A little background on my formal education:
I went to a small, private, Christian school all the way through high school. To give you perspective, I graduated with 28 people (and this was considered a big class). After 8th grade, my parents gave me the option of transferring to the much larger public high school (where my brother attended), but I opted to remain a bigger fish in a smaller pond. It seems to suit me.
That said, my small pond was lacking in the English department, at least until the school hired a fabulous AP English teacher my junior year. English seemed to be one of those subjects that anyone could fill in and teach, at least it felt that way as we ran through a plethora of fill-in teachers. The only novel with any heft I can recall reading was The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien.
My high-school experience left me with a loooong list of books I woulda, coulda, shoulda read.
And so, we come to month 10 of Mama’s 2018 Reading Challenge: A book I should’ve read in high school.
I discussed this over with the Husband. Since it’s October, I wanted to read something a bit spooky. (If you also have this hankering, I highly recommend The House in Poplar Wood by K.E. Ormsbee. *Name Drop* I went to college with her, and, wow, I wish I had her literary brain. For. Real.)
My husband immediately suggested I read Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. I accepted the challenge.

I wrote my 22-page college English thesis on Shelley’s mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, and her debate with John Locke (I literally had to Google to remember this much of what I learned, so don’t ask for details!).
Considering it’s halfway through October (how?!), I will let you know I started listening to Frankenstein on CD a week or so ago. Surprisingly (or not surprisingly), everything I’ve ever heard about Frankenstein’s monster has been monstrously misconstrued.
I’ll share more when I finish!
What are books you should’ve read in high school? Any you’d like to pick up?
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