This is a short look at the books I shall be reading in December. Christmas is coming guys. I'm excited.
So to
make the holiday season as happy and fun as possible I’ll be reading Lolita by
Nabokov. It’s about the relationship between a young girl, nicknamed Lolita,
who is about 12, and her step-dad Humbert Humbert. They become sexually
involved and the book is supposed to be amazing. It sounds a bit grim, a love
story between a 37-year-old and a 12-year-old, a bit, well… gross. But it’s a
classic, and I’ve always wanted to read it. It’s supposed to be very beautifully
written, or translated, or both. I’m going to stop writing run-on sentences.
I’m excited.
I
read the first book in this trilogy like, two years ago maybe, or three. It’s a
historical fiction novel set in the late 17th century in
England. It’s about a young scientist and Puritan named Daniel Waterhouse who
goes to University with Isaac Newton, and is Isaac’s only real friend really.
It’s also about Jack Shaftoe (Half-cocked Jack), the King of the Vagabonds, and
Eliza, formerly Turkish Harem girl, now lady in waiting. The second book
continues where the previous ended I’m suspecting. I don’t know that I remember
everything, so I think I’ll brush up on the first book by reading the Wikipedia
article. The books are full of real and fictional people interacting in 17th century
England, with wars, Cabal ministries, fires and religious upheaval.
I
have this sort of weird fascination with Amsterdam. I really like it. I loved
living there, and I always want to go back. So when I find books set in
Amsterdam I get really excited. I’m a dork. The Miniaturist is set in Amsterdam
in the 17th century and is about a young woman named Nella who
marries a merchant trader named Johannes. Johannes at one point gives her a
miniature model of their house. And to furnish the house she gets a miniaturist
who mirrors the real counterparts in sort of eerie ways.
In a
change in character for me I shall be finishing a series. Yeah! Boom. I very
rarely finish series, but now I shall. Out of Oz is the fourth and last book in
the Wicked Years series. In this book the country of Oz is in a state of
unrest. Glinda is under house arrest, the Cowardly Lion is on the run, and
Elphaba’s granddaughter Rain has come of age. It sounds exciting. I really like
the series and I’m curious to see how it ends, so that’ll be fun. It’s fucking
massive, so that’ll be fun.
In
case you don’t know, Grace Helbig is a YouTube super star. She is a sort of
dorky goddess. This is a book that’s basically about being an adult, or at
least faking it. It’s about being a sort of young adult, or regular adult,
growing up in the digital era. There’s not much else to say I guess. It’s a
memoir and guide and I am extremely stoked.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire