“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”
― Charles W. Eliot
Reading 2020.
I’m a bit behind in getting out my August reading post. If you’ve read my most recent post, Tuesday Truth #63, then you are already aware that I had other things that took precedence during the month. Even with a week of reading deprivation (week 4 of The Artist’s Way journey) and the things I mentioned previously, I still managed to read a decent amount of books.
Since this is a running list for the year, each month will start with the number that follows where the prior month ended.
If you missed my first “What I’ve Been Reading” post, you can find the Jan/Feb reads in this post. When we became housebound, I changed the original format of bimonthly sharing to monthly sharing. You can find March reads in this post and you can find April reads in this post. You can find May reads in this post and June reads in this post. And finally, you can find the July reads in this post.
After this post, I will again return to the bimonthly format.
Reading List.
53. The Stranger – Albert Camus
“Only the words ‘yesterday’ and ‘tomorrow’ still had any meaning for me.”
Now that we are moving deeper into the year, I can see that my goal to read 100 books was a lofty one. Life happens as it often does. In order to move closer to my goal, I looked up short classics and this book was one of those listed. It tackles existentialism and societal expectations surrounding grief amongst other things.
54. The Invitation – Lucy Foley
“It is there that I think I left her, the girl that I was.”
Last month, I read The Guest List by Lucy Foley. I enjoyed her writing style and had this book in my stack as well. I suppose this one had an element of suspense as well, but the main genre is love story. I enjoyed her writing style just as much in this book.
55. Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Truman Capote
“I want to still be me when I wake up one fine morning and have breakfast at Tiffany’s”
This was one of those short classics. I’ve seen the movie many times and Audrey Hepburn is one of my favorite actresses. Any yet, I had never read the book. It seems to me that books always give a little more detail to stories than a movie does. Or perhaps it’s because my imagination creates the visual scene. I thought this was a great, quick read.
56. The Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka
“Was he an animal, that music could move him so?”
You’ll notice a recurring theme of short classics. I’m not gonna lie, this was a strange little book. I recognize that it was about societal expectations (i.e. – responsibility to family at the expense of self interests) and how change (metamorphosis) can affect that, but it still was a bizarre little story.
57. Wide Sargasso Sea- Jean Rhys
“It was a beautiful place – wild, untouched, above all untouched, with an alien, disturbing, secret loveliness. And it kept its secret.”
Jane Eyre is one of my favorite novels. When I learned that Jean Rhys has written this story as a response and prequel to Jane Eyre, I knew I wanted to read it. Written in 1966, it is told from the perspective of Bertha Mason, Mr. Rochester’s wife. It touches on multiple issues that eventually lead to Bertha’s madness.
58. Looking for Alaska – John Green
“Francois Rabelais. He was this poet. And his last words were ‘I go to seek a Great Perhaps.’ That’s why I’m going. So I don’t have to wait until I die to start seeking a Great Perhaps.”
I really like John Green’s works. This is actually his first novel. What can I say? It was good. It kept me invested the entire way. I followed it up by watching the series on Netflix. Of course, they made changes to the storyline. Part of which was giving away some clues much earlier than the book does. But overall, I enjoyed the show as well.
59. Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
“But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.”
So I had a moment of synchronicity with this book. The concept of things falling apart is mentioned in Looking for Alaska. I knew there was a book of that title and made a note that I should read it. When I finished reading Looking for Alaska, I picked up the next book in my pile and what should it be… yep, Things Fall Apart. The story is about pre-colonial life in Nigeria and the arrival of the Europeans. I thought it was a book that my husband would enjoy as well. He started it and was indeed enjoying it. However, the title gives away that it isn’t necessarily a joyful story and with his mother’s recent passing, the timing was such in his life that he’s decided to read it at a future point.
I would point out that it does require you to be prepared for unhappy moments. The same can be said about some others on this list.
Now over to you.
Have you read any of these classics?
How about the others?
Have you read anything interesting lately?
Let’s chat below!
Stay safe and healthy out there! Sending you all love and light!! xx
Let your light shine!
Amy
