Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

This sci-fi novel was apparently the basis for Blade Runner, but I haven’t seen it and therefore can’t make any comparisons on that front. However, this novel kept my interest, and that’s saying a lot for a sci-fi novel.
It gives an apocalyptic view of earth after World War Terminus. The world [...]

Richard Wright’s Native Son

Have you ever really liked a character in a book but hated their actions and choices? Rooted for them to succeed, but really hoped they didn’t do what you knew they were going to do?
That is exactly how I felt about Bigger Thomas, the protagonist of this novel. I really liked him, wanted [...]

James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

This has got to be one of the most difficult books I have ever read. I’m having a hard time following the stream of consciousness style of writing Joyce uses to create the inner workings of Stephen Dedalus’s mind. It starts out with Stephen as a young boy, and his thoughts are random [...]

Ward Churchill’s Kill the Indian, Save the Man

From around the 1880s to the 1980s Indian children were forcibly removed from their homes and their tribes and placed in “educational institutions” or “boarding schools”. In these schools, the were forced to speak only English, practice only Christianity, and wear only “white” clothes. They were brutally punished for speaking their own languages. [...]

George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss *updated*

I read the first half of this last week. This week, I have to try to finish it so I can write a literary analysis of it. I’m finding it tedious to read. A lot of the descriptions seem unnecessary and just downright over the top. So far, I’m enjoying the [...]

Mooring Against the Tide by Jeff Knorr and Tim Schell

I’m taking a creative writing course this semester, and the required text for the course is actually turning out to be quite helpful. It is written in plain language that is easy to understand. The book is broken into two parts, one for poetry and one for fiction. Each chapter so far [...]

Contemporary Native American Political Issues by Troy Johnson

This semester, I’m taking a course called Contemporary Issues in Native American Culture.  There were two textbooks  required for this course, the one listed here, and Contemporary Native American Cultural Issues by Duane Champagne.  We haven’t yet delved into the Cultural Issues book yet, but we have read the first essay in the compilation by [...]

Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility *updated*

Since I’m working on my Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts, a lot of what I’m currently reading has to do with courses I’m taking.
Currently I’m reading Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.  I must say, this book puts me to sleep.  I can’t read very much of it at a time.  I’ve never been a fan [...]