Jenny's Library Books Mid-September Edition

I can't believe it is the middle of September already!  I lost almost an entire week with the plague that is still going around my university, and I could hardly read, just sat around watching trashy tv and sleeping. 

This past month, a lot of my library books are required reading for a course I am auditing - Creative Non Fiction. It is taught by the talented Joni Tevis, author of The Wet Collection: A Field Guide to Iridescence and Memory.  I attended a reading from last year's Creative Non Fiction class, and was so impressed by the work the students did that I begged my way in this time around.  My goal is to get better at writing non-fiction, particularly figuring out how to decide on details and writing better endings.  I am enjoying it so far, and it has been helpful to see a class from the student perspective, at my university where we expect so much.

The books for Creative Non Fiction include (I left one in my office that I'll cover next time):
The Elements of Style (illustrated!) by Strunk, White, and Kelman
Swallow the Ocean by Laura M. Flynn
The Next American Essay
Tell It Slant: Writing and Shaping Creative Nonfiction

The other two books on the pile are both for communal reading purposes - The Lady in Gold is for my in-person book club next Monday (I need to get reading!) and Blue Plate Special is from an author who I will see at a reading in the spring.  I don't really need to read books by her yet but after almost buying this same book at a bookstore, I couldn't resist when it ended up on the New Books shelf.

Blue Plate Special: An Autobiography of My Appetites by Kate Christensen
The Lady in Gold by Anne-Marie O'Connor