Hello and welcome to another edition of: Hannah is reading too many books at once. Currently, my nightstand is a complete mess of books–who am I kidding, when isn’t it?–and I’ve been busy busy busy with work, school, and summer internship applications. Right now we’re rolling with the punches and trying to find a good headspace and a decent sleep schedule amidst the chaos.
Right now I’m reading THE NEW ME by Halle Butler. I tore through the first fifty pages during a powerful bought of insomnia and only put it down because I finally started feeling sleepy. I’ve been loving the whole “millennial workplace novel” phenomenon–Ottessa Moshfegh’s MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION and Ling Ma’s SEVERANCE are two of my all-time favorites–and Butler’s THE NEW ME is similar in tone. I’m finding it frighteningly easy to relate to main character Millie, who feels stuck in a cycle of shitty temp jobs, waiting for her “real” life to begin so she can start shopping at Whole Foods.
My latest library checkout is Patrick Radden Keefe’s SAY NOTHING, a chunky investigative journalism book that delves into the conflicts of The Troubles in Northern Ireland during the late twentieth century. It’s been so well-received and I was in the mood for some more heavy-hitting investigative work after SHE SAID by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey; when I saw this one on the “books you may have missed” display at the library, I knew it was meant to be! I’m currently roughly a hundred pages deep and I’m learning so much, though I’m finding it hard to keep the various characters and their stories straight! It’s a challenging read, for sure, but one I know will be worth it.
Speaking of challenging… Classes started four weeks ago, which means I am knee deep in coursework again. This semester I’m taking all upper-level classes for my major (English) and minor (Communication), which is proving to be A Lot. For my Shakespeare in Film class, I am re-reading Shakespeare’s HAMLET, which I read for the first time back in November. I love this professor and I’m starting to love Shakespeare too, which is exciting. Hamlet himself is such a complex character, and it’s fascinating to study the original text alongside several film adaptations, from Cold War Russia to contemporary Bollywood.
I’m also taking a Film Adaptation of the Novel course, for which I’m reading ATONEMENT by Ian McEwan. I’ve seen the movie so many times but (sadly and sinfully) have never read the book! I bought it last summer for $1.00 at my library’s book sale after a friend of mine raved about it, so I’m happy to have the excuse to read it (and probably write my midterm paper on it!). So far, it’s not quite what I was expecting, which makes it all the more interesting to compare with the film.
Lastly, I am reading the fall issue of Lapham’s Quarterly, which focuses on climate. Climate change is an issue I care about deeply, and the magazine has gathered years of writing about climate and weather into this issue, from ancient Greek philosophers to Mark Twain to Greta Thunberg. It’s been a very enlightening read.
So there we have it: the current state of my nightstand. I wish I had more room for non-required reading, but I’m glad to have some variety.
I love Hamlet, it’s one of my favourite Shakespeare!
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Me too! I love his tragedies, and HAMLET is one of the very best!
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This may say something about me, but 4 books and a quarterly seems like a reasonable number to have on your nightstand!
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(That’s not counting the dozens of books I have yet to read piling up on my floor…!!) LOL, thanks for reading. ❤
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Oh, no, I wouldn’t even count those!
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Good, that would take way too much time!!!
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