I know how to read

Hi. I like to read. A lot. I have an master’s degree in English Literature (foci in Medieval English Lit and Anglo/Irish Lit), and I’m working on my second in Educational Administration. My nerdiness (read: awesomeness) is recognized by esteemed universities. I don’t play.

Here’s what I’m currently reading. Check back often, as this will change. Pretty much constantly.

 

While I love Scorcese, this is what really went down...

 Five Points, by Tyler Anbinder: I may be on a history kick here. Jesus. Anyway, Anbinder gives an accurate historical picture of the real Five Points neighborhood, the catchall for all new immigrants in New York City from the mid-1800s until WWI, when the neighborhood began to change. Wiped clean from NYC’s current map, the Five Points was more than just the setting for Cameron Diaz’s horrible Irish accent.

 

My Southern Goth kick is back, in full effect...

Cavedweller, by Dorothy Allison: Allison can write modern Southern Goth in her sleep, and Cavedweller is right up there with Bastard Out of Carolina, one of my all-time faves. She gives voice to the under-represented demographic in literature of poor, white Southern girls who aren’t out looking for a GD prince or anything. The juxtaposition of her delicate prose describing eye-grating situations is beyond immeasureable.

 

You mean the Native Americans weren't all Squanto and shit?!

1491, by Charles C. Mann: very thorough, well-researched account of what North America was really like before the European invasion. This chronicles the tribes of North, Central, and South America in painful detail, describing their incredibly advanced civilizations and their tumultuous fall at the hands of the Europeans. Tenochtitlan would have been numero uno on my list of travel destinations.

 

 

Not about the music...

Ragtime, by E. L. Doctorow: written in the 1970s, the historical-fiction novel describes the turn-of-the-century experiences, from multiple points of view and socio-economic classes, in prose that will literally, at moments, cause your hand to fly to your mouth as you suck in your breath in shock. It’s not the quick read it seems though, as it forces you to stop and just think at pretty much every page.