What I’m Reading
[image error]
The other day I saw a tweet from Dr. Witch Hazel (@HazelMonforton) that summed up my reading experience while getting my doctorate:
Random guy: Oh wow you have a PhD? What in?
Me: English literature.
Guy: So you like to read?
Me: Not anymore.
Sad, but true. Nothing can diminish your love for something more than getting your PhD in it. Scholarly articles comprised most of my reading for the past four years, and while they’re informative, certainly, I can’t say they’re much fun to read. For some reason, PhDs think that in order to sound intelligent their writing style has to be muddled and dull. No. Really, no. I shouldn’t have to read a page-long paragraph to figure out what you’re talking about. Creative writers learn to be precise with our words. At the very least, we should be interesting. Maybe scholarly writers think they have a captive audience, other scholars who want the data they have to share, so they don’t care whether their words flow or if their message is easily understood.
While I was buried under all those boring-to-read scholarly articles I forgot what it was like to read for enjoyment. Since I finished my dissertation I’ve been able to read what I wanted to read because I wanted to read it, which is a nice change. Here are just a few of the books I’ve read.
The Soul of America: The Battle for our Better Angels by Jon Meacham
[image error] In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I love Jon Meacham. If he wasn’t married already I’d marry him. Seriously. He’s intelligent and he has a great sense of humor. What else does a girl need?
His newest book, The Soul of America, is a look at how American history has shaped the American present. The U.S. has seen its share of political trials throughout its turbulent history. From the poor treatment of former slaves after the American Civil War to McCarthy and his way of manipulating the media to our current crisis, Meacham shows that the more things change the more they stay the same, which tends to be the message found in most history lessons.
Hamilton the Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter and Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
[image error]I was so excited when I got tickets to see Hamilton here in my hometown of Las Vegas that I reread Chernow’s biography, the one that inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda. As I was scrolling through Amazon I found this book about the musical—Hamilton the Revolution, written by Miranda and Jeremy McCarter. I absolutely loved Hamilton the Revolution. I tend to read books on my Kindle these days, but I bought the hardcover version of Hamilton the Revolution and I’m glad I did. The book is full of photographs and lyrics, and it has the story behind the musical. Did you know that the idea for King George III’s statement “You’ll be back” came from Hugh Laurie? Me either! You’ll discover many other fascinating gems about the musical from Hamilton the Revolution.
Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt
[image error]I’m actually not finished with this one yet, but I can already tell this is a five-star novel for me. I was drawn to this book because it’s about a witch hunt from late 16th and early 17th century England, and Sharratt’s narrative style caught me from the first page. The novel has an interesting premise. What if those accused of witchcraft were actually witches who interacted with familiars? Sharratt’s main characters, Mother Demdike and her granddaughter Alizon, may suffer the consequences for their knowledge of magic.
Like most book lovers, I tend to buy books faster than I can read them. But next on my To Be Read list is Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. Like everything else, my Goodreads account was left to languish while I was finishing my dissertation, and like everything else I’m reviving that too. If you’re on Goodreads, stop on by!
