What I’m Reading
Books, books, books. Words, words, words.
So much of a writer’s life is taken up with reading. Or… At least it should be. When the writer begins an MFA in poetry, this is absolutely true… and it’s doubled or tripled. I recorded some of my MFA in Fiction after the face in the book, My Journey in Creative Reading. This time around, I’m going to keep a chronical here, updating it a couple of times a month, as my reading list changes.
MORNING READING:
These are the books I read when I first wake up in the morning after I’ve made my coffee or tea.
- On Language by Noam Chomsky – Two chapters in and already giving me things to consider about writing, language, ideas, and how I view my own thought processes. I don’t agree with everything Chomsky has to say, but he is thought-provoking.
- The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin – Last of The Broken Earth Trilogy… I’m less than 100 pages from the end. I want to like this series. I really do. I understand why other readers adore this series. I understand why it’s received so many awards. Some interesting things going on here, in the structure, the world-building, and the prose. It’s worth reading because of Jemisin’s ambition, but aesthetically, it’s just not my thing.
- The Language of the Night by Ursula K LeGuin – Essays on Science Fiction and Fantasy. So much good stuff in here. Like Moorcock’s Wizardry and Wild Romance, I feel this should be required reading for anyone who aspires to a career as a fantasy author.
- Consider This by Chuck Palahniuk – Picked this up on a whim, as I do many books written by respected authors about their thoughts on writing. I started this book this morning. I think it’s going to be an interesting journey.
EVENING
These are the books I read just before going to bed.
The Soul of Rumi by Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks – I love Rumi. He’s a 13th Century Sufi poet. He wrote the first poem I ever memorized. My Mom got me this one for Christmas. The book has some poems I’ve never seen before, and I like the streamlined structure Barks has used in putting this book together.- Gilgamesh: The Life of a Poem by Michael Schmidt – I picked this up on a whim while browsing at Barnes and Noble. It’s an exploration of the uncovering of the Gilgamesh epic, and how it’s discovery is still going on. Every once in a while someone discovers a new tablet, or a piece of a tablet that exists in another language, or that fills in the holes of other damaged tablets. Fascinating.
- The Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith Spark – I’ve developed a budding friendship with Ms. Smith Spark since World Con in 2018. She kindly sent her grimdark trilogy my way to give it a look over for an article I’m writing for a zine next summer. I’m 5 chapters in, and I’m having a grand time. Starting in February, the Gallowglas Army will be doing a group read of this over in the Gallowglas Army Hangout on Goodreads.
- A Slip of the Keyboard by Terry Pratchett – A book of Pratchett’s nonfiction work. Not a bad way to end the day.
SCHOOL
Here are the books I’m reading in pursuit of my MFA in poetry.
- Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Dispair by Pablo Neruda
- Hurdy-Gurdy by Tim Seibles
- American Noise by Campbell McGrath – Received this yesterday. Flipped through it. I can already tell this one is going to be a huge influence on my approach to poetry about the geek community.
- The Book of Hours by Rainer Maria Rilke – This is a book of love poems to the divine. I’d been going through this before, exploring it as a possible frame for a book of my own poetry about Comic Con. My book will explore all aspects of Comic Con, even the bits that we sometimes don’t want to acknowledge.
- Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke
- On Drinking by Charles Bukowski – This is a mix of poetry, stories, and memoir. I’m going to be looking at the poems. I’ve read some of this. I can’t decide if I’m going to like Bukowski or hate him.
- Essential Bukowski by Charles Bukowski, ed. by Abel Debritto – I have read the first poem. This book may be more accessible than On Drinking.
- The Blind Man’s Elephant: Essays on the Craft of Poetry by Kurt Brown – I started this before my semester officially began. The director of my MFA program, who is also my mentor this semester, posted a link to this on Facebook a couple of months ago. It’s amazing. I’m learning so much about the thinking behind poetry, not just the creation of a poem. It’s also teaching me a lot about writing in general, including shining a light on reasons behind some of my preferences in fiction.
