I read a lot in January considering I spent the first three weeks wholly focused on exams, applying for jobs, and writing daily. I managed to still finish six books. Two of them were anthropology project related, two were fiction-research, and two were 100% for fun and they were incredible.
For February, I wanted to pre-select a reading list to choose from because I got a little out of control these past few days with reading. I finished four books in 6 days and then created ten new reading lists. So this is my attempt to narrow down my options but leave some flexibility.
The Genres I will be reading
Anthropology
This is my focus for the month for my writing for several reasons:
- I will spend most of my time doing research for my thesis,
- I will be back in classes—I have two this semester,
- And I do not have an undergraduate degree in Anthropology so I am reading more of the foundational texts.
Fiction
Over the past couple of years, I have been reading less fiction. Something about having to devote more time to studying and only having limited time outside of that to read made me give up fiction. I focused a lot more on productivity/pop-science books and anthropology
As soon as I finished my exams and picked up a piece of fiction for the first time in years, I was reminded why I love it so much. So I want to make sure I am continuing to mix up my reading since reading across genres is important for any kind of writing.
Book—or book—in Italian
Since my level of Italian is not improving as rapidly as I would like, I thought if I combine learning Italian with reading, it might help me along. This is a fun category. I wanted to get something like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in Italian. It has a younger target audience, meaning simpler language. And I have read it at least ten times in English which would let me focus on the words. Jesse looked at me like I was crazy so he got me a book by one of the great Italian authors—which I am not complaining about. Reading a book in Italian by an Italian author is 100% my goal. But I am not there yet.
So the book he got me, I have to look up every couple of words. Also, it is a play about performing a play so there are a bunch of stage directions he doesn’t even know. And all the verb tenses are ones I am not great with, meaning I get to learn an extensive new vocabulary and practice very different verb tenses. It is taking me a long ass time.
Disclaimer about my Reading Lists
My reading lists are more like narrowed selections to pick from. I am not expecting to read all of them. I have a collection of reading lists, one of them with over 400 books on it. Most of this comes from having too many interests. So most of these books correspond to a specific interest I am cultivating or a specific project I am working on. It could be as simple as wanting to learn more about anthropology, but then I could put any number of ethnographic texts on this list.
Right now, I appear to be interested in dark, hell-oriented, deal-with-the-devil, and magic books and books about structural inequalities. Maybe that could make for a good fiction project someday? Or it is a good reason to take that course in Myth and Symbolism I am considering.
Books I want to read
Anthropology
- Non-Places by Marcus Augé
- Patterns of Culture by Ruth Benedict
- Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste by Pierre Bourdieu
- Righteous Dopefiend by Philippe Bourgois and Jeffrey Schoenberg
- Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic among the Azande by E.E. Evans-Pritchard
- Art and the Politics of Visibility: Contesting the Global, Local and the in-between by Zeena Feldman
- Writing Culture by Clifford Geertz
- Anthropology for architects: social relations and the built environment by Ray Lucas
- Vampire Culture by Maria Mellins
- Drinking Cultures: Alcohol and Identity by Thomas M. Wilson
Fiction
- Deadly Décisions by Kathy Reichs
- Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
- The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
- The Invisible Life of Audrie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
- Perfume by Patrick Süskind (1985) – I started this one today.
Book in Italian
- Sei Personaggi in cerca d’autore by Luigi Pirendello
From what I have gathered, it is about a group of actors, the director, and whoever else is there rehearsing a play and how all this falls apart. It seems like there is a-too-many-chef’s situation going on where everyone wants to express their thoughts and ideas, but I will know more when I get through it.
There are a couple of English-speaking productions posted on youtube in case you are interested.
Also, I might steal Jesse’s childhood Harry Potter to try my hand at something easier to read when I get through this. If I get through this.
Final Thoughts
I will not get through all these. I will get through between six and seven with all my other reading, all my writing, and hopefully a job. These books tie into some projects I am working on. They are also more on the fun side rather, which I need in my life right now.