Although I’m much more comfortable writing than talking, when it comes to my favorite subject (books), I decided I could give talking about books a try. Thanks to the encouragement of Amanda, Eva, and Jason, here’s my first vlog!

You’ll notice that I’m just as nerdy in person as I am in writing. I made an effort to pretend I was not nervous. And you know what? It wasn’t so bad.

In case you didn’t want to watch it, here’s my current reading in text as well!

Finished Books

  • A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (390 pages; fiction).
  • Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language by Seth Lerer (265 pages; nonfiction).
  • The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata (165 pages; fiction).

Returned or Abandoned Books

  • Rashomon and Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa (fiction). I didn’t read any of it, but it was due at the library! I will revisit at some point.

Currently Reading

Each week, I list my progress so I can see how my reading compares week to week. I did make a little progress on some of these.

My Books

Here are the books I own or downloaded. I’ve been rather horrible at reading my project book this week!

  • Our Latter-day Hymns: The Stories and Their Messages by Karen Lynn Davidson (130 read of 455 pages; nonfiction)
  • DNA by James Watson (260 read of 405 pages; nonfiction). My project book.
  • A Raisin the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (drama). Not begun yet.
  • Reading in Bed edited by Steven Gilbar (nonfiction/essays). A collection of essays about our favorite topic: reading. Occasionally, I’ll post some thoughts about an essay for the Reading Reflections feature.
  • The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkein (130 of about 400 pages; fiction). For the Lord of the Rings Readalong.

Old Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

  • East of Eden by John Steinbeck (250 read of about 600 pages; fiction). For the Classics Reads Book Group.
  • A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf (about 200 pages; nonfiction). I have not begun.
  • I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches that Changed the World by Martin Luther King, Jr. (200 pages; nonfiction/speeches). I have not begun.
  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave (nonfiction/memoir). I have not begun.
  • 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (on part 7 of 10, 11 ½ hours audio; fiction). So much fun!
  • Daily Life in Victorian England by Sally Mitchell (nonfiction).
  • We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson (children’s nonfiction).
  • Japan: A Concise History by Milton Walter Meyer (nonfiction).

New Library Loot

  • The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer
  • Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
  • Palm-of-the-Hand Stories by Yasunari Kawabata
  • A History of Japan by R.H.P. Mason
  • A History of Japanese Literature: The First Thousand Years by Shuichi Kato
  • A History of Japanese Literature: From the Manyoshu to Modern Times by Shuichi Kato
  • Introduction to Classic Japanese Literature by Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai

Finds

Note: In my effort to get my vlog up, I did not check reader yet! I will later today.