January: all the things!

Hello and Happy New Year! 

I know I'm quite behind on this but, dear blog-reader, please don't feel like it's you.  In the throes of thesising, there are a lot of things I'm behind on, like folding my laundry and taking down Christmas decorations.  But while its still January, I feel I can say "Happy New Year."



...Annnd share my reading list from 2015 :) 

1. The Allegory of the Cave - Plato* (nf)
2. The Evolution of the Language of Cinema - Andre Bazin (nf)
3. Golden Son - Pierce Brown  [Also a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to this fabulous author!]
4. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce
5. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema - Laura Mulvey (nf)
6. Passing - Nella Larsen
7. Nightwood - Djuna Barnes
8. Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf*
9. A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf
10. Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys
11. Moments of Being - Virginia Woolf (nf)
12. Falling Upward - Richard Rohr (nf)
13. Faerie Queene: Book I - Edmund Spencer*
14. Amoretti - Edmund Spencer
15. Faerie Queene: Book III - Edmund Spencer
16. The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes (a)
17. One More Thing - B.J. Novak (a)
18. The Slow Regard of Silent Things - Patrick Rothfuss (a)
19. Landline - Rainbow Rowell (a)
20. First Meetings - Orson Scott Card (a)
21. Everyday - David Levithan (a)
22. Shadow of the Giant - Orson Scott Card (a)
23. I am Malala - Malala Yousafzai (nf)(a)
24. North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell (a)
25. A Theory of Adaptation - Linda Hutcheon (nf)
26. Remediation - Bolter and Grusin (nf)
27. Double Indemnity - James M. Cain
28. The Big Nowhere - James Ellroy
29. Watership Down - Richard Adams (a)
30. Why Not Me - Mindy Kaling (nf)(a)
31. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me - Mindy Kaling (nf)(a)

key:

* re-read

__ - read for school

(nf) - non-fiction

(a) - audiobook 

Overall trends:

// I read fewer books this year--thanks grad school.  What this list does not account for are the pages and pages of dense theoretical and critical essays and book chapters I read for school.  I swear, 20 pages of theory can be far more challenging than a 200 page novel.

// Where did all that non-fiction come from - especially the non-fiction for pleasure reading?!?  Unusual for me, but I read--er, listened to some great memoirs this year, which brings me to... 

// Audiobooks! Before 2015 I would have considered this cheating, but due to certain factors--grad school, again, and working in a file room this summer--I discovered not only how great audiobooks can be, but also the types of books I'm comfortable audiobooking.  I got to hear authors B.J. Novak, Patrick Rothfuss, and Mindy Kaling read their own books and it was a beautiful experience!!  I also discovered that my library system back home works with a great audiobooking app that I utilize for road trips and such :)

Stand-outs: 

• Golden Son - Brown's followup to Red Rising was packed with even more plot twists than the original! Also, the final book in this landmark trilogy comes out in just 12 days, so it's a perfect time to pick up this series!
• One More Thing - This collection of short stories is just fabulous!  Some stories quite lengthy while others are only 3 sentences.  I shared some of my favorite snippets already, but I'd also highly recommend the book's trailer--it is a treat!  Audiobooking this was such a great experience as B.J. Novak enlists a lot of quality voice work--from The Office co-stars Rainn Wilson, Jenna Fischer, and (of course) Mindy Kaling to thespians like Emma Thompson and Carey Mulligan to the quirky talents of Lena Dunham and Jason Schwartzman.  
• Landline - I only grow more impressed with Rainbow Rowell (I'm currently reading my fourth book by her...she's only written 5 so I'm probably gonna run out).  She captures romance so authentically well while also making her stories gritty.  This one was especially good because it was simultaneously about first love and rekindling love. Sooo lovely!
• I am Malala - This is one of those books everyone should read [I'd love to see Emma Watson pick it for her bookclub!].  It is such an incredible story and the news had only covered a small portion of it.  Again, the audiobook was stellar - especially because it ended with the actual audio of her UN speech.
• Why Not Me - Perhaps it's just that I read/listened to this at the perfect time, but this was a really meaningful collection of essays.  Even if you don't pick up the book, you should do yourself the favor of reading the excerpt on confidence here.

So there you have my 2015 in books!!

* * * * *

As I do every year on this date, I also have to commemorate a few other things... 

First, today is the 203rd anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice.  I first read it 12 years ago, but with each passing year it has become more and more valuable to me.  If all goes according to plan, a few months from now I'll be defending a thesis project that wouldn't exist at all if it weren't for this extraordinary, beautiful, quietly subversive novel.

[via]

And lastly... today also marks 7 years of blogging here.  Thank you to anyone who has followed along for even just a smidge of that journey - I appreciate you all very much!

Wednesday Creatives: Simon Thomas

Two summers ago, my first Sunday in Oxford, I was at church, meeting lots of new people and one of those was a a guy named Simon.  After some casual conversation, I learned that he was "reading" English Literature for his D-Phil at Magdalen, specializing in obscure female authors of the 1930's.  Oh, and he works for the school library - which in his case, happens to be the Bodleian.  Impressive.  But then he mentions, yah, he has a blog...

Come to find out he has a rather famous book blog, "Stuck in a Book."  Famous as in: several hundred followers, gets invited to Penguin events, and the official Lizzie Bennet Diaries facebook page - they follow Simon's blog.  Oh and on top of being a grad student, working part time for the Bodleian, now and then, part time for Oxford University Press (I'mnotjealousI'mnotjealousI'mnotjealous...), he must read 130+ books a year and then, of course, blogs about them. I consider myself lucky to count Simon as a friend and fellow Janeite, to have discussed LBD episodes via facebook comments, to have followed his trips to Chatsworth and the home(s) of Virginia Woolf, and to have taken up some of his book recommendations [I'm sorry I didn't love Agatha Christie more, but London War Notes was beyond compare!].  And I've mentioned him here before for his review of Peter and Alice.  I'm sure he's going to go onto an illustrious career in publishing or writing or blogging or academia or whatever he chooses to pursue. 


