DIY MFA: Building a Reading List

Over at Iggi and Gabi and the fabulous DIY MFA series, Gabi talks about building a reading list. You may be thinking, Najela, you already have such a big reading list already, why do you need another one? Gabi has broke the reading lists into four categories: Competitive, Informative, Contemporary, and Classics. For me, I want to focus on and that's Sex, Drugs, and Steampunk. I have to compile my reading list so that I can learn the conventions of the genre and then flip it on it's head. I'll worry about my other story project later.

My competitive list (compiled from Goodreads):

1. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
2. Parasol Protectorate Series by Gail Carriger
3. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
4. The Steamwork Trilogy by Paul Di Filippo
5. The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Informative: The theme of Sex, Drugs, and Steampunk is a strange mix of romantic comedy, road trip story, sex(obviously), and drugs(lol, obviously)

1. The Luxe by Anna Godbersen (history)
2. The Pink Palace by Marlon McCaulsky (street lit)
3. The Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx (drugs)
4. Samurai Champloo (road trip; inspired SDS)
5. Cowboy Bebop (inspired SDS)

Contemporary: 

Nearly every book I'm reading for class is contemporary (it's a survey in contemporary fiction) so I have no choice but to read these books. I wouldn't naturally choose these books, but I'm glad our teacher is forcing us to read them. This is the list.

Diary of a Bad Year by J.M. Coetzee

The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald

The Counterlife by Philip Roth

Netherland by Joseph O’Neill

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer (pubs on Nov 1, so pre-order now to ensure earliest delivery

Classics: I'm going more with authors more than I am with specific books. Especially books from the Victorian Era which is what steampunk is based in. (though mine is more in 1918 but that's okay)
Jane Austen (technically before Victorian era, but I've never read any of her books)
Oscar Wilde
H.G. Wells
Bronte Sisters.




(If you aren't following  Iggi & Gabi and the DIY MFA blog posts, I don't know what's stopping you. Go do it now and learn how to be a better writer. I know this post is beyond late, but it takes a long time to build a good reading list. Now if I can figure out a way to make time to read these.)