I haven't taken a university class in seven years; not since I got my undergrad back in 2011. (I feel old now). I'm super nervous. One of my best friends convinced me to take this senior English class with her this winter and with a topic like screen adaptation - I mean how could I say no?! That is my bread and butter! Have you read my blog posts? I live for that sh*t!
The first class is tomorrow and I'm happy to report that I have already read the first book, from the list of NINE that we have to read, over the holiday break. (Plus we also have to watch the film/TV show adaptations of each one as well.) It's also good that I have some 'opinions' already formed. I feel like I'm being an over-achiever. Like I said, I'm super nervous.
The list of books we're required to read for class are:
- The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
- Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
- My Life in France by Julia Child
- Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
- Selections from Sherlock Holmes: Complete Novels and Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
I already owned 3 of the books on the list. I got three others from Varagesale for a combined price of $10. The last three I purchased through the university bookstore in USED condition for fairly cheap. All in all, one of the cheapest books loads for a class I have ever had.
The only two I have read before are Sense and Sensibility and Philosopher's Stone. First book on the list was The Orchid Thief, and I am about a third of the way through Great Expectations, the longest book on the list. I definitely wanted to get a head start on that one.
I haven't read Jane Austen since I was in high school, so I'm excited to tackle that one again. I'm sure I'll have a different perspective on it now than I did then. And Harry Potter... guaranteed after I read that first one again I'm going to go through all of them once class is done. I haven't read them since they first came out when I was a kid. Yeah, a long time ago. I do remember them quite clearly though. And for all those reading this thinking: "Who doesn't read Harry Potter more than once?! Every couple of years? Or every year? All the way through? Like the words live in your blood?!" I get it. I'm one of those. But, I can say, that I have a few friends who haven't even read them through ONCE! So there.
I'm most excited to read Alice in Wonderland and Julie & Julia. Alice has been on my TBR pile since forever, but surprisingly was not on my Reading Challenge list. Either way, this will give me a chance to finally cross it off. I've seen the movie for Julie & Julia, and it was really cute, so I'm looking forward to seeing what the book is like.
As per usual with my reading, and this class is going to be no different, I have been taking lots of notes in my book journal and plan to post about each book. What I thought - book vs movie/show - what we discussed in class, what the discussion made me think about differently, my opinions, etc. etc.
I'm looking forward to it. I hope those who read this are too!
***I doubt I'll get in any other 'for pleasure' reading while taking this class, so those posts will be delayed until end of April when I start up again. But then again, who knows, maybe I'll just become a reading machine and get some other books done too!***
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