Sunday, November 14, 2010

Sunday Blatherings & Library Loot

How has another week come and gone?  Time seems to keep passing faster and faster and faster.  This past week was a stressful, busy week at work.  My English 11 students just finished Oedipus the King by Sophocles and are going to be working on projects this coming week.  In my AP classes, they have just finished reading Beowulf and will be reading The Canterbury Tales next.  When I'm reading language-dense material with my students, I tend to leave work and not want to read as much on my own time. 

Thankfully, I have a lot of good books I've picked up at the library and received in the mail.  One heavy-duty read I picked up and am eager to flip through is Edith Wharton:  A Biography by Hermione Lee.  I absolutely loved The Age of Innocence the moment I read it and have been a Wharton fan ever since.

I'm also eager to read Half a Life by V.S. Naipaul.  This was an award-winning novel that I've had on my TBR list literally for years.  I'm hoping to get a chance over Thanksgiving to sit down with this one.


Sadly, I had to renew a bunch of books that I still haven't had a chance to get to.  It's always fun to get the new ones though, right?  Well, there's my Library Loot, which  is a meme hosted by Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader and Claire from The Captive Reader

I also received a couple of books in the mail this week that I need to review by the first of the year. 


One last jewel I received in the mail on Friday was my new laptop!  Yes, my previous, much-loved laptop that I'd had for about four years started showing serious signs that it had issues.  Rather than fight it, I turned it in to be recycled and picked up a new one.  Because I teach online classes, I really need to have a laptop so that I can access my work when I travel or am away from home.  Thankfully, this new toy will keep me connected!

There's my week and book pick up in a nutshell.  How about you?  What are you reading or enjoying today?

9 comments:

  1. The Edith Wharton biography sounds really nice :) I hope you enjoy it!

    And when I have to do heavy reading for uni, I tend not to do a lot of home-fun-reading either..

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  2. Edith Wharton's life is kinda depressing, no?

    Right now I'm reading Wuthering Bites. Two or three pages at a time. I wish I had more time to read or work on my blog. Or get a job. Or do anything. ;__;

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  3. I love Edith! You should read her autobiography (A Backward Glance) if you're really into her. She's such a fascinating woman.

    Enjoy your new laptop. I keep waiting for my own to die, but it keeps coming back to life. :)

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  4. I didn't know you taught online classes. How exciting. I would love to have that opportunity sometime.

    I have not yet read Edith Wharton, but I do have Age of Innocence on my kindle just waiting for me to find the time....

    Are you as excited about the upcoming Thanksgiving break as I am? I will have some English 1 papers that I "should" grade, but I am considering taking most of the time off for me :)

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  5. I LOVED Lee's biography of Virginia Woolf, so I think I'll read her biography of Edith Wharton quite soon. I've been wondering if I need to read more of Wharton's fiction first, but I think I've read 5-6 of her books so I'm probably safe. lol

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  6. Iris--Yes, you would think that I wouldn't want to read a thick biography about an author when things are crazy at work, but I really love Edith Wharton!

    Heidenkind--Do I sense a counting down until the holidays? :) I'm sure you're overloaded right now and can't wait to get back to real reading again, eh?

    Allie--Thanks about the laptop. It's nice to have a shiny new toy! As for Edith Wharton, I didn't know about the other bio. I'll really have to go check that one out!

    Molly--I love Wharton! You really should read Age of Innocence. It's one of my favorites! Yes, Thanksgiving will be a WONDERFUL reprieve! I actually have a TON of grading to get through before Thanksgiving, so hopefully I won't have to grade then!

    Eva--I'll definitely have to check out Lee's biography of Virginia Woolf! Thanks for pointing that out to me!

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  7. I so want to read that Wharton biography! (And Lee's Woolf bio as well.)

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  8. Your class assignments/readings do sound really great even though they're wearing on you. Not sure I'd be too keen on additional reading either.

    Enjoy the Wharton biography. I've been looking for a good one on Dickens...but alas...

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  9. Nymeth--Yes, it looks great! I'm eager to really get some time to sit down with it, which sadly hasn't happened yet!

    Trish--Thanks for the sympathy. I'm doing a little better now that I've had a little time off from all the hard-hitting stuff. It's funny how fast I ran back to it after a little time away! :)

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