All that to say... He has branched out from book reviews to post some short creative writing, like these witty poems.  Each little one is dedicated to an author and they go something like this:

What the dickens?

Oh Charles, you saw
The humble poor
In such disarming detail -
But somehow missed
In all of this
A single real female.

Dear Aunt Jane

"Sweet, ineffectual Jane, the dear!"
Of all misreadings, wrongest.
Her barbs will last two hundred years;
Her laughs, both loud and longest.


Aren't those fun?  Do check out both parts 1 and 2   Also quite good is his "One place, Many Simons" article, regarding the idea of the same place becoming part of our story in many different ways.

Today, though, he outdid himself.  A fan of hilarious, literary, and/or witty short stories? Read "Jane Austen wrote the works of William Shakespeare."  Having experienced one or two academic conferences and after writing my thesis on the critical history comparing Austen to Shakespeare - this made me cry with laughter.  Such a joy!

Bibliophilic Christmas Gifts

Christmas is coming and I have some ideas for the lit nerd in your life!*  You don't have to settle for a Barnes & Noble or Amazon gift card (though, those are always gratefully accepted).  No matter the price point, gender, or age of your literary loved one, here are some gifts for your consideration:


* If you don't have a Lit Nerd in your life, I volunteer as tribute! 

Obvious State, via Etsy-
Evan Robertson is continually impressing me with his skill of working literary quotes into layered works of art.  But if his posters are a bit out of your budget, consider a set of his notebooks - any 3 for $12.  Now your bookworm has a place to jot down favorite quotes of their own:

Litographs:
What if you could wear the text of your favorite book in it's entirety?  With Litographs, there's no need google that great quote... just grab a magnifying glass!  Litographs offers tees ($34), totes ($29), and posters ($24) featuring brilliant (if at times harrowing) designs made up of the entire text.  The cool thing about your gift is that it's not just for your loved one.  Litographs partners with the International Book Bank so that with every product you purchase, they're able to send a book to a child in need.  Check out some of their cool designs below:

[The Great Gatsby]

[Poems of TS Eliot]

[And my favorite design, Persuasion]

Out of Print Clothing:
For variety and creativity, look no further than Out of Print.  They have an array of apparel and accessories featuring famous covers of famous books.  Like Litographs, they have a buy-one, give-one business model through their business partner, Books for Africa.  A few examples of their products include:

[a "Poe-ka Dot" tote - $18]

[Pride and Prejudice Journal - the "lines" of this notebook are comprised of micro-text famous quotes - $8]

[For the Lit Nerd in training, the Goodnight Moon onesie for $22]

Middle Earth Skirt, via Etsy:
Do they have their own custom-made, Middle-Earth skirt?  For just $45, you can rectify the situation here!

The Penguin Collection:
One of the most famous publishers of the 20th century, Penguin has a long list of devoted followers.  From their iconic green and orange paperbacks to their more recently popular cloth-covered editions, Penguin has a lot to offer, including "The Penguin Collection."  Also consider these postcards:

 

[100 Book Covers - $25]

LiteratiClub, via Etsy -
This Etsy shop specializes in literary scarves like the one below from Alice in Wonderland:

[Literati infinity scarf - $31]

You might also search Etsy if your Lit Nerd has a specific book or character they're a huge fan of.  For example: Hermione's time-turner, a Finnick necklace,  or an Anne of Green Gables poster.

What if you want to get them an actual book?  But you want it to be cool!  They can get the classics anywhere; they may or may not appreciate the latest NYT best-seller.  So, how about some unique book ideas for this Christmas:

   \\ The book lover in your life will go "absolutely ape" over this piece of art from Doug Dorst and, nerd-royalty, JJ Abrams.  "S" is a book within a book.  In their own words:

One book. Two readers. A world of mystery, menace, and desire.

A young woman picks up a book left behind by a stranger. Inside it are his margin notes, which reveal a reader entranced by the story and by its mysterious author. She responds with notes of her own, leaving the book for the stranger, and so begins an unlikely conversation that plunges them both into the unknown.

The book: Ship of Theseus, the final novel by a prolific but enigmatic writer named V.M. Straka, in which a man with no past is shanghaied onto a strange ship with a monstrous crew and launched onto a disorienting and perilous journey.

The writer: Straka, the incendiary and secretive subject of one of the world’s greatest mysteries, a revolutionary about whom the world knows nothing apart from the words he wrote and the rumors that swirl around him.

The readers: Jennifer and Eric, a college senior and a disgraced grad student, both facing crucial decisions about who they are, who they might become, and how much they’re willing to trust another person with their passions, hurts, and fears.

[this 3-dimensional, literary gem is available on amazon for just $21]

   \\ Tree of Codes by Jonathon Safran Foer is a book carved out of another book.  Bruno Schulz's novel Street of Crocodiles has been an influential work on the life and work of Foer (and on his wife, Nicole Krauss).  He decided to take the novel and extract a new one - not adding a single word, only by cutting out words.  The result?  An landmark literary and artistic work:

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   \\ And finally, a book just for fun:  William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher.  I got to flip through this thing the other day, and let me tell you - it's golden!  And thanks to Amazon, it can be yours or your friend's (or yours) for $12.  Just check out the Star Wars prologue in perfect sonnet form:

[via]

Let me know in the comments if you or a book lover you know are asking for any wonderful, bookish presents this Christmas [no, a Kindle doesn't count].


Here's to a very, Merry Christmas for both you and the bibliophile in your life :)