There has been some progress made!
Lists behold:
And there is still a ton more to do…
Including:
And there is more I am sure!
OK, this is a list of books I own that I want (need) to read before August. There are a few themes going on here: books by faculty I will be studying under, topics I want to explore, communities defined by culture, and then religion and religious communities.
A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada by Mark A. Noll
Barrio Dreams: Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and the Neoliberal City by Arlene Davila
Cultures in Babylon: Black Britain and African America by Hazel V. Carby
Forgotten Kingdom: The Mormon Theocracy in the American West, 1847-1896 by David L. Bigler
Indian Women and French Men by Susan Sleeper-Smith
Learning from the Left: Children’s Literature, the Cold War, and Radical Politics in the United States by Julie L. Mickenberg
Methodism and the Southern Mind by Cynthia Lyerly
Sisters in Spirit: Mormon Women in Historical and Cultural Perspective edited by Maureen Ursenback Beecher and Lavine Fielding Anderson
The Second Goldrush: Oakland and the East Bay in World War II by Marilynn S. Johnson
The White Scourge: Mexicans, Blacks, and Poor Whites in Texas Cotton Culture by Neil Foley
Women, Family, and Utopia: Communal Experiments of the Shakers, the Oneida Community, and the Mormons by Lawrence Foster
Next up:
Books I have read that I should review
Books that every graduate student MUST read before they begin US History…like I can really read all of these but I will try. I am thinking books that summarizes time periods using gender, race and class as major categories of analyses.
Ambitious much?
Wow, I haven’t updated this in awhile. I’m going backward:
Currently reading:
Wilderness Tips by Margaret Atwood (short stories that keep bringing up the women’s movement in different ways)
Books Read:
Cat’s Eye by Atwood
Falling Through the Earth: A Memoir by Danielle Trussoni
Moral Geography: Maps, Missionaries, and the America… by Amy DeRogatis
The Common Ground of Womanhood: Class, Gender, and W…by Priscilla Murolo
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner
Race, Gender, and Work: A Multicultural Economic History by Teresa Amott
Moral Disorder: and Other Stories by Margaret Atwood
Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
Something Blue by Emily Giffin
Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Graduate Study for the Twenty-First Century by Gregory M. Colon Semenza
Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Laurence Bergreen
Surfacing by Margaret Atwood
In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin
The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta
Then We Came to the End: A Novel by Joshua Ferris
Basically, I spent the first part of the year reading what I wanted to fiction wise: Then We Came the End and The Abstinence Teacher were both very witty and sarcastic (as Perotta usually is.) Then I switched gears and tried to read more about my Patagonia trip. Over the Edge of the World was surprisingly riveting for me. I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I but I was happy to read while I visited the actual Straights of Magellan.
As soon as I found out I got into graduate school, I started to read some books that I thought would be necessary to read before I began. This, unfortunately, has not been going as well as I hoped–mostly because I have been very unfocused in that area lately. I am going to get back into it as soon as I finish Wilderness Tips by Atwood.
One area that has been successful is the Atwood. I do adore her writing and am happy to report that I equally liked Surfacing, Moral Disorder, Cat’s Eye, and–almost done with– Wilderness Tips. Next up is Oryx & Crake. I want to read some of her poetry but I never really just sit down and read poetry for pleasure. I did it in high school and a bit in college and then analyzed it. I think I may enjoy poetry by Atwood though.
I want to get back to a month to month list of books read. Next up is a long list of books I WANT to read. I may have to abandon reading books for fun sooner than later. But I find this whole academia *FUN* right? Right.
FIN
TO DO UNCATEGORIZED:
- Make a list
- Choose move date
- Contact new city realtor
- Make a reading list by faculty/ foundational reading/ interest reading
- Price movers
- Price rental moving trucks
- Look into rental properties
- Look into storage facilities in new city
- Pack up my things in parents house
- Decide what books from there I want to keep
- Go through storage unit downstairs at my house
- Go through storage unit at parents
- decide whether or not to take bookshelves from parents
POSSIBLY TO DO:
- Sell books?
- Look into a one week summer program?
I will be adding to this list and crossing things out as time goes by!
Since I have made up my mind to attend one school over another, we can officially start the “pre-move” moving stage. It is time for me to assess my belongings and
- go through my stuff at my parents house, throw a lot of it out and donate stuff I don’t use.
- Pack up the remaining books at my parents house and take them with me.
- Ask if I can take my bookshelves from there with me.
- At my own apartment, get rid of clothes, books, trinkets I WILL NOT USE!
- Sell some stuff.
- Go down to the dreaded storage unit in our building and go through it.
Then of course we have to make real concrete decisions about how we are moving our stuff, where we are moving to and when we want to do this by. This opens up two whole doors, do we rent or buy? Do we throw our stuff into storage in our new town or move into a new place right away?
I also need to ascertain some new items before I begin the odyssey of graduate school
- A new laptop. I dropped mine (again) this morning. It still works for now.
- A real desk with drawers. My ikea desk isn’t making it happen for me anymore.
- Filing cabinets. Tall glorious filing cabinets.
Alas, I have to figure out my new methodology and practice as a graduate student. It’s been four years since I was in school last and A LOT has changed both in academia and with my personal life, skills and habits.
I MUST
- get a decent planner and stick to it. I currently use a hybrid of google calendar, personal calendar, two notebooks I carry with me and email to remind myself to do things, keep appointments and stay on top of tasks. This is one is very important.
- Figure out what kind of notebooks I like to use.
- Work on my note taking and my penmanship.
- Marking up texts. I use to love highlights but now I am more drawn to using mechanical pencils. I have more respect for the shape of a book but how long will this last when I have hundreds of pages due by tomorrow morning!
More lists and questions and hopefully answers to come!