So November absolutely flew by! And now we’re already eight days into December, so without any more introduction, let’s get on to the books.
Reading Stats
Books Read: Seven (or nine)
Pages Read: 1,871 (roughly 267 pages per book)
Longest Book: Crime and Punishment (671 pages)
Shortest Book: James I and The Gunpowder Plot (52 pages, I also didn’t include any short fiction because those were less than 10 pages)
Required Reading: Hills Like White Elephants and A Good Man is Hard to Find
Poésies complètes by Arthur Rimbaud
These are the complete poems of Arthur Rimbaud which I’ve been reading on the side for a while, but finished last month. I did really enjoy some of these, but I was doing most of the translations on my own, which was good for learning French, but not great for reading poetry, since all my translations were direct. So, for now, I won’t be rating this because I would like to find an actually translated edition to see if I enjoy it more.
James I and The Gunpowder Plot by L. Du Garde Peach
This was a rather short book, but a great introduction to the Gunpowder Plot. I’d heard of Guy Fawkes for years, but I never knew the full story of his fame and the reasonings behind the plot, so this was really helpful.
Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway
This was a reading I did for my English class and it was pretty good. I liked Hemingway’s writing, which I was glad for because I’ve been wanting to pick up his books. (And now I have one on hold at the library!)
An Orestia by Anne Carson
I really enjoyed this. This is a collection of three Ancient Greek plays: Agamemnon, Elektra, and Orestes. Each play follows the same cast of characters, the children of Agamemnon, and it was really cool to see them interpreted by three different authors! The translation was beautifully done and completely lives up to the hype that surrounds Carson. Overall, I gave it 4.5 stars, as individually, I gave Agamemnon 3, Elektra 4.5 and Orestes 5 stars. (This is why I for books read I said or nine, as this was three books in one)
If Not, Winter by Sappho (translated by Anne Carson)
Another Anne Carson translation, this is all the fragments of Sappho’s poetry. I gave this 4/5 stars as there were a few poems that were underwhelming, but the majority were absolutely gorgeous. Even though some were only a word or two, they still conveyed such strong emotions.
A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
This was the other short story I had to read for English and it was alright. I didn’t care too much for the story overall, but I do think the discussions we had about bravery and taking risks made me see it from a different angle, which increased my enjoyment of it, but not by a lot.
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
This book…. Just wow! It was so perfectly crafted and was tinged with such unsettling yet beautifully written lines, I absolutely loved it. This took a while to read, but it was worth every minute.
For December, I have very little direction with what I would like to read, but I just started East of Eden which is really good so far. I am also planning to read Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, and I’ve been thinking of reading Les Miserables, so if I feel up to it I definitely will.
Other than that, I have nothing else planned for the month, I’m just going to see where the month goes and base my reading off that.
And that’s all for November! How was your reading last month? Find any new favorites? Or are there any books you’re looking forward to this month? I’d love to hear about them!