ABUNDANCE
Book Club.
So, I am starting my own personal book club just cause I have a bunch of books on my book shelf that need to be read, and that I also want to read. And I also want to actually start using my kindle, but I need to read my actual books first! Ha!
So basically, this is my effort to motivate myself to read those books so I can start reading new books on ze kindle.
And the first book on this list is Abundance, A Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sean Jeter Naslund. I found this book in the sale bin at one of the bookstores I frequent, and it was a whopping six bucks. I was like - How can I pass this up? Answer - I obviously didn’t.
A little background history - I would consider Marie Antoinette and the history around her reign one of my obsessions. You know those obsessions people have about topics that they really enjoy reading about, watching documentaries, writing, etc.? Well, this is my topic. So much so that I minored in Art History as an undergrad, and wrote my honors thesis comparing the Versailles garden designs during King Louis XIV’s (The Sun King) reign and Marie Antoinette’s time, and how effective they were as being part of the monarchy. It was a 30 page paper I wrote in three days. And it was actually pretty good. But I had already done a lot of reading about her and the history prior to writing my thesis just cause that is something I am interested in. I have also been to Versailles twice, and I plan at least going back two to three more times in my life. Lastly, my bow tattoo on my back is not only my first tattoo, but it was inspired by Marie Antoinette’s fashion during her lifetime. This is a topic I basically educate myself about when I am not studying medicine.
When I found this book (though it is fictional) I knew I had to read it! I basically want to read every book that is about Marie Antoinette’s life. So far, this book is good, and an enjoyable read at the end of a long work / study day.
Ideally, I would read every night before bed, but since I am in a long-distance relationship, my time before sleep is usually on the phone with John to see how his day went and inform him about how much studying I got done that day. We also are currently watching The Great British Baking Show together on FaceTime, so I tend to relax those ways. But weekends are fair game for an hour of fun reading, when I make it happen. This column will hopefully inspire me to make time for-fun-reads, and this is what I am starting with! Hopefully, I can read six books this year. I know that is not a lot, but again, I don’t make much time anymore for my own personal reading. And this goal is more obtainable that twelve books.
If you are interested, join in the reading, and when I am done with this book, I will announce my next read!
Also - if you are more into movies, I recently watched A Little Chaos on HBO, and it was amazing. Not about Marie Antoinette, however, it is a fictional love story about one of the first gardeners at Versailles. I might actually rewatch this tonight!
