Freshman Year as an English Major (or, Where I’ve Been, What I’ve Read, and Where I’m Going):
Greetings! This post may be a little longer than usual but stick around till the end for an exciting announcement!
It’s been nearly a year since my last post, but I promise it’s for good reason. You see, this year, I started college, and it’s been a whirlwind of papers, reading (for classes, not pleasure, alas!), adventures, and late nights. I ambitiously thought I’d be able to incorporate the books from my literature classes into blog posts, but even those plans were struck down by the barrage of homework.
Don’t get me wrong! I don’t regret investing my time as I have this year or that it’s meant less blogging. I do regret, however, that I haven’t been able to fulfill commitments this year. I’m truly sorry to the authors whose amazing works I haven’t blogged about yet. I’ve read many of them have thoughts and excited rants piled up in my Google Keep app waiting for me to put together a coherent review. I’m eager to start a new era of blogging this summer, but before starting any new blog series, I’ll be wrapping up prior commitments!
On to the recap of this year!
The Bookish:
This year, I had the absolute pleasure of taking two literature classes in the same semester. It was a challenge but also a fun, once-in-a-college-career experience. My first class was Crime Fiction, and it walked through the history of the genre from pioneers like Edgar Allan Poe and Agatha Christie to modern authors like Sue Grafton. I learned so much about the different eras and expanded my love for the genre.
My favorite book from the course was Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers. I’ll hopefully have a review up for it soon, so I won’t say too much here other than that it was witty and full of courtroom drama and literary references.
The other class was Reading Harry Potter, and we read all 4100 pages of the series – my first read through! I’d read up through the beginning of Goblet of Fire a couple of years ago, but reading all seven in four months was a completely different experience. I loved how the professor emphasized J.K. Rowling’s stylistic choices and themes, and my Monday nights aren’t the same without the frenzy of reading half a book before class the next day.
Other than the eleven books I read for literature classes and the three I read for other classes, I read a couple of eARCs, beta read a book, and finished the first two books in Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series. Reviews are coming for those as well!
The Musings:
Studying all these literary works this year filled me with inspiration for my own writing – academic, personal, and even blogging. I learned so much about the craft and grew as a writer, but I’d also like to think I learned more about storytelling as a whole. Those are thoughts for future posts as this one’s getting long enough, so I’ll move on to announcement [drum roll please] . . .
I’m studying abroad in England in the fall! I’m so excited to sit in all the literary places and explore a new corner of the world! This summer, I’m stockpiling some reviews to release while I’m abroad so the next year isn’t as silent as this past one. However, if you contact me through the website after August, I may be slow to respond or unable to accept review requests.
To support my adventures abroad, I’m opening an online shop for the summer – Yarn Ninja! I’ll be selling some of my crocheted creations with new products each week. There are so many patterns I want to try this summer, so very few products will reappear after they’re sold out.
The first drop is already here, so follow along on my journey on Instagram (@_yarnninja_) and check out the website here.
That’s all for now!
I hope you’re having a wonderful summer full of fun reads, and I’ll be back soon with a new review!
