Hindsight is 20/20

A few summers ago, I had to complete a school project for my degree. At the time, I referred to it as "my stupid reading list." Basically, I had to read a set of books for each of three different categories--author, time period, and genre. The reason for this trip down memory lane is that for the past two weeks, I've been working on term papers (think of "working" in the loosest of terms, it's really more like staring blankly at my computer and hoping that words magically appear.) The more I work on these term papers, the more I miss the reading list. Honestly, what was so bad about reading novels for a summer?

Today, I was browsing the Kindle store to load up my Kindle with some new stuff for working out, and I came across some of the authors I read for my reading list. Even better, because the books are early 20th century, they're free! Nothing makes a nerdy cheapskate like me happier than free books. Tonight, I will have to choose between Robert Graves, D. H. Lawrence, or E. M. Forster for my evening run. Then, it will be back to term papers. Boo!

onlineliterature.com, I love you

On slow days at work, onlineliterature.com is a total lifesaver. I discovered the site when I was working on my reading list for my MA degree in English. When it was slow at my student job (anyone sensing the theme here?) I would go online and try and get some chapters read of the early 21st century novels I had to read. This summer, I read the entire Anne of Green Gables series in snippets. In hindsight, these books weren't the best at-work reads since I always cry when Matthew dies (never good to mist at work when you're trying to look busy!). I don't want to give the impression I don't work or that I don't like my job, because I do; however, sometimes a chapter of a good book makes the 30 minute lull between busy times feel more productive then say, facebook, a trap I'm all too easily drawn into.

My latest onlineliterature.com find was Crome Yellow (1921) by Aldous Huxley. I had a professor suggest this book to me a while ago, but never had time to read it. Now that I have, I've added some of Huxley's other novels to my ongoing reading list. Huxley seems like an author who would be fun to hang out with. He has a dry sense of humor and he really captures the awkardness in everyday life, especially the weird moments when characters are trying to be the most serious. Like a lot of other English novels from the 1920s, Crome Yellow is about the upperclass leisure lifestyle and Huxley presents a group of people vacationing together. I always leave these kind of books wishing I could vacation for months at a time, wear party clothes, and eat fabulous dinners. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the lottery, and bide my time until then.