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Follow Yung Lions

“Every wolf ‘s and lion’s howl / Raises from Hell a human soul.”

Sunday, November 4, 2012

It is now November but this is still relevant

The month of October. The month of October may well be my favourite month of them all. It is finally socially acceptable to wear layers, not too hot for tea, my whole playlist is dominated by old school rock and heavy guitar strums, and every time I walk outside I can smell, hear, and see Autumn. October is the perfect medium between the flip flop weather of September (rain, sun, and thunderclouds all in one hour) and the snowy November month. October is good for the soul.

At this point, I haven't read any books (unless you count reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower for the 8997809th time) as I've been suffering under the weight of my classes, prom committee, and student council (AND A SOCIAL LIFE). I know, I know, insane. Right? Ha.

Anyways, the only book I have read is Animal Farm by George Orwell for my English class. A very quick, read that took about two half hour sittings. I am about to embark on reading 1984, once I muster up the initiative, which I really do look forward to. Am I becoming a fan of George Orwell's writing? We'll see.

Seeing as we're already on the subject of books, I've compiled a list of books that I'd like to read (on top of the ones I already have/want to read)


    • On The Road by Jack Kerouac 
      On the Road chronicles Jack Kerouac's years traveling the North American continent with his friend Neal Cassady, "a sideburned hero of the snowy West." As "Sal Paradise" and "Dean Moriarty," the two roam the country in a quest for self-knowledge and experience. Kerouac's love of America, his compassion for humanity, and his sense of language as jazz combine to make On the Road an inspirational work of lasting importance.
      Kerouac's classic novel of freedom and longing defined what it meant to be "Beat" and has inspired every generation since its initial publication more than forty years ago
      Fountainhead by Ayn Rand 
      This instant classic is the story of an intransigent young architect, his violent battle against conventional standards, and his explosive love affair with a beautiful woman who struggles to defeat him. 
    The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath        
      
    Esther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under--maybe for the last time. In her acclaimed and enduring masterwork, Sylvia Plath brilliantly draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that her insanity becomes palpably real, even rational--as accessible an experience as going to the movies. A deep penetration into the darkest and most harrowing corners of the human psyche, "The Bell Jar" is an extraordinary accomplishment and a haunting American classic.


    Every Day by David Levithan                                                                          In his New York Times bestselling novel, David Levithan introduces readers to what Entertainment Weekly calls a "wise, wildly unique" love story about A, a teen who wakes up every morning in a different body, living a different life. Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl. There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere. It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

    The Side of Paradise by F.Scott Fitzgerald
    Definitive novel of the "Lost Generation" focuses on the coming of age of Amory Blaine, a handsome, wealthy Princeton student. He exemplifies the young men and women of the 20s who grew up to find "all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken." Fitzgerald's first novel and an immediate, spectacular success.





    Frida Kahlo: Song of Herself by Saloman Grimberg
    Frida Kahlo's extraordinary life has been well documented, but until now little has been known about the artist's thoughts on her internal and external reality. In "Song of Herself", Kahlo expert and child psychiatrist Salomon Grimberg introduces and contextualizes an intimate, deeply introspective interview that Kahlo gave towards the end of her life to her friend the psychologist Olga Campos for an unpublished book on the creative process. Kahlo comments directly and starkly as never before on her life, her loves and her art, and expresses her attitudes towards sexuality, her body, friendship, politics and death, among other personal concerns.The most revealing autobiographical text known on this singular woman, this startling interview is accompanied here by Campos' reflections on her relationship with Kahlo and a psychological assessment of Kahlo by Dr James Bridger Harris. The book is illustrated with selected photographs and works by Kahlo, including previously unseen and rarely seen drawings.


    Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
    The most nostalgic and reflective of Evelyn Waugh's novels, "Brideshead Revisited" looks back to the golden age before the Second World War. It tells the story of Charles Ryder's infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly-disappearing world of privilege they inhabit. Enchanted first by Sebastian at Oxford, then by his doomed Catholic family, in particular his remote sister, Julia, Charles comes finally to recognize only his spiritual and social distance from them.




    Legs Get Led Astray by Chloe Caldwell
     A provocative collection of essays that vividly rockets the reader through one young woman's life. Chloe Caldwell beautifully and bluntly escorts you through her childhood dreams, her first loves, her most unguarded sexual exploits, bookstore crushes, babysitting jobs, heartbroken wanderlust, and the suicide of a lost lover. Caldwell's writing remarkably explores the genre of personal nonfiction and has been featured in The Rumpus, The Faster Times, and Mr. Beller's Neighborhood, The Nervous Breakdown, and Everyday Genius."Chloe Caldwell's LEGS GET LED ASTRAY is a scorching hot glitter box of youthful despair and dark delight. Tender and sharp, wide-eyed and searching, these essays have a reckless beauty that feels to me like magic."--Cheryl Strayed


    Blue Highways: A Journey Into America by William Least Heat-Moon
    William Least Heat-Moon set out with little more than the need to put home behind him and a sense of curiosity about "those little towns that get on the map-if they get on at all-only because some cartographer has a blank space to fill: Remote, Oregon; Simplicity, Virginia; New Freedom, Pennsylvania; New Hope, Tennessee; Why, Arizona; Whynot, Mississippi." His adventures, his discoveries, and his recollections of the extraordinary people he encountered along the way amount to a revelation of the true American experience.


    The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
    The haunting, humorous and tender story of the brief lives of the five entrancing Lisbon sisters, The Virgin Suicides, now a major film, is Jeffrey Eugenides' classic debut novel.

    The shocking thing about the girls was how nearly normal they seemed when their mother let them out for the one and only date of their lives. Twenty years on, their enigmatic personalities are embalmed in the memories of the boys who worshipped them and who now recall their shared adolescence: the brassiere draped over a crucifix belonging to the promiscuous Lux; the sisters' breathtaking appearance on the night of the dance; and the sultry, sleepy street across which they watched a family disintegrate and fragile lives disappear
Many of these books are said to set my mind on a path to adulthood, or whatever comes next, and it kinda excites me and scares me. I've done so much independent learning these last 3 years,on who I am, who I think I am, and who I want to be. It's so ridiculous how much one can learn by simply reading books.


4 comments:

  1. We totally ditto your thoughts on October!

    Also, we <3 THE BELL JAR and EVERY DAY (though they're not really "feel good"s, just fyi). Hope you enjoy your reading choices!

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  2. I've only read Speak, and it was a pretty eye-opening book. Very sad :( If I Stay is a book that I need to read asap, as it seems like everyone else has read it except for me.

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