By way of Andrew Sullivan, a list of ten books that should be stricken from the Western canon. Not being an English major and having only read, uh, one and a half books on this list -- A Tale of Two Cities (yes, in an eleventh grade English class) and Absalom, Absalom! (currently reading and over which I have fallen head over heels, mind) -- I ( Read more... )

It's ironic, that I should be doing this meme at this particular time of my life, because (1) I haven't properly read anything for pleasure in quite some time and (2) I should be reading at this very moment...about the Ricardian approach to budget deficits. However, wanderlight insisted that everyone on her flist steal it, so I am.

( a novel is not an allegory )

I stumbled upon this poem about a month ago, and I still think about it more often than I realise. There are a number of elements within it that almost inevitably make me like a piece of writing: wanderlust and travel, novels and seas and metaphors. Tony Hoagland also has a fantastic way with words, a bluntness and an unerring touch for beautiful ( Read more... )

Continuing with my general end-of-the-year wrap-up. Books read for school are marked with an asterick, the date in parenthesis is the date I finished the book in question, recommendations to the world at large are marked in bold, and some general thoughts follow:

( literature is my bff, or so I still enjoy pretending! )

( Read more... )

Re. my last post -- flist, you make me smile like a very silly thing and consider this my reply to all of your comments ( Read more... )

Just to get this out of the way. Apologies if they're short, for I have work to do.

( july: DH spoilers within, if I still need to warn for that )

Because, lol, who needs to pack for a three-week trip on the other side of the planet? Not me!

( summer/books otp! )

i. hp_summergen fic finished, beta read, and sent in! Without saying much more about it, I'm really quite pleased with the end result -- the requested characters deviated from what I usually write. That obligation has been cleared, and perhaps it's time for me to go back to writing some fanfiction for fun? Out of the five fics I've posted this year, three ( Read more... )

I have a copy of Kushiel's Justice! ♥9183491!

Am on page 250 and leaving it for a little bit to attend yet another graduation party -- if anyone dares spoil me, I shall be more perturbed.

Signing off, V.M. Bell