Walking the Wall

I always look forward to heading to the campus bookstore at the beginning of a semester to see what the upcoming literature class is going to hold for me in terms of reading. Sometimes, I’m thrilled, sometimes not so thrilled (as in, I’m not all that thrilled with my math classes "For All Practical Purposes: Mathematical Literacy in Today’s World," but what can I expect from a math class!?). This semester along with my required math and a 2 credit required health class (after which I will have only English classes left), I am taking American Literature. I think the book list looks interesting, varied, and only one of them I have read before:

1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey (seen the movie, not read the book)
2. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain (read this more than once)
3. Sula by Toni Morrison (I’m looking forward to this one, I have read Morrison’s "Bluest Eye" and "Beloved&quot
4. Henderson the Rain King Saul Bellow (I had never heard of this one)
5. The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne (funnily enough, I picked this one up not too long ago intending to finally read it from cover to cover)
6. A Bad Man by Stanley Elkin (this one is the only one that looks "eh" to me, but I might be surprised)
7. The Awakening by Kate Chopin (this looks interesting, apparently it was considered quite scandalous when it first came out because it was on a woman who commits adultery)
8. The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston (the style of this is intriguing and I’m looking forward to reading this one)
9. The Ginger Man by J.P. Donleavy (this one at first glance looks like something I wouldn’t be interested in reading, but I think it’s going to be enjoyable)
10. An essay, Self-Reliance, by Ralph Waldo Emerson
11. NEW ADDITION: Moby Dick by Hermen Melville (this is an interesting addition as it is something I read partially last semester and had decided I needed to read it in its entirety. It is a bit daunting in scope given the rest of the reading list and I think most of my personal reading will be going on hold for the next 16 weeks other than audio books for my drive time–luckily this list is so intriguing!)

I’m happy, I think the next 16 weeks will have some interesting reading, hopefully some interesting class discussion, and even more hopefully will help to make the 16 weeks of math fly by quickly.