First Semester: Complete!

Posted May 2, 2018 by Sarah Callanan

As of 11:55 PM last night, my first semester at Simmons is over!  Not that I was counting the minutes or anything.  All of my lectures are done, readings completed, and my final project has been TURNED IN!  Even though this class was a lot of work, I loved every minute of it and learned so much.  As I said last week, I’m really proud of everything I’ve accomplished this semester, and now I have a break from schoolwork until mid-June, which is when my summer class starts. 

Because I have had absolutely no free time whatsoever for the past few weeks until today because of school, stress, and personal life issues, I am a little bit relieved that I will be having a break from schoolwork, just for a little while.  As I will now be having free time, I plan on catching up on some reading.  I’ve really been slacking off-  I’m a voracious reader, and I usually try and read several books a month but I’ve been so busy lately I haven’t had the time.  Also, as someone who is studying to be a librarian, I really feel that I should be reading more than I am right now. 

Here are some of the books that are on my reading list for the upcoming weeks:

• Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce
  • I adored Tamora Pierce’s Tortall books when I was a teenager and I’ve been waiting for her book on Numair to come out since high school.  I’ve been hearing about this book for over ten years, and it was finally released in November 2017.  I’m so excited to read it, and it’s the first of the Numair Chronicles, which means it’s going to be a series.  I haven’t actually read anything by her in years, so I might have to give her other books a quick skim to reacquaint myself with the universe. 
• I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamera
  • In case if you missed the news, the Golden State Killer was caught last week.  The late Michelle McNamera poured her heart and soul into this book, which was released posthumously in February 2018, and I’ve been looking forward to reading it ever since I read an article about it a few months ago.  It has a foreword by Gillian Flynn (author of Gone Girl) and an afterword by Patton Oswalt (the author’s husband).
• Circe by Madeline Miller
  • I always have been fascinated by Greek mythology and epic poems like the Iliad and the Odyssey, and this book, which was released in April 2018, seems right up my alley.  People who have read the Odyssey might remember that Circe played a role in Odysseus’ tale and that she is the daughter of the god Helios.  This book is about her story, and it sounds like a fascinating read.  The author also wrote The Song of Achilles, which was a different take on the Iliad and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes Greek mythology/epics. 
• Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
  • This was one of the best books of 2015, and I somehow missed it.  I came across it when doing research for my final project (I was in a bookstore and I was supposed to be looking for books on a completely different subject and I just happened to wander into the fiction section.  I know.  I’m terrible.)  It’s about the exploration of a marriage and it sounds like a fascinating read. 
• Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
  • I am a HUGE Neil Gaiman fan, and I have read most of his works, but I have not read this one.  I saw it in the library a few months ago, and it’s been on my reading list for a while, and I’m excited to finally read it.  Also, I highly recommend all of his work, especially Good Omens, which is his collaboration with the late Terry Pratchett.