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| Penguin Drop Caps |
I have a bit of pretty book obsession (in addition to just generally purchasing more books than I can read). After six or so months of saving up Amazon Rewards points and carefully tracking the ever-changing price, I purchased my very own long sought after set of Penguin Drop Caps, "a series of twenty-six collectible hardcover editions of fine works of literature." And after six or so months of them looking beautiful in my living room (and acknowledging that I've only previously read three of them), I decided to set about reading them all. And by reading, I likely mean listening to audiobook versions while the expensive pristine copies stay on the shelf. They are too new, and I spill too much.
First up is one of my all time favorites (and one I've reread too many times to count), Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It's still wonderful, and I shortly read it again. I highly recommend the audiobook version narrated by Rosamund Pike.
Next up, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. This was my first Bronte novel, and I GET IT. I want to read them all. Thandie Newton's narration is excellent.
C is for Willa Cather's My Antonia. I took several American West history courses in undergraduate/graduate school, but don't recall preciously reading any of her work. My Antonia is the third of Cather's pioneer trilogy, but I didn't feel out of place reading out of order.
D is for Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. This is the second time this year I've reread a book that I first read for ninth grade literature, and the results were similar. I didn't care for Great Expectations (or Catcher in the Rye) as a fourteen or fifteen year old, and I felt the same twenty years later. Silver lining: my annoyance with Pip inspired some faster times on the rowing machine.
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I am a regular reader of the 'escaped from polygamy' genre, and though this one isn't the best I've read (The Sound of Gravel sets a very high bar), it is especially emotionally engaging. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author, and of course came to the most graphic description of sexual violence inflicted upon the author by her father as I was shopping for Thanksgiving dinner at Costco (sorry to my fellow shoppers for my grimaces - they were not directed at you).
This book is a good compilation and analysis of what we know (and what we don't) from a reporter with experience in Russia. It's informative, clarifying, infuriating.
Lord John & the Brotherhood of the Blade, Lord John & the Hand of Devils, and The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon
I finished the Lord John series while new episodes of Outlander were still airing and upon finishing the Season 3 finale regretted that I didn't save it for #Droughtlander. Season 4 feels far away and may require some rereading, as I have now exhausted Gabaldon's catalog.
Harry Potter
I finished HP #4-7 in November, reread Cursed Child, and had every intention to not start all over again until a moment of weakness on Christmas Eve when I opened Sorceror's Stone. Again. I saw a Twitter conversation few months ago about returning to books you find comforting/relaxing/etc. when the outside world is creating anxiety and stress, and several folks cited returning to Harry Potter over the last year or so. Apparently I'm not alone in retreating and refueling at Hogwarts.
