When I was in school I was soooo frustrated with the amount of reading I had to do for all of my classes. I studied Creative Writing, so of course I knew what I was getting into. And like all my professors say, you can’t write unless you read. ‘Tis very true. And I liked a lot of the short stories and a handful of books that were assigned to me — I was just frustrated by the fact that I never had time to read the books that I wanted to read. Actually, that’s a lie. All the time I spent on Tumblr, Facebook, and Netflix (and sometimes I did all three at once), I could’ve been reading a book that I wanted to read for funsies. But… um… I didn’t. 
Now that I’ve graduated and have more free time than I’d actually like to have, I DON’T READ OFTEN. What the hell is up with that? Starting from this month on, I’m challenging myself to read at least one book each week and write more. I finished reading The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin last week, and am starting The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger again. I started it a couple years ago and didn’t finish it, so I’m attempting it once more. I liked it, but for whatever reason I got distracted and never got around to finishing it. A lot of people have read this in high school; none of the English classes I took in high school had this book on the lesson plan, so I feel extremely deprived.
Other books I was deprived of in high school:
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxly
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding
- 1984 by George Orwell
Those are the only ones I can think of at the moment, but I know there’s more.
I’ve been told that The Catcher In The Rye is a book you either love or hate because the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is a bit of a prick. One time on Facebook I took a quiz to see what literary character I am and my result was Holden. My sister said it fit because we’re both angsty. I’m glad she didn’t say because we’re both pricks. 🙂
Here are some other books I plan on starting/re-starting/re-reading this month:
- Looking For Alaska by John Green
- An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
- How To Be Good by Nick Hornby (started this earlier this year and got distracted)
- American Gods by Neil Gaiman
- Stardust by Neil Gaiman (was in the middle of this years ago and had to put it away because of school)
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
- Peep Show by Joshua Braff
- Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut
- Breakfast At Tiffany’s by Truman Capote (my favorite book of all evers)
Enough blogging about reading books. It’s SSR time!
lefancygeek.com 
Oh my gosh! You HAVE to pick up Great Expectations. Charles Dickens is regarded as the absolute king of the novel, with Great Expectations, arguably, being the greatest novel ever written. It is marvelous. I have read a lot, and I would place that book in my top 3. If I may humbly offer any piece of advice, I would surely stay away from Lord of the Flies and Brave New World to start off with. Those two will KILL your goal. 1984 is good, but it is a dystopian novel. Great Expectations trumps anything on that list. You will love it.
If I may ask, since you are a creative-writing major, what have you written so far?
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The first 3 books I listed aren’t on my list of books that I want to read for this month — I just said those are books that many consider classics that I felt I was deprived of reading in high school. I’d like to get around to them eventually though. Great Expectations was quoted a lot in One Day by David Nicholls which I really loved, so I’m excited to read that!
I have a bunch of short stories that aren’t complete, but I have had two non-fiction pieces published in a community college literary magazine.
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Oooh, Brave New World is one of my favourites!! I have so many books on my shelf that I haven’t read yet
I bought these beautiful editions of F. Scott Fitzgerald short stories (http://www.amazon.de/Flappers-Philosophers-Collected-Fitzgerald-Hardback/dp/0141194103/ref=pd_sim_eb_2 / http://www.amazon.de/Tales-Jazz-Age-Penguin-Classics/dp/0141197471/ref=pd_sim_eb_6) and I haven’t even looked into them yet. I have, however, devoured the first two books of The Hunger Games and now am stuck on the third one 😉
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Those are some fancy books, Janine! I’ve been wanting to re-read The Great Gatsby too. I have a bad habit of buying books and then not reading them.
I’m curious about The Hunger Games, I take it you’re really enjoying them. 🙂 Tim said he lost interest since he heard it’s basically like Battle Royale (which he read awhile ago).
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I haven’t read Battle Royale but I’ve heard that it’s a bit like it. The first book at least is really really good, the second one is a fast read but I really can’t motivate myself to finish the third one, I don’t know why. Maybe because I’ve seen the movie (which is also quite good) and now I’ve lost a bit of my interest for the moment 😉
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American Gods is sooooooooooooooooooo good! Love that book! 🙂
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Nina,
Your comment (on my blog) inspired me to pick up The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin and Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Your latest reads look intriguing! Also, your posts about books are completely obsessing me. Keep up with the updates. Happy Reading!
Always,
Shelly
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