What I'm Reading

What are YOU reading?  During this time of social distancing (or as my boss put it, physical distancing), many of us are locked up at home, looking for something to do.  What a great time to bust out your To-Read list!

Not actually me.  Sorry to disappoint!

As for me, I'm relying on a few different resources, including my own personal book collection, titles I grabbed from the library before we closed, and lots of ebooks.  I know I've been staunchly anti-ebook, but since getting a smartphone (welcome to the 21st century, Emmy!) I've started to appreciate the convenience of an expanded digital library.

My library (along with many libraries across the country) offers access to ebooks through several ebook systems.  I like to use Hoopla and Libby (by Overdrive).  I can check out books, audiobooks, movies, music, and comics through these resources!  And if you're interested in ebooks but don't want to use the library, I have two apps to suggest.

The first is Free Books.  And just as the title suggests, it's free books.  Most of them are classics or out-of-print, but MAN!  You can find some really cool stuff on here!  The best part is that you can download everything onto your device for reading offline, and its yours to keep.  I recommend starting with The Abandoned Room by Charles Wadsworth Camp.  It's a chilling story of murder, ghosts, and missing time.

The second is sort of a combo.  Project Gutenberg has an amazing collection of excellent Classics available to read for free on their website.  But, their app leaves a lot to be desired.  So, what I do is download the books I want from Project Gutenberg onto my phone, and open them with this app: ReadEra.  I've played around with a few different eReader apps, and this is my favorite.

Of course, I still prefer the feeling of paper pages between my fingers.  And I'm still reading physical books.  As I teased in the title of this post, I'm reading a lot right now.  If you want to see all the sweet details, follow me on Goodreads.  But, I'll share my Currently Reading list with you right now.

In an effort to find something a little more fun and happy, I picked up a few Wodehouse titles.  Got Mike at Wrykyn by PG Wodehouse sitting on the desk next to me as I write.  I'm also listening to the audiobook for another Wodehouse title: Uncle Dynamite.  The narrator is Jonathan Cecil, who's my favorite audiobook reader.  I was super excited to see that there are 30+ Wodehouse books narrated by him on Hoopla, so if you're interested, be sure to check him out!

And finally, I have one ebook in the works-- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  I read it as a kid, but that was years (and many books) ago, so I don't remember much.  It's been fun getting to relive the experience.

A Bookish Update and Summer Reading

Hello, all!

So, I'm not sure how many of you actually read my blog anymore (and that's okay--I haven't been the best about posting anyway...) but in case you are still reading, I wanted to talk a bit about books and my summer reading plans.  Every year since I started this blog, I've had some form of summer reading plan set up.  But, this year, I'm pretty stumped.  Usually, I can think of something clever and creative to read about, but right now, I have nothing.  Zip.  Nada.  Zilch.  So, I'm in a bit of a rut while I try to figure out what to read next.

So, if there is anyone still reading, I would really appreciate some suggestions for new books to read.  I mean, not so much new books as a new book topic.  Those of you who are my friends on Goodreads know just how many books I have on my to-read list!  So, how can I parcel these titles out?  Part of me is thinking that my summer reading theme should just be to read as much as I can off my Goodreads account, or from this little notebook I keep that has even more suggestions.  But, I'm not entirely sure yet.

As for the rest of this post, I wanted to say that I'll be making a real effort to start posting book reviews on here again.  I know most of my reviews have been on Goodreads, and that not all of you (if there are any of you) follow me on Goodreads.  So, I'll be trying to post them here instead, so that you can keep up with the good, the bad, and the ugly of the books I've been reading.

Summer is almost here.  I'm just struggling through one last class.  The sad part is that the class isn't even that hard.  I just have one paper left, and that's not even that hard.  But, I've been working on this freakishly easy paper for over two weeks now, and I just can't write anything.  My writer's block has been terrible.  I almost want to cry.  The saddest thing is that I've had ideas spouting out of my ears for every other writing assignment you could think of.  I've been jotting down ideas for a novel I've been wanting to write, and even if I do say so myself, these ideas are pretty good!  But, when it comes to writing for this stupid paper, I just sort of gape at it blankly, like a caveman who has just discovered television and can't figure out what to do about it.  So, I'll be muddling through that over the next few days.  It's due on Wednesday at noon, so I want to be done by tomorrow night.  Wish me luck.  Hope to write again soon.

