R.I.P. Challenge Longlist

R.I.P. Challenge Longlist

R.I.P. Challenge Longlist

I’ve compiled my longlist for the R.I.P. Challenge—assuming, of course, that I don’t acquire other books to add to this list before the challenge begins, which is quite likely. After all, I have quite a number of Sharyn McCrumb novels coming to me from PaperBackSwap. My favorite challenge every year! You can learn more about each of these books by clicking on their covers below:

[amazon_image id=”0316068624″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Wolves of Andover: A Novel[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”0345506014″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Summer in the South: A Novel[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”1416550550″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Forgotten Garden: A Novel[/amazon_image]

[amazon_image id=”0312335881″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Who Murdered Chaucer?: A Medieval Mystery[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”1594744769″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”B002NPCTH2″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]A Dead Man in Deptford (Burgess, Anthony)[/amazon_image]

[amazon_image id=”B004J8HWKU” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Seance[/amazon_image] [amazon_image id=”0385521073″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Ghostwalk[/amazon_image]

Breaking Dawn: I Need Junk Food

The subtitle of my post refers to my current need to read something light and fun that I don’t have to think about too hard.  And Breaking Dawn has just been released.  One of my students has been after me to read it already, so I’m running out right now and buying it.  I still want to finish Persuasion and Who Murdered Chaucer? However, as I inferred, my brain is fried, and I need to take a break from the serious reading.

Speaking of Persuasion, it strikes me as I read that my favorite parts of Austen’s books often involve her most annoying characters: Mr. Collins, Mrs. Bennet, Miss Bates, the Thorpes, and now Mary (Anne Elliot’s whiny sister).  She just cracks me up.

I have had good response to a query about a book club at work, so perhaps my quest to find grown up with whom I can discuss literature may be fulfilled soon.

See you on the other side of the latest vampire romance.  Oh, and as usual, blogging will be light due to the fact that I return for my Master’s degree on Monday, and I’m already so busy with work that I’m wondering how that will work out.  Wish me luck and send good time management vibes in my direction.

Terry Jones: Chaucer Scholar

Not many of his fans know it, perhaps, but Terry Jones is a medievalist.  In my Medieval Literature course in college, my professor told my class he had actually written a fairly interesting argument that Chaucer’s fabled knight was probably a mercenary.  If you enjoy history, perhaps you managed to catch an episode of Medieval Lives or Crusades on the History Channel (or its International cousin).

My next book is Terry Jones’ Who Murdered Chaucer: A Medieval Mystery.  Was Chaucer really murdered?  Well, he did sort of vanish from the historical record.  I am hoping that Jones explores even this weighty topic with his usual sense of humor and interest in the trivial (but) fascinating details of the subject.  Perhaps I can finish the book before I begin teaching Chaucer this year and have some interesting tidbits for my students.

I just thoroughly enjoyed my re-read of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  Of all the books I’ve read, it’s the Harry Potter series that I return to time and again and always glean something new from each time.  These books have enriched my life in so many ways, and I will always be grateful I had them during what was otherwise not a very happy time in my life.