Monday, January 4, 2010

What are you Reading?

One of the joys of a holiday is the chance to read.

I've been reading some novels this holiday season:

In contemporary fiction:

The Elegance of the Hedgehog
The Lovely Bones
The Financial Life of Poets


Classics:

Tristram Shandy (Roger and I are reading this aloud in the car while traveling. We both read it in grad school, but that was long ago ...
The Scarlet Letter (Again, it's been a loooong time.)

The Jane Austen world:

I'm always reading Jane Austen's novels and as way of secondary sources:
Jill Heydt-Steveson's breakthrough book, Unbecoming Conjunctions
James Edward Austen-Leigh's Memoir of Jane Austen, written in 1870. I am leading a discussion of the Memoir every Wednesday on three lists: Austen-L, Janeites and WomenWritersThroughtheAges.
I also recently read my cyber-friend Diana Birchall's novel Mrs. Darcy' Dilemma, a light-hearted sequel to Pride and Prejudice.

General non-fiction:

Amish Grace (A little before the holidays, but close enough.)
Alice Seybold's memoir, Lucky.
Another book that I read six weeks to two months ago, but which is still weighing on my mind, is Middletown in Transition, a sociological study of Muncie, Indiana in the mid 1930s.

Have you read any good books lately? Any of the above books?

8 comments:

Hystery said...

In the pile of books next to my reading couch are Baring and Cashford's The Myth of the Goddess and Gerda Lerner's History of Feminist Consciousness. I'm trying to get through the Harvard Classics but am stalled out on vol.2. (Not a big fan of Plato, I guess.) I also confess that I'm on book #15 of the Star Trek Next Generation series. I have several dozens of these books and read them through about once a year. Shameful. I also read and reread C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling books like an addict.

Diane said...

Hystery,

I loved the original Star Trek.

Hystery said...

I love all Star Trek. As if I didn't have enough evidence, the fact that you loved the classic Star Trek proves that you are a remarkably intelligent person.

Phil Petty said...

Hi Diane, just wanted to say 'hello'. I am a Christ centred Friend in the UK and found your Blog about a month ago via QuakerQuaker. I am really enjoying reading your posts. Just so you have points of reference......I knew Bill Samuels years ago (Hi Bill!), he came to my house for a meal on one of his visits to the UK, it must have been around 1998. I am a member of a group called the Christian Quaker Renewal Fellowship which exists to support Christ centred Friends in the UK, we hold an annual retreat at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham. We have close ties with Thomas Swain from Philadelphia who is facilitating our gathering this year. On a literary front my only claim to fame is that I live four houses down from the house that was used as the Rev Collins rectory in the last Pride and Prejudice film, staring Keira Knightley and Donald Sutherland. Every blessing Phil Petty

Diane said...

Phil,

Of course, I know (and love) Bill well. Small world. But amazing of amazing--I am a complete Jane Austen obsessive-compulsive fanatic! You live by the Collins rectory in the Knightley P&P movie. Cool.

The Christian Quaker Renewal Fellowship sounds interesting. When is the retreat? Thanks for dropping in.

Diane said...

Hystery,

Well, thank you.

Diane said...

Phil,

Of course, I know (and love) Bill well. Small world. But amazing of amazing--I am a complete Jane Austen obsessive-compulsive fanatic! You live by the Collins rectory in the Knightley P&P movie. Cool.

The Christian Quaker Renewal Fellowship sounds interesting. Thanks for dropping in.

Phil Petty said...

Diane,

I knew you were a Jane Austen fanatic that's why I made reference to P&P. The village is very small and the movie people were here for about 4 days filming, completely blocked everything up all for about 3 minutes filming, well worth it though, really good film. Both my daughters love the Jane Austen novels (and films). They did use the inside of the house as well for the interior shots.

CQRF was founded about 25 years ago to serve Christ centred Friends in the UK. It doesn't have a formal membership and it's main focus is mutual support for those Christ centred Friends who maintain are active and witness within Britian Yearly Meeting. A number of these Friends are also active in The New Foundation fellowship as well. This years retreat is on between Friday 14th to Sunday 16th May.