Weekly Wrap-up for February 3, 2013: February Reading Plans.

Between school, Matt's illness last week, and the stress of just keeping up with everything, this week went by rather quickly. I'm actually a bit behind in grading and planning, so today's post will be on the short side.

The only school-related thing I'll mention is that we're in the midst of The Great Gatsby and while not all of my students love the novel, there are a few who do! I've been trying to get them to see some of the smaller details as we go along, which is helping them understand the bigger ideas. I'm sure that when we finish the novel on Tuesday/Wednesday, I'll have to help make those connections.

In terms of my own reading, it slowed down a LOT from where it was at the beginning of the year. I did read Alexander's Bridge this past week, and obviously I am in the middle of The Great Gatsby with my students, but reading has taken a little bit of a backseat (and will until I catch up on some grading). I do have some things sitting on my desk that I want to get to before my Modernist event kicks off in March. I'd really like to finish Forster's A Passage to India, which I started last JUNE and haven't finished yet. There is also Anna Karenina, which I started early in January and set aside for a few weeks. Ideally I'd also like to read a Dickens novel (A Tale of Two Cities) in honor of his birthday month, but that isn't a priority.

I'm also extremely focused on my Willa Cather Project. I've finished 4 titles so far (of the 7 books I've finished this year), and I don't see an end in sight. It feels good to be experiencing her work one right after the other, so I imagine I'll dive into O Pioneers! this month, as it is the next title on the project list.

Anyway, a stack of papers to grade and some breakfast is calling to me. I hope you all have wonderful reading week!

Reading Plans and My Nightstand Pile: June 27, 2012.

Every month or two, I stand in front of my bookshelves and pull out a pile of books to be added to my nightstand. This books are the ones that I would ideally like to get to in the near future. As I finish titles, I grab from the pile rather than my shelves. I find that when I'm just staring at my shelves, I get overwhelmed with choices. This way, I have a smaller collection of books to choose from.

This morning I decided to pull a new pile, since I hadn't created a nightstand pile for the Victorian Event and the rest of the summer. I decided to give myself until September 1 to read from the pile before creating a new one. Now, it is pretty likely I won't read all of these by then, or I may read books that aren't here, but these are the books I've been eying recently (you'll see quite a few Victorians!).

(I will apologize in advance that some of the titles are blurred out. This shelf is next to a window and I had a hard time getting the titles to be not blown out. This was the best pic of the 5 I took).

From left to right and top to bottom:

• Kim by Rudyard Kipling: I started this one last year and never finished it.
• Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell: Really want to get to this one for the event, but I seem to be going at a slow pace...
• The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell: I've read the first 30 pages or so, but I just need to dive in.
• Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: I haven't read anything by Anne, and this is the one I have on my bookshelf. It's short, so I should be able to fly through it.
• Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy: I will definitely be getting to this one soon!
• Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope: I read The Warden just so I could read this one soon.
• Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy: Another Hardy title...I love this new Penguin edition.
• The Hero of Ages  and The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson: Both of these are for group reads, so I know I'll finish them.
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: LOVE TWAIN! I'll probably save this one for August.
• Tess of D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy: I might not get to this one, and that's okay. I might "save" it for the end of my project.
• Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: Just like above, I might "save" this one for near the end of my 250 list.
• A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett: I've never read this one and just got my copy so...yeah. Definitely going to read this one!
• Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad: Another one I started and never finished. I'll probably read this one in August as well.
• Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray: Yet another title I started but never finished. I really want to get to this one for the Victorian event, but not sure I'll have time.
• Beloved by Toni Morrison: I'm still discovering Morrison, so I know I need to read this one soon.
• Light in August by William Faulkner: I meant to read this one LAST summer, so I am making it a point to get to it this year. I've also been craving some zany Faulkner!
• A Passage to India by E.M. Forster: I started this one in May, so I need to finish!
• The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf: Another one I started in May and need to finish!

I'm also currently in the middle of Middlemarch and Nicholas Nickleby, so we can add those to the pile as well. Oh, and I am participating in Andrew Smith Saturdays (even though I haven't commented yet....oops), so those titles, Stick and Ghost Medicine are also going to be read.

Seems like a lot, right? I know....

I have Thursday and Friday off this week, so besides doing laundry and a few other domestic type things, I am planning on diving into some great books! I'm hoping to finish both of my current Victorian reads, as well as one other title...probably a Hardy. Feel free to join in on my reading spree if you are able!

What are your reading plans for the rest of the summer?