This month I am going to work on four different books. Some for enjoyment, some for school, some for both. I’m not sure how I am going to review them all, or if I ever will, so I’m going to give them a little introduction. Long post ahead!
“Agatha is pregnant and works part-time stocking shelves at a grocery store in a ritzy London suburb, counting down the days until her baby is due. As the hours of her shifts creep by in increasing discomfort, the one thing she looks forward to at work is catching a glimpse of Meghan, the effortlessly chic customer whose elegant lifestyle dazzles her. Meghan has it all: two perfect children, a handsome husband, a happy marriage, a stylish group of friends, and she writes perfectly droll confessional posts on her popular parenting blog—posts that Agatha reads with devotion each night as she waits for her absent boyfriend, the father of her baby, to maybe return her calls.
When Agatha learns that Meghan is pregnant again, and that their due dates fall within the same month, she finally musters up the courage to speak to her, thrilled that they now have the ordeal of childbearing in common. Little does Meghan know that the mundane exchange she has with a grocery store employee during a hurried afternoon shopping trip is about to change the course of her not-so-perfect life forever…”
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33584818-the-secrets-she-keeps
I love thrillers. I haven’t been able to find a good thriller since I finished all of Gillian Flynn’s books, but this just popped into my feed and it sounded very suspenseful.
This is by the same author behind The Girl on the Train, which has been highly recommended to me.
This book reads a lot like a Gillian Flynn novel. There’s this sort of cynical, dirty view of everyday life.
I can already feel the suspense building up.
“This gothic horror by Radcliffe is considered an evolutionary work between the enlightenment and idealism, as it is an established horror story. Emily, the protagonist is a young woman of mature thoughts and has deep love for the sublimity of nature. The novel pursues her struggle as she tries to resolve her father's teachings of reserve and temperance with the reckless passions of love and fear. Thrilling!”
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23583915-the-mysteries-of-udolpho-in-two-volumes-volume-one
I became very interested in the genre of Gothic Romance, one of the earliest genres ever written about. The Mysteries of Udolpho is widely considered, if not the first, one of the most quintessential novels in this genre.
Pre-feminism women writers are amazing.
I want to look more closely at forms of the early novel for my thesis.
The drama! Following the style of some of the mid 18th-century novels/stories/poems/plays that I love: scandal is not glossed over. It’s blatant and gasp-worthy, and I feel that as the novel transforms into the 19th-century, modesty and satire replaces some of the scandal and intrigue discussed in earlier writings. I love them both equally, though!
I am pretty early on in the book, but I am already seeing some of the tropes of the genre that Radcliffe popularized. So cool.
“Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love—and its threatened loss—the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.”
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14935.Sense_and_Sensibility
I recently read Pride and Prejudice, and I desperately wanted more. I’m hoping to read all of Austen’s “Big Four” this summer.
Partly for enjoyment, partly for study. This was written on the tail-end of the 18th-century so it falls within my realm of interest for study.
I am reading it on tape from my drive to and from work, and I really like the narrator. Her voice isn’t distracting and I’m really amazed how she can manipulate her sound like it’s coming from a variety of characters. I know, not really a comment on the book itself, but I feel like I needed to give her a shoutout.
Pride and Prejudice was hilarious, but this book seems a little more focused on romance. Perhaps a little more serious. I like the dichotomy between the two sisters who stand to represent “sense” and “sensibility”-- or reason and emotion. It’s an interesting idea to explore.
“As language evolves faster than ever before, what is the future of -correct- style? With wry cleverness and an uncanny intuition for the possibilities of Internet-age expressiveness, Favilla argues that rather than try to preserve the sanctity of the written language as laid out by Strunk and White, we should be concerned with the larger issues of clarity, flexibility, playfulness, and political awareness. Her approach to the new rules--as practical as they are fun--will fascinate and delight believers and naysayers alike.
This engaging, provocative book about how language changes is as full of humor and charm as it is full of useful advice. Featuring uproarious emoji-strings, sidebars, quizzes, and style debates among the most lovable nerds of the Web copy world--of which Favilla is queen--A World Without -Whom- is essential for anyone invested in the future of words and writing.”
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33590624-a-world-without-whom
I’m a grammar geek. Or, at least I try to be.
I’m working on a style guide for my job and this book is actually very helpful!!
The English language and the rate at which it changes is amazing. This is my first out of two linguistic reads planned for the summer.
The author’s take on writing in the English language in the internet age is fascinating and open-minded. She knows that languages changes and that grammar must change, too. It makes me not feel so bad when I misspell a word or incorrectly use a comma.
It’s comedic, in typical BuzzFeed fashion.
It’s relaxed-- no grammar police here.
Anyway, thanks for reading! I just wanted to get all my excitement out and talk about these books a bit. I’ve started on all of them, I’m eager to see where this reading journey takes me.
