Preparing to Go

Location: Charlotte, Vermont

Weather: 80*, Gorgeous, Sunny

Today marks the start of the two week countdown to my departure.  I haven't started packing yet(although I probably should), but I have begun all of the quintessential "I'm going away for the year" type activities- doctor's appointments, emails to college advisors, finally getting around to responding to the 30 or so backlogged facebook messages, and all of the other little things that have been sitting on my to do list for the past few months.  I'm starting to realize just how much I need to do before I leave, and as the list grows, I find myself rather unmotivated to actually start crossing tasks off.  Instead, I picked up a few new england-themed books to put me in an Anglophilic mindset, and have spent the last few days on the couch, immersed in long-past fictional worlds.

The first book I'm reading is the sequel to one of my favorite books, Ken Follet's British Historical Fiction Epic, Pillars of the Earth.  Pillars of the Earth, set 12th century England, follows the building of a cathedral in Kingsbridge, England, and the hundreds of people whose lives are effected.  World Without End picks up 200 years after the cathedral was finished, telling the story of Kingsbridge and its inhabitance before, during, and in the aftermath of the plague.  Its 1024 pages promises days and days of well-researched murder, lust, greed, ambition, and revenge, the essential components that make a truly great historical thriller while also teaching me about british history. A third book is out, as Nathan Schuur showed me at Nicola's books the other day.  It is called Fall of Giants. Nathan Schuur also wanted me to read Indignation, this new Philip Roth book.

The second book is significantly fluffier. Temptation of the Night Jasmine, the 5th installment of Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series, spins a web of romance and espionage in Georgian England (early 1800's).  Though full of enough "heaving bosoms" to be firmly placed in the category known as chicklit, it is written by a Harvard PhD in English History, and it is based somewhat on the actual history of the era (which helps justify its place on my "list of books I am reading to learn about England").  Moreover, after hours of descriptions of Georgian London, stately country homes, and sophisticated British aristocrats, I'm even more excited to see the real England than ever.  (Even though I know that the real 2000's England isn't anything like the 1800's England in the book)

And Finally, to fully understand why I am not British, I am reading the biography of John Adams, which traces Adams' life from his childhood (as a british citizen) through the American Revolution (and our break from Britain), his diplomatic posts (in Paris , and finally, his presidency.  Adams was one of the most vocal advocates for independence, and was part of the committee that was responsible for drafting the Declaration of Independence (although Jefferson actually wrote it).  Adams was the chair of the War committee that planned and orchestrated the Revolutionary war, and then was the lead negotiator of the peace treaty that ended the war.  He was also the first ambassador to Great Britain, serving from 1785-1788.