Musicological Fiction

I have always wanted to write a novel, or at least a collection of short stories. This is because I am pretty much a HUGE reader; have always loved reading novels and pretty much anything else, as long as it was of good enough quality to keep me entertained and to captivate my intellect. I always make huge summer reading lists each May, and since beginning grad school, have never managed to finish any of them. Last summer I got through The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, American Gods by Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, and In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, and that was it. I read most of Baudolino by Umberto Eco, but still haven't finished it. I spent most of the summer busy with academic pursuits and cramming in as much of a social and exercise life as I could muster.

I am making this post to ask for suggestions for my summer reading list. I think I will aim to read one 'fun' book a month, which shouldn't distract too much from my studies and still provide the necessary leisure time I require for my sanity. Here is my current list for May, June, July, August and September. If I am successful, perhaps this can continue through the academic year.

May: The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies (almost finished); The Robber Bride (Margaret Atwood -- I am reading this book because another musicologist recommended it and I bought it from the music library for 10 cents).

June: The History of Love: A Novel (Nicole Krauss)

July:
Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality (Donald Miller)

August: The Historian (Elizabeth Kostova)

September:
Orlando: A Biography (Virginia Woolf)

Comments? Suggestions?

Comments

I'm always up for recommending books. If you haven't read One Hundred Years of Solitude, I recommend that more than any book. It seemed to open up new possibilities in books and life. Also highly recommend the following if you haven't yet: The Corrections, Angela's Ashes, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, The Master and Margarita, and The Virgin Suicides. And purely for fun: Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, The Kite Runner, and the Harry Potter book that will be coming out in July. So sue me.
*K* said…
I just finished "on beauty" by Zadie Smith. We have Blue Like Jazz at our house if you want to borrow it. I would most strongly recommend 'a god of small things' by arundahti roi (spelling??). i, too, LOVE fiction--especially fiction that traces a family history or story.

Loved One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Also, Wicked, Middlesex (same author as virgin suicides), and anything David Sedaris.
Hucbald said…
Prospective title:

The Da Palestrina Code. ;^)

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