books, books, books

I've written two book reviews in the last week, and read another book, Housekeeping, that I'm not reviewing but maybe should. What a wonderful, lyrical, novel! Why did I not discover it before?

Actually, I know the answer to that. It came out when I was in college, and in college and for many years afterward I read only books by dead people and genre fiction--pretty light stuff. When I wasn't studying I needed a break. Now I read more widely, I think (check my lists and see if you agree), and among other things I'm catching up on contemporary fiction.

I still read more children's literature than anything else, I think. I'm educating myself so I can teach it responsibly, for one thing. I've got big gaps to fill. I just made up my syllabus for this semester and I realize that there are no books between about 1910 and 1950, and again none from about then until the early 90s. There are books in those gaps that I'm familiar with but don't teach (especially the first gap), but there are also just lots of great books out there that I haven't read. I'm great on the 19th century, though, and pretty good on recent stuff, and a lot of the pre-1980 stuff that I do know just isn't that great, or doesn't fit my syllabus. Ideally, thought, I'd like to have things spread out a bit more, so I'm working on that as well as keeping up with new stuff. Luckily children's lit usually reads relatively quickly. Still, there's plenty to do.

Anyway, back to Housekeeping. I read it because I read terrific reviews of Gilead, and I wanted to know her other work first. So now I can read Gilead. When I find the time.

And a bit about one of the books I reviewed: I just finished From Life: Julia Margaret Cameron and Victorian Photography, and I am delighted to have finally gotten around to it! Cameron is intriguing both for her accomplishments (she was a fabulous photographer) and her associations (she was Virginia Woolf's great aunt, among other things). But I also want to adopt her as a role model because she didn't begin her photographic career until she was 48, after her six children were old enough that she could direct her energies elsewhere. This means I've still got a few years before I need to get started on my artistic career. I love late bloomers.