Friday night I finished The Gravedigger’s Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates, which I was very excited about (plus it’s one of my Fall in Reading 2008 books)! I’ve already been thinking about the review in my head and want to get it done this week. I also think I figured out what it is I like about Oates, so that’s awesome.
I also received Walking Through Walls by Philip Smith from Heather at Book Addiction. I love quirky memoirs, so I want to get into this one as soon as I can. This one is about Smith’s relationship with his father — a “successful interior decorator, who went through a macrobiotic transformation and began tuning into mystical vibrations.” Sounds so good!
I was really excited about the Wisconsin Book Festival this weekend, but because of my own laziness I didn’t go to any of the events! Partly, this was because I was busy with school and out of Madison yesterday, but also just because I was being lame. So, that’s disappointing, but I’ll get over it — there’s always next year.
The 24 Hour Read-a-Thon was yesterday, and I had a lot of fun! I’m not going to write more than that because you can read my opening thoughts here, my middle Read-a-Thon thoughts here, and my closing thoughts here. This is the comic I was posting when I did my Read-a-Thon cheerleading yesterday — it seems appropriate to how I feel now 🙂
Today, I have been stuck working on a midterm for Mass Communication and Society. I think I’m having a hard time working on it because I know what the answers two the two questions are, it’s just a matter of finding the quotes and evidence to back it up. Because of that, it feels more like busy work than a serious exam, which makes me less motivated. Plus, I just don’t know how the professor is going to grade me (as a grad student) against the undergrads — so I’m sort of intimidated and putting it off too.
I just realized how much I have to do this week: finish my midterm, read 200+ pages for class Thursday, write program proposal for my MA, start a paper on George Orwell, finish a multimedia news story about the election, and do all my normal work and class. Blargh… I should get back to work.
P.S. This might be one of the best SNL skits I’ve seen in a long time — Amy Poehler does the Sarah Palin Rap. “All the Maverick’s in the house put your hands up!”
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I just won Walking Through Walls, too. It’ll be a while until I get to it, so I’ll be anxious to see what you think. My 81 year old mother actually told me about the SNL skit.
What a busy life you have right now. I actually got The Gravedigger’s Daughter from the library and never got to it before it had to be returned.
Too many ARCs to take care of. I will still read it and I look forward to your review. I’ve just posted my first Sunday Salon, although it’s more a wrap-up of my read-a-thon reading this time. I’m enjoying reading the entries in this feature.
Kathy: It might be awhile before I get to it to, although it’s moved to the top of my TBR pile.
Sandra: Yeah, it’s a little busy, but despite my whining I think I like it that way. I enjoyed The Gravedigger’s Daughter, so I’m going to try to review it in the next week or so. I like Sunday Salon too, although I don’t get to as many new entries as I wish I could.
I’ve also just finished reading a Joyce Carol Oates’ book “Man Crazy”, but didn’t really like her writing style. This was my first. I got to know this author from Jane Eyre, where she wrote the introduction. Maybe her other books are ok. Looking forward to your review on the gravedigger’s daughter 😉
I almost bought The Gravediggers Daughter last week, which would’ve been my first JCO’s book. I regret that I didn’t get it. I look forward to your review.
Sal: I haven’t read Man Crazy, but I think her writing style takes some getting used to. It’s very jumpy and complicated, which gets hard to follow at times. But, I think it also rewards a careful reader, something I want to include in the review.
Lisa: Oates has a ton of books, something like 36 novels, so there are a lot of them to choose from. You can probably find an older book used for pretty inexpensive, and then get a new one like The Gravedigger’s Daughter if you like her style. I’d suggest We Were The Mulvaney’s, I liked that one a lot too.