Reason #1 Why I Can't Wait Until Summer

Summer will mean I'll have time to read!  Even if I'm working, chances are pretty high that I'll have more free time than I do right now.  There are a few jobs I'm looking at, but the most hours I'd be getting (as of right now) is 20.  That only averages out to about 3 hours a day, leaving plenty of time to do with as a please.  And that's going to be nice, especially after having a schedule that doesn't end for the day just because my classes did.  I'm really looking forward to that part of work when you come home and you don't have to do homework afterwards.  And of course, it'll be nice to get paid in addition to all that.

According to my Goodreads account, I have a whopping 503 books on my to-read list, in addition to all the titles listed in my little reading list notebook.  In short, I have a lot cut out for me, and while I'm looking forward to it, at the same time, I'm a bit overwhelmed by just how much I have to tackle.  Still, it should be fun.

The biggest issue is just going to be figuring out which books to start with.  But, then again, that's always a fun problem, not something too terribly painful ^^

Reading Challenge 2013

Happy New Year, guys!

Just a quick update....last year, my reading goal was to complete 50 books.  I managed to get through 51.  This year, I want to top that, so I plan on tackling 52 books in the next 12 months.  I'd love for you guys to read along with me, so I'm going to make a genuine effort to actually post the things I'm reading and include reviews and such for all of you to follow.  I'll also be posting reviews on Goodreads, and will be including the Goodreads Reading Challenge widget on the sidebar, just like I did last year.  Hopefully this one will be better about updating things (the last one seems to have frozen around 17 books).

I'm also hoping to try and put a bit more of a dent into my LXG Reading Challenge, too!

If you have any books you'd really like to suggest, please let me know :)  If not, I'd be happy to suggest some to you guys, too!

Any fun New Years resolutions or goals?

Looking forward to hearing from y'all :)

Hamlet: Too Bad or Not Too Bad?

I'm sure my Good Reads friends have noticed that I just added a new book to my already rather long "Currently Reading" list.  But, I couldn't resist picking up Hamlet again.  The other day, I listened to a fascinating lecture all about Hamlet, and realized that I should totally reread the play.  Apart from Twelfth Night, Hamlet is my favorite Shakespearean piece.  Besides the classic story, I've also fallen in love with some of the incarnations of this tragic Danish prince, such as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and the movie Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead.  I've seen Hamlet as an emo, a nut, a conflicted young man, and even a smiling idiot with no concept of danger.  However, I've never actually seen him as a villain.  And that's just what this lecturer set out to prove: like Macbeth, Hamlet is the villain of his play.

Now, Hamlet is one of my favorite characters in literature, right up there with Malvolio (Twelfth Night); Zaphod Beeblebrox (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy); and Boo Radley and Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird).  Even so, I was not worried to see him painted the villain.  In fact, I was very intrigued.  I love the character of Hamlet because he is so complicated.  He's neither strictly hero or villain; madman or genius.  He's impossible to pin down, and I love that.

What do you think?  Hamlet hero or villain?  Facts to support your argument would be wonderful!  If you have a Good Reads account, I have a discussion forum posted; I would love it if you would respond ;)  If not, I'd love to hear about your theories in the comments feed right here on Ramblings!

[Edit] I thought I posted this LAST week...and I'm really surprised that I hadn't heard a single response.  Then, I realized I hadn't posted it, but saved it to drafts.  Bonus points for Emmy. xD

Good Reads

Hey!  Just curious, but do any of you have an account on www.goodreads.com?  I've just started an account, and so far, I have no friends on the site.  I was wondering if any of my wonderful bloggers would happen to have accounts as well?  I'd love to friend you on the site :)

If you have an account, and would like to friend me, please include your user name in the comments.  If you don't want me to post your comment on Ramblings, then just include something along the times of "don't post this" somewhere in your comment :)