What I'll Be Reading this Spring Semester!

Hi everyone and welcome back to my blog! I'm Genni, and today I'll be sharing what I'll be reading this upcoming spring semester.

If you don't know, I'm a double major at UNC. I am studying English and Women and Gender Studies. This semester, I'm not taking too many classes - only 4 - for a total of 12 hours. My last three semesters, I've been taking 5 to 6 classes each, totally 15 to 18 hours. I'm really looking forward to a more relaxed semester, especially because I have an internship as well. 

Without further ado, here are the books I'll be reading this semester! Today is actually my first day of classes, so let the reading begin! 

1) Victorian Literature and it's Retellings

Charlotte Bronte in all her (glaring) glory

This semester, I'm taking a class all about Victorian literature and modern retellings. From January to May, I'll be reading these books: 

• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
• The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
• Possession by A.S. Byatt
• Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
• Jack Maggs by Peter Carey
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
• Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

 Out of this list, I'm most interested in reading Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea. Last semester I was taking a Jane Austen class, and my professor talked about Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea several times. I know the reveal of Jane Eyre, and I think the racial implications of Mr. Rochester's wife provide a more dire and horrifying revelation that is ignored in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Out of those two books, I don't know too much about anything else. I didn't love The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, so I'm a little wary about reading something else by her. I've also never read Dickens in my life, so we'll see how that goes!

2) Middle Eastern Literature by Women

What I love about being a double major studying English and Women and Gender Studies is that there is so much overlap! While this class is coded for Women and Gender Studies, we'll be studying literature written my middle eastern women. I don't know too much about the middle east, and I think it will be fascinating to learn more about the culture and feminism there! I don't recognize any of the books we are supposed to read, but here they are.

• Stone of Laughter by Hoda Barakat
• Wild Thorns by Sahar Khalifeh
• Opening the Gates: An Anthology of Arab Feminist Writing
• Loved Ones by??

I'm not familiar with any of these books or authors, but I think they'll be really eye opening and insightful. It's easy to just read strictly from US or white authors, as they are heavily published, and I'm ready to read from diverse POVs. Also, I have no idea what Loved Ones is, since my professor didn't put an author or ISBN with it.

3) Diverse Literature

Okay, I know. This is the most vague heading ever, but that's the name of the class I'm taking! Based on the reading list, we'll be focusing on African-American and/or black literature. Here's what I'll be reading

• The Bluest Eye
• I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem
• Kindred

While only three books long, this required reading really strikes my fancy. This will be my fourth semester at UNC, and the third where I was required to read Kindred by Octavia Butler, which I love. I've never read Toni Morrison, but I hear she is a provoking author, so I'm looking forward tot he reading experience and discussing it with my peers. I've never heard of I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem, but I'm looking forward to reading diversely this semester! 

Have you read any of these books? What did you think? If you are in college, what books are you reading this semester?

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!

Top Ten Tuesday: My Favorite Required Reading

Hey everyone and welcome back (or to!) my blog! I'm Genni, and today I'll be participating in Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today our topic is anything school related, so I decided to highlight my favorite required reading. I've had a mixed bag with required reads. I hate being forced to read something that I'm not in the mood for, and sometimes I just want to read instead of analyze and those lines are definitely blurred when it comes to school.

My schedule at college is pretty reading-heavy (I'm taking three English classes, a gender studies class, a Spanish class, and a philosophy class), so I'm sure that this list will be different by the end of the year! I am planning on being an English major, so I'm not doing any science or math heavy classes anytime soon.

Nevertheless, here are my top nine books I've had to read for school!


9) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I thought this book was..fine. There wasn't anything that I really liked about it, but not anything I minded either. It was a solid three star read, and I completely understand why it's a required reading in a lot of schools. The symbolism of the green light, the morally gray characters, the American dream, all of it!

8) The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Now this is a required reading that I really liked, but probably shouldn't have read at such a young age. I read this in seventh grade (when I was 12) and though I liked it, I think I was too young to really grasp the importance of everything that was happening. Plus, I was spoiled. So when characters died, I wasn't all that fazed by it.