The Books That Make Us

"What are the five books that make up your personality?"

This was a question I had never pondered. I read all the time, but there is a difference between reading a book, loving a book, and have a book make up a part of who you are. Although Wuthering Heights is one of my favorite books, I don't look at it and think, "That right there? That's me." And there are other books that I aspire to be, like Mao's Last Dancer or Living My Life. But when prodded to name five books that I would recommend to someone seeking to understand the basics of Rebecca, these are the five that I came up with.

(Listed in alphabetical order)

1. The Clockwork Universe by Edward Dolnick

This one's for my logical side; the side of me that wants to understand everything. As a fangirl of both history and math, this book made me so excited about the world. Plus, Edward Dolnick has a great writing style that is casual while informative, and I've enjoyed all his books that I've read.


2. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E Lockhart

My all-time favorite YA novel. I don't like most YA novels. But this one is fantastic. I recommend it to everybody. (Technically that's every book on this list, but this one is especially readable.) It's funny, it's thoughtful, it talks about subverting the patriarchy. I'm Rebecca Waite and I support all these messages. I relate to Frankie in both her struggles and her self-discovery.



3. The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

Because Harry Potter is my life and I can't choose one. The characters, the magic, the everything. My mom once told me that I see the world through Harry Potter tinted glasses, and she's not wrong. These books defined my childhood and continue to be perfect. I'm in a constant state of rereading this series.



4. .Packaging Girlhood by Lyn Mikel Brown and Sharon Lamb


This is the book that really turned me into a raging feminist. This affected the way I look at media, marketing, and the mothering of my future children. If you're not angry, you're not paying attention.


5. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself by Alan Alda

I've always loved Alan Alda, and both of his books are great. But this one especially has affected me. I read it as a nineteen year old who was between colleges and unsure what she was going to do with her life. (Possibly nothing has changed)
"The meaning of life is life." That resonated with me. And it helped put into words why I so love performing. I read this one about every year and it's always good.

A Blog For Friday

Isn't it funny how you blink and a month is gone? It's like that saying, "The days are long but the years fly." I don't know what happened to April. (In the interest of full disclosure I recently wrote October when starting a journal entry, so a missing April is just the tip of the iceberg.) Between the fact that I'm taking a brief break from theatre and having a boyfriend who doesn't get off work until late in the evening, I have spare hours that I'm not used to having.

"What does Rebecca do with this free time?" you may be asking. Watching random independent films on Netflix, mostly. I have watched films about old men that teach robots to rob banks, a child obsessed with death who accidentally becomes a YouTube sensation, and authors who are simply too happy to write. Oh, independent films. I also rewatched High School Musical for the first time in probably five years. That film is bad. Horrible. And I love it. The production quality of Disney Channel original movies never fails to disappoint.

I'm also working my way through an Andrew Jackson biography. I've spent the last few years being very much Not a Fan of Mr Jackson. In fact, he was up there with Alexander Hamilton when it came to early American history people that I really can't stand. (I already know I'm a nerd, you don't have to tell me.) But it turns out that this author is skilled at creating a balanced portrait of an imperfect, but not completely evil, person. I was a little bit mad about this. I wanted my suspicions to be confirmed with facts. And some of them were, but I just can't summon up the same level of rancor as before.

I also finished a bizarre book by JD Salinger called Franny and Zooey. I'm sure it's all deep and symbolic and whatnot, but I just didn't get it. Mysticism and suicide and dysfunctional families, oh my! Mostly I read it because I felt I read something by Salinger but didn't have any desire to read Catcher in the Rye.

I'll be moving at the end of June, which is going to be a huge change. I've lived with the same two girls for the last three years, and I've grown accustomed to their habits. It looks like I'll be moving further south, which I never thought I'd do. The things we do for love. Ahh. Stress. I don't super want to think about that right now.....but if anybody knows of cheap month-to-month housing in the Orem/Provo area, hit me up.

It's been five years since I performed Into the Woods. That just hit me. Also, I've randomly become obsessed with Passenger and Fall Out Boy, two bands which are very, very different. Life is funny.