Sunday Salon: The House of Seven Gables

I tried reading this book when I was in high school, but I had trouble wading through the sentences. Hawthorne's language, though not complex or challenging to me now, seemed nearly impenetrable at points when I was 16. I loved The Scarlett Letter, which we read in Jr. English class, but that was a group read and discuss sort of thing, so it got me over the language hump.

I'm on a gothic/grim/slightly scary literature bend right now. No doubt it has something to do with the cold weather and the proximity of Halloween. I've never been that into scary literature before, but this year it's just the right choice. I finished Erika Mailman's The Witch's Trinity after reading a review on BookBrowse, and then launched into The Hound of the Baskerville. (Don't you think Baskerville would be great name for a beagle?)

So. I finished those two and Seven Gables started staring me down from my bookshelf. Because I have a huge weakness for forward, pushy books, I grabbed it and dove right in. I love Hawthorne. I don't know if he is much read outside of the high school English classroom these days, but he should be.

In other news, Hound brought me up to 50 books this year, and I have 25 more to read before I reach my goal of 75. Must get reading. I think when I finish Seven Gables, I might give Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde a whirl.