Back Again!!

I kind of forgot I had this blog. I am most definitely still reading, though! Now that I am a musicology graduate student, I read even more than ever. One of my classmates totaled our required reading for two of this semester's classes at over 10,000 pages. I can't say I'm surprised. We're pretty sure we've written about 300 pages worth of assignments, as well. This is the life!!

Beyond my required reading, you can bet I'm still reading tons for fun! However, I am not purchasing as much as I used to. Reasons:

1. Being a graduate student is tough, and my stipend is not huge. 

2. I have yet to discover a used book store in Tallahassee that even halfway lives up to the ones I loved in Waco and Houston. 

3. On the bright side, I live ten minutes' walk away from a giant public library! I pass it on my way to school every day! I love free books!

Let's take a look at November (I don't remember everything because, as mentioned, I forgot about this blog). 

Books Bought:

• Music from Behind the Bridge (Shannon Dudley)
• Size 12 and Ready to Rock (Meg Cabot)

Books Read:

• A Lesson in Secrets (Jacqueline Winspear)
• Maisie Dobbs (Winspear)
• Birds of a Feather (Winspear)
• The Fires of Merlin (T. A. Barron)
• Size 12 and Ready to Rock (Meg Cabot)
• To Weave and Sing (David Guss)
• Where Rivers and Mountains Sing (Ted Levin)

Most of the books I buy are for class, now (thanks, amazon marketplace). Shannon Dudley's book (who is a man, just fyi) is about steelband music in Trinidad & Tobago. However, after I bought it, the assignment changed to a shorter reading, so I may not read this book for a while now that it is not required reading. Looks very thorough and well-researched, though, and who can't love steelband music? On my "books read" list, the last two were for my World Music Cultures seminar (as was the Dudley). Both are excellent books! Ted Levin's is more of a narrative than Guss's is; however, both examine little-known yet fascinating cultures. Levin looks at Tuvan musical traditions, including throat-singing, which the area is most well known for. A great book and accessible to everyone, not just musicologists - check it out! Guss's book is about the Yekuana people in South America whose music aligns with their myths and basket-making traditions (hence the title). I enjoyed this book as well, but it is definitely a drier read than the Levin.

For fun (which I will always make time for, no matter how crazy my life is) - Jacqueline Winspear's A Lesson in Secrets is the eighth in her series about detective (well, technically psychiatrist and private investigator) Maisie Dobbs. I am in love with the protagonist - she is such a strong female character in one of my favorite time periods and settings - 1920s-1930s England. After finishing all of Agatha Christie's novels (the same day that I completely finished my undergraduate degree requirements, funnily enough), I have been hunting for another mystery series to enjoy, and Winspear's certainly met my requirements. After reading book eight, I immediately ran to the library and returned with books 1-7 and read the first two in less than a week, both of which are equally excellent as the eighth! 

T. A. Barron's Merlin book is the mid-point of a fantasy series that I somehow missed as a child. Thank goodness my friend Stephanie is here to fill me in on what I missed! Barron's young Merlin series are enjoyable, quick reads with a surprising amount of thought put into them. Highly recommended! The first book is slow, but I read The Fires of Merlin (book three) in two days. Meg Cabot has been a favorite of mine since I first read The Princess Diaries in the sixth grade, and her mystery series starring (that's a pun, by the way - read the book) Heather Wells is another set of fun, lighthearted reads...perfect for fitting in between 50-page scholarly articles about compositional process and reception history! I should note that unlike her Princess Diaries series, these books are for adults, not teenagers. Obviously, I am a sucker for good mysteries, and while Cabot's aren't necessarily hard to figure out whodunit, Heather is such a snarky narrator that I don't really care if the mystery is sub-par. Oh, and they all take place in a college dorm where Heather is assistant dorm director...so lots of fuel for snarkiness. 

Stay tuned for December...in which I devour the rest of the Maisie Dobbs series and probably much more besides now that the semester is almost over!