemporary novel to pull me back into reading as a habit.  Little did I know how quick the book I picked was.  Last Monday night (all in one night) I read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  [For those of you aren't familiar, John Green makes up half of the "Vlog Brothers" with his nerdy, artistic, michevious counterpart being Hank Green, who is, among other things, the executive producer for The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.  Needless to say - they're a really cool pair.]  Getting back to the novel, it was unbelievable.  Tragic and literary and raw and thought provoking and beautiful. Wow!  Being as sad and raw as it was, I wouldn't recommend this book to just anyone, but if you're interested, ask me and I will tell you more.

[I'm skipping over the third book because it was just aweful... I'm pretending it didn't happen.]
And currently, I'm reading The Time Traveler's Wife - which has kind of sucked me in.  There have been some parts I've really liked, but quite a few things which bothered me. But it is definitely a novel that is easy to read.  I started 2 days ago and am now half way through - but I have a feeling I'm going to end up liking the first half a lot more than the last half :/  We shall see.

A few other books on my radar:

• The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz
• The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins
• The Crowd, the Critic, and the Muse - Michael Gungor
• The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald*
• Culture of Hope - Turner Frederik
• The Hours - Michael Cunningham
• Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen*
• One Thousand Gifts - Ann Voskamp
• Letters from a Lost Generation - Mark Bostridge
• Orthodoxy - G.K. Chesterton
• Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes
• and some more Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

You know, just a few ;)  You can see what I've been reading or what I hope to read on my goodreads page.

*re-reads :)

I think I must have lost all of my self-control: I am currently reading two books--at the same time.

I didn't think I would ever lose so much self discipline!

I bet you would never guess which two books I am reading :)

Great Expectations and...

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland =)

haha... oh well, and Farenheit 451 is waiting for me on my bookshelf.

So much to read, so little time to do it...

to all who love books as much as I do, I hope you are enjoying your summer reads!

Summer Reading List :)

Summer is finally here and I have worked up an exciting reading list. Some are first-timers, others i've just never finished, and a few are just so good that i need to read them again :)

Here are Just a Few:

At the Back of the North Wind by George McDonald

The Perelandra Series - Clive Staples

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn - Samuel Clemens

Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

Emma - Jane Austen..... getting soooo close to conquering Jane Austen!

Shakespeare (several different plays)

Shame off You - Alan D. Wright

Ragamuffin Gospel - Brennan Manning

Surprised By Hope - N. T. Wright

The Diary of Anne Frank 

Enemies Within - Pastor Norm Willis

The Circle Trilogy - Ted Dekker:)

yippeeeeee