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bookgazing) wrote2009-07-24 10:53 am
bookgazing) wrote2009-07-24 10:53 am
Reading everything now!
Dorothy W at ‘Of Books and Bicycles’ has a post up about feeling frustrated because she wants to read from so many different categories of book all at the same time. Most of the time I love being interested in everything, bored people are boring people after all (unless they’re bored at work). Still I often encounter the same reading dilemma (oh how privileged I am to be able to use that term) Dorothy’s having right now. I want to read deeply into one subject but I don’t want to neglect all the other subjects. A more disciplined mind than mind would make a life times project out of this problem, I’ll just make a list like Dorothy’s and go back to picking up books at random.
Here’s a pretty comprehensive list of what I’m interested in at the moment:
Books about pirates: both non-fiction history and fiction, especially non-fiction books about female pirates. There are at least three books on pirates sitting in my house waiting to be read. This category can also stand for books about all aspects of seafaring life (sailors, fishermen, women dressing as men to escape to sea etc), whales ('Moby Dick', 'Leviathan'), oh and surfing.
Historical romances, based on solid history – Jean Plaidy, Georgette Heyer, Phillipa Gregory.
Non-fiction about artists lives – Caravaggio, Rosetti (yes, alright the trashy BBC2 series sparked my interest in him) Turner, Picasso and Degas.
Non-fiction about current issues – ‘The Wisdom of Whores’ is the first book that springs to mind but also books about eco issues, aid, Iraq and the global financial situation
Biblical and religious backgrounds and history – it turns out there are a wealth of books examining religious texts as if they were just like other historical document. I’ve always wondered why people didn’t treat the Bible with the same healthy skepticism and study applied to other historical source material, turns out people do and now I want to read what they have to say.
Non-fiction about adventurers – I took a history course about mountaineers and mountains in university and Erica Wagner of the UK Times has monumentally increased my interest in polar explorers like Scott.
Books about falconry and birds of prey – Yes, I flew and owl and listened to a girl talk about the falcon she has at home being mobbed by seagulls and I was reminded how much I love birds of prey.
Experimental fiction, especially by women – immediately I think of Joyce Carol Oates, Lorrie Moore, Margaret Atwood, Ali Smith…that list could get gigantic.
Nostalgia fiction and non-fiction – flapper girls, India at the cusp of the Empire’s collapse and optimistic home life in Britain during and immediately after the world wars all come under this category.
Books about the below stairs life – I admit I’ve possibly been watching too much Upstairs Downstairs recently and now I crave books about the servant/master relationship.
YA – lots of it focused on all kinds of subjects.
Historical fiction – all kinds, all periods (agh, too much for a lifetime I think).
Scientific history – I may not have the best science mind, but I do enjoy reading about the people behind the science, especially Newton and his contemporaries.
Science fiction – I want to read the great classic authors like H G Wells but also the most current offerings, oh and more by Philip K Dick.
Russian classics – 'Anna Karenina' sits on my bookcase mocking me, as does 'Crime and Punishment'.
Victorian classics– Dickens, Trollope, Collins, Gaskill, all the usual suspects.
Poetry – specifically modern poetry. I received a ringing endorsement for Seamus Heaney recently, so I’d like to try him. I also want to just wander through some poets collections and see which ones stick.
Collections of letters – fact, fiction I really don’t care I must read more.
Books on feminist theory, history and current issues.
Fiction and non-fiction outlaws from America or Australia – 'The Legend of Colton H Bryant', 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford' go to the top of this list but I also want to read about Ned Kelly
Fiction and non-fiction about political prisoners and political oppression – I actually made a little list of some books on this subject after finishing ‘The Lizard Cage’ and I think ‘Guantanamo Boy’ may have to find its way into my hands quite fast. 'Persepolis',' The Kabul Beauty School' and 'The Last King of Scotland' are all on there too.
Here’s a pretty comprehensive list of what I’m interested in at the moment:
Books about pirates: both non-fiction history and fiction, especially non-fiction books about female pirates. There are at least three books on pirates sitting in my house waiting to be read. This category can also stand for books about all aspects of seafaring life (sailors, fishermen, women dressing as men to escape to sea etc), whales ('Moby Dick', 'Leviathan'), oh and surfing.
Historical romances, based on solid history – Jean Plaidy, Georgette Heyer, Phillipa Gregory.
Non-fiction about artists lives – Caravaggio, Rosetti (yes, alright the trashy BBC2 series sparked my interest in him) Turner, Picasso and Degas.
Non-fiction about current issues – ‘The Wisdom of Whores’ is the first book that springs to mind but also books about eco issues, aid, Iraq and the global financial situation
Biblical and religious backgrounds and history – it turns out there are a wealth of books examining religious texts as if they were just like other historical document. I’ve always wondered why people didn’t treat the Bible with the same healthy skepticism and study applied to other historical source material, turns out people do and now I want to read what they have to say.
Non-fiction about adventurers – I took a history course about mountaineers and mountains in university and Erica Wagner of the UK Times has monumentally increased my interest in polar explorers like Scott.
Books about falconry and birds of prey – Yes, I flew and owl and listened to a girl talk about the falcon she has at home being mobbed by seagulls and I was reminded how much I love birds of prey.
Experimental fiction, especially by women – immediately I think of Joyce Carol Oates, Lorrie Moore, Margaret Atwood, Ali Smith…that list could get gigantic.
Nostalgia fiction and non-fiction – flapper girls, India at the cusp of the Empire’s collapse and optimistic home life in Britain during and immediately after the world wars all come under this category.
Books about the below stairs life – I admit I’ve possibly been watching too much Upstairs Downstairs recently and now I crave books about the servant/master relationship.
YA – lots of it focused on all kinds of subjects.
Historical fiction – all kinds, all periods (agh, too much for a lifetime I think).
Scientific history – I may not have the best science mind, but I do enjoy reading about the people behind the science, especially Newton and his contemporaries.
Science fiction – I want to read the great classic authors like H G Wells but also the most current offerings, oh and more by Philip K Dick.
Russian classics – 'Anna Karenina' sits on my bookcase mocking me, as does 'Crime and Punishment'.
Victorian classics– Dickens, Trollope, Collins, Gaskill, all the usual suspects.
Poetry – specifically modern poetry. I received a ringing endorsement for Seamus Heaney recently, so I’d like to try him. I also want to just wander through some poets collections and see which ones stick.
Collections of letters – fact, fiction I really don’t care I must read more.
Books on feminist theory, history and current issues.
Fiction and non-fiction outlaws from America or Australia – 'The Legend of Colton H Bryant', 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford' go to the top of this list but I also want to read about Ned Kelly
Fiction and non-fiction about political prisoners and political oppression – I actually made a little list of some books on this subject after finishing ‘The Lizard Cage’ and I think ‘Guantanamo Boy’ may have to find its way into my hands quite fast. 'Persepolis',' The Kabul Beauty School' and 'The Last King of Scotland' are all on there too.