Progress

I am now more than halfway through my summer reading challenge. The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring are behind me and I have only to finish The Two Towers and The Return of the King. I didn't know exactly how much concentration and effort it was going to take for me to read these books. Though the writing itself is easy to read and understand, there is something about these stories that demands your full attention. They have really been giving my brain a workout.

Since I will soon be approaching the end of my challenge, I have been thinking about what books I should read next. I think that I have come up with a list that will hopefully take me through the end of the year.

• Emma by Jane Austen. This is the last of the Austen novels for me. It is said to be her best work and is a favorite with many, but I'm a little skeptical. We'll see how it stacks up to Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion.
• A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor. I have been meaning to get around to this author for a little while now, but have always gotten distracted. I have been reading some reviews on her works and something tells me that they will be very different from what I normally read.
• The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. I've already read Charlotte and Emily, so I might as well read the other Bronte sister. If it's anything like Jane Eyre it will be good.
• Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. I have heard about this book off and on for the past year or so and am finally getting around to it. According to Wikipedia it "details the spiritual lives behind the facades of an aristocratic family and their friend...". Should be very interesting.
• North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. Masterpiece's Cranford piqued my interest in the works of this author who is supposed to be a mixture of Austen, Dickens and Bronte, so I decided to start with one of her most popular novels. By the way, this is about the differences between Northern Victorian England and Southern Victorian England, not the American Civil War.

Throughout the fall I will also be listening to the Classics of British Literature course from The Teaching Company. It will explore many British works from Beowulf to Scott to contemporary works and focuses mainly on how Britain's social landscape created these great works, and also how these works changed Britain's social landscape forever.

Anyway, that is how the rest of my year seems to be shaping up. Feel free to offer suggestions as to any works that I should add to my list. Also, if you have read any of the above works, I would appreciate any and all reviews of them.