Luckily for me, the bulk of the reading is not difficult, but pretty easy. Ten of the novels are for a class on literature for adolescents, which is a requirement for my pre-education-focused degree. The idea, I think, is that I'm going to be using these books in my classroom in a few years, so I have to know them well. The books on that syllabus are: The Perks of being a Wallflower, Speak, Looking for Alaska, Eleanor and Park, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Where Things Come Back, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Graceling, Maus, and Brown Girl Dreaming.

I'm also taking a special topics course centered on empire, ethnicity, and sexuality in U.S. ethnic lit. These reads are tougher: The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, So Far From God by Ana Castillo, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn, The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, A Gesture of Life by Chang-rae Lee, Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir by Deborah Miranda, and good ol' Beloved by Toni Morrison (I've already read this one twice).

I've finished my minor in German, but I am also minoring in professional writing, and am taking a course on how to teach writing. The reading (mostly articles taken from journals) is heavy and pretty dense, and also includes The Bedford Writing Guide for Tutors.

Phew, that was an italicizing frenzy! The main problem is that, especially for an English major, I'm a slow reader! I'm not terribly worried; I am confident that I can manage the workload, but it sure is making my eyes tired.