Post-Exam Symptoms

It’s been four months! Hello, people :-). I’ve missed my blog soooo much and now I’m just dying to get started again. My exams are finally over, and what is the first thing I do? Buy a book! An easy read and something I’m used to; I picked up Venetia by Georgette Heyer from a local old book store. It was fun just looking through the tons and tons of books but I held back realizing that I still had challenges to go through, and other books I’ve been meaning to read this past year! With this in mind, I’ve decided to organize my books, and start working regularly on my blog. The book I intend to read next is The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. I have two challenges I need to complete which I have been deferring because of my exams: The Victorian Literature Challenge and The Historical Fiction Challenge. Luckily, I still have plenty of time. My post for Venetia will be up soon. Great to be back!

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Victorian Literature Challenge

I’m feeling very adventurous in taking on my third challenge in one week. But what the heck, it’s all a part of my resolution, right? The Victorian Literature Challenge sounds interesting. I’ve already read a ton of Victorian Literature including the Bronte sisters, and Dickens, but there is still so much out there! I’m going to try the ‘Sense and Sensibility’ level……wanna take things slow. Who knows if I’ll be able to read so much?! So far I only have two books from the Victorian age sitting on my bookshelf that need to be read: Vanity Fair by William Thackeray, and The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. You can be sure I’ll add more books as the year goes on!

A New Year

Happy New Year Everybody!

Over all, 2010 was a great year for me. I turned my life around by forcing myself to enroll in Masters classes. I have never made a better decision. Why not do masters in something I love and am somewhat good at? I love reading and now to study, I read. I admit, it somewhat loses its flavor, but at the same time I learn so much more that I never knew before. Before joining these classes, I was interested only in novels. Now, I love reading plays by Henrik Ibsen, Arthur Miller, and others. I never knew that literature could be such a wide field with something for everyone.

I passed my first year of Masters with flying colors topping in my class (no great feat, I didn’t top in the University:P). I realized I can actually do something and this spurred me towards doing even better in my final year. Send-up exams are just around the corner……..I hope I do well.

Besides studies, I also expanded on the social network i.e. the Internet! I started blogging (and also tweeting) this year and although it was a slow start, I’ve managed to pick up my pace and now bring out a few reviews each week. After my exams are over, I intend to work even harder and of course read for pleasure even more! I joined some challenges that interested me. Let’s see where that goes:).

That’s it for my accomplishments this year. The New Year is coming up and it’s 365 new days, and each day with, as Anne says, ‘no mistakes in it yet’! I have plenty of books sitting on my shelves (some for years!) that I haven’t gotten around to yet. My first resolution is to finish these books and write their reviews.

Secondly, I want to take part in more challenges. I want to get out of my blogging shell and interact with more book lovers and bloggers out there! Discussing books is an enjoyment for all book lovers.

Last but not least, I want to expand my reading to other genres. I LOVE historical romances but I want to try other genres and authors.

Here’s hoping I actually keep my resolutions:)

Need to Read

I’ve hit a no reading hiatus. Ever since the new school year has started, I’ve been busy finishing the compulsory list of literature books. During the course of my studies (I’m doing Masters in English Literature) I’ve read some new novels such as Heart of Darkness, Adam Bede, and The Return of the Native and also some old favorites like Pride and Prejudice and A Tale of Two Cities.

Studying a novel critically is very different from reading a novel purely for enjoyment. I’ve discovered that literature is hard work! Between reading critics T.S. Eliot and Aristotle, and poets William Blake and Coleridge, I find no time for writing a review. Literature, instead of a pleasant hobby has become an a necessary study item for upcoming exams.

The reviews that I will write (hopefully) will mostly be of books that I have already read. For me, the most enjoyable part of anything – be it watching a movie or reading a book – is the discussion that takes place afterward. The critical analysis and arguments about what happened, why it happened and how it should have happened is something I look forward to more than the reading itself. And then who doesn’t love re-reading their favorite parts? The scene between Darcy and Elizabeth after the proposal in Pride and Prejudice is one which I never tire of.

The suggestion of a new author or novel is always welcome. I’ve already on my list of novels to read Anna Karenina, War and Peace and Middlemarch. Let the new year start – then I’ll make my resolution!

http://www.barnesandnoble.com

A great site to check out new authors and their novels:).

I don’t have a favorite author, but many people do. I can’t seem to narrow down my list of favorites! I mean, who can have a favorite when there are so many greats out there? There’s Austen and Dickens from an older era and then there are authors like Dan Brown and Paul Coelho who are more recent. Such a wide era spanning from the time of Homer in Greece to here and now! One day I’m in love with one author and the next day it’s another.

The real reason I created this blog was so that you guys can tell me your favorite authors and novels. To discuss the aspects of each novel. What is it about a novel or an author that speaks to you? Calls out to you and makes you want to be there, in the novel? Not all authors have the gift, but so many out there do, of making us want to live in the story and be a part of it. Share the author and the novel who is able to do that for you:).