To-read-(wish)-list 2016

[whereisirisnow]

BILBO Bookclub
This year, the bookclub continues with the two themes Children’s Books and Society. This is our to-read list:
✓ Ivanhoe, Walter Scott: we read this as part of our Children’s Books theme. I was very pleasantly surprised by this. After the first 100 pages of struggling a little bit, I could hardly put it down. Turns our I rather missed gallant knights and big castles in my books of late.
✓ The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Brontë: What a great book! I didn’t really expect it, as most of our Society books are a bit daunting, but I couldn’t put it down! I read it in the tram, while cooking, in bed, etc. Every spare minute was devoted to this book. I thought it was awesome. I can now truly say that I have read (and loved) at least one book of each Brontë sister.
✓ Winnie-the-Pooh, A. A. Milne: Most adorable book ever. So cute!
✓ The House at Pooh Corner, A. A. Milne: Also adorable. Both Winnie-books are great reads. Absolutely loved it.
• Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray
• David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
• A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
• Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
• Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented, Thomas Hardy
• The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling
• Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
• The Hundred and One Dalmatians, Dodie Smith
• Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
• Letters from Father Christmas, J. R. R. Tolkien

Preparation for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Together with the bookclub, I am going to the Harry Potter play ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’, in the fall, because I am a huge Harry Potter fan. In order to prepare for this, I am going to read all the Harry Potter books again (*yay*), but I will read them in German as a challenge for myself and to (hopefully) improve my German. I have already read Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen and Harry Potter und die Kammer des Schreckens in 2015, but there are still enough left for 2016.

Besides that, I’d like to read a few movie companion books of the Harry Potter movies. I just found out that these movie companions exist and I just have to have them. They look so beautiful! So I ordered a few a those books (in English) already to completely indulge my Harry Potter crave.

I am also looking forward to rereading Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Through the Ages, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard, as I have only read them once or twice. This is, of course, also in anticipation of the new Harry Potter film about Newt Scamander! So exciting!

This, then, is my Harry Potter reading list:
✓ Harry Potter und der Gefangene von Askaban, J. K. Rowling
✓ Harry Potter und der Feuerkelch, J. K. Rowling
• Harry Potter und der Orden des Phönix, J. K. Rowling
• Harry Potter und der Halbblutprinz, J. K. Rowling
• Harry Potter und die Heiligtümer des Todes, J. K. Rowling
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, J. K. Rowling
• Quidditch Through the Ages, J. K. Rowling
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard, J. K. Rowling
• Harry Potter Page To Screen: the Complete Filmmaking Journey, Bob Mccabe
• Harry Potter Film Wizardry, Warner Bros.
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Special Rehearsal Edition, J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany

Preparation for Japan
I am going on a holiday to Japan this year! Wooohoooo! This will be my first proper trip outside of Europe. The first trip was to Disney World and the Harry Potter Wizarding World in Orlando, Florida, USA about 3 years ago. Although that was of course also outside of Europe, it did not feel very different :p

As I am very excited for my trip to Japan, I want to read a couple of books in anticipation:
• DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Japan
• Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Holden
• A book by Haruki Murakami (other than Norwegian Wood, which I read last year).

Besides reading up on some Japan-related things, I'm also going to (re-)watch some anime and movies, to get me in the Japan-holiday-mood! :D
• Death Note
✓ Hachiko: A Dog's Story

Attempting Shakespeare on my own
I have only read one Shakespeare play: Romeo and Juliet. That was in high school, where we read the play with a teacher so as to understand it. Since then (and even before then, if I am really honest) Romeo and Juliet has had a special place in my heart. I feel like I know the play, understand all the jokes and can appreciate any adaptation, as I know there are a lot of choices left open in the source material.

I really would like to have an understanding of the British literature (notice that I said ‘an understanding’: it doesn’t have to be deep or good, I just want to know what’s going on: what is all the fuss about? They are classics for a reason right? But it’s just a hobby, I am no scholar in literature), and that is why I founded our bookclub. I think I am now ready for the next step: read my first Shakespeare play by myself (without panicking). I made a very elaborate to-do-list for myself, so that I would make sure that I am getting the most out of it, while simultaneously enjoying the experience.

My own tutorial towards reading & loving a Shakespeare play:
Read at least one summary of the play
Watch a classic adaptation of the play with original text
Buy at least two book versions of the play with different annotations and/or explanations and/or additional information/essays
Read the play while listening to the audiobook
Read the play very thoroughly: look up all unknown words/phrases, read the introductions and all annotations, explanations and essays of both books, etc.
Watch a classic adaptation of the play with original text
Watch a modern adaptation of the play
Obtain additional information about Shakespeare’s life, performances, etc..
Read the play leisurely (enjoy it this time!)
Learn at least one passage by heart
See a live performance of the play
Love the play forever

To try this tutorial, I have chosen the play Much Ado About Nothing. I really like my tutorial so far, but I am taking it very slow, as Shakespeare isn’t something I can really relax with. But that’s okay: I have a whole year to finish this! My goal is to finish this Much Ado About Nothing project before summer, though.

My Shakespeare reading list is then as follows:
• The Arden Shakespeare. Much ado about nothing, Eds. Claire Elizabeth McEachern et al., 2007.
• The Oxford Shakespeare. Much ado about nothing, Eds. Sheldon P. Zitner, 2008.
• Much ado about nothing (The 2011 play), Eds. Josie Rourke, Rob Hastie, 2011.
• The Arden Shakespeare. The Arden Shakespeare Miscellany. Jane Armstrong

Spontaneous, fun reads because I feel like it
Already thinking of our detective year with the bookclub, I craved some detective novels that I hadn’t read before. As I had only read one book by Agatha Christie before (Ten Little Niggers) and really liked that one, I decided to download all the free books from Agatha Christie from Gutenberg and read them. They turned out to be her first two published works and they were quite nice. I particularly like The Secret Adversary with Tommy and Tuppence. I was also particularly proud that I had correctly anticipated the plot. This only happens very rarely when I read detective novels, as I usually believe all the things the author wants me to believe.
✓ The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Agatha Christie
✓ The Secret Adversary, Agatha Christie

After hearing so many good things about The Martian (both book and film), I decided to give it a try. Why didn’t I do this sooner! It was so much fun! I love this book. It was awesome. I want to read it again!
✓ The Martian, Andy Weir

The next book on my spontaneous to-read list is a book I got from a friend as a lovely surprise present! I am really looking forward to reading this! :)
✓ Brooklyn, Colm Tóibín:

After having read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and being thoroughly impressed by that, I bought one of her other novels, Sharp Objects. Apparently it is even darker than Gone Girl, so I might wait till more sunny days to read it…
• Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn