End of One Thing, Start of Something Better

Well, the semester is finally coming to a close. I've taken 2 out of 5 finals, and can't wait to finish the rest!! This has been an interesting semester for me in terms of reading. I had my first English class where the professor was so bad that I never wanted to go to class (never take a class from Dr. Harris... luckily she's retiring after next year!) and read a lot of disturbing literature (see the post below about Native Son for an example). However, I've also had some great experiences. My other English classes have been phenomenal, and I've decided that if I ever decide to pursue a Master's in English, I'll definitely specialize in Modern and Post-Modern American literature. Going into the English major I thought I would focus my time on Romantic Era English literature... turns out that I hate the majority of it, and the only thing that makes the time period bearable is Jane Austen (who I love and adore).

However, now I'm off to something bigger and better... THE SUMMER!! (I bet you all thought I was going to say "married life." Well that's a part of the summer that I'm very excited for, but I'm equally excited for a chance to read a lot of great books and hopefully see this country come out of a recession so that I can get a job at a library!! Also, Andy and I are going to be living across the street from the Provo City Library which means it will be much easier for me to get involved on some level at the things that go on there... and just be able to check out books and movies there. I foresee Andy and I watching a lot of the old classic movies because we can rent them for free from the library.

And most importantly, I've started my summer reading. Right now my Goodreads "to read" list has 130 books on it, so we'll see how far I get this summer. Even if I read a book every single day I won't finish up my reading list, so my goal is just to see how much of a dent I can make in it. I've decided to start things off easy though and right now I'm in the middle of The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. I bought a collection of his stories, so for the first month or so I'll be reading a lot of him. So give me a week or so and you'll get your post about my musings on that.

Native Son by Wright

Sometimes I think it's so unfair that a book that I have every intention of hating turns out to be really good. Case in point Native Son. It was written in the 1930s as a protest novel to the treatment of African Americans and the author said he wrote it to make you feel it in your gut. He didn't want to write a book that bankers' daughters could read, cry over, and then go to lunch. He wanted something that would change people's lives.

And this book did. I can't say too much about it without giving everything away, but if you don't like blood and violence you shouldn't read this book. I had to read it in the library because I refused to associate it with my apartment because I would never be able to sleep again if I did (luckily my professor had warned us that it was graphic and would cause nightmares). So I was dead set on hating it after reading the first 2 sections. The main character just made me so angry and I did not like him at all and I felt no sympathy for him whatsoever. But then I read the last section, and everything changed. Sure I didn't like the guy a whole lot, but I came to understand him a lot more.

And even though this book was written to protest the treatment of African Americans so many decades ago, I couldn't help but think about how it still applies. How each of us contributes to the creation of another person (not in the parent/procreative aspect, but in shaping a person's beliefs and attitudes). Every interaction we have with a person affects the rest of their life. If we continually treat someone poorly they will remember it. Even if its just the guy that gives us our food at McDonalds, our treatment of him affects him. You cannot have an interaction with someone without it affecting their life. So give that a thought. The next time you're in a bad mood and don't want to talk to the guy next to you on the bus, or in the elevator with you, just think about what you want to be accountable for... and try to make that person's day a little better.

It's Killing Me...

So since and including Christmas I've gotten about ten new novels and I haven't had time to read ANY of them. Every night I look longingly at my bookshelf and think about how badly I want to read one of them and not have to think about what I'm going to say in class about it the next day. I love school, but I really love the summer when I can just read to my heart's content. Even though I'm so happy that I'm getting married this summer and that Andy isn't going to be doing EFY I really loved all the time I had last summer to just read and delve into books again.

Growing up I was always reading... sometimes a book or two a day during the summer. Sure I had friends, but I tended to ignore them during the summer in favor of my books. Then summer after graduation I quit reading. I spent all summer playing with my friends from work and doing absolutely nothing. Then the summer after freshman year I spent playing with my roommates and the people in my ward. Don't get me wrong, I loved it, but I really loved last summer and connecting with myself again and realizing why it is that I want to be a librarian. I love books. I love how they teach you so many things and take you out of the world for a little bit. One of the books I read for class described it perfectly. Reading is a little piece of paradise to help you deal with the awful reality of life (or something like that). Ever since school started I've missed my time with my books, but with 100+ pages to read every night, it's not like I can really do a whole lot of reading besides that. Oh well... only 7 more weeks of classes and then it's back to my books!! I'm so excited!!!!