Love + Literature

Hello, Friend!

I feel as though we haven’t been properly introduced, I’m Jena Hintze. I reside in Oklahoma with my husband, Trager. He’s the handsome one in the photo. We met in 2011 while attending school in Virginia, he played baseball and I was in the choir. We were married in March 2012 in the St. George, UT LDS temple. We enjoy reading, trying new recipes, watching movies, and spending time with our awesome family. I feel pretty lucky to have him because our love story just gets better with each day that passes.

This blog was born out of a need for a creative outlet. My degree is in English and while I was studying I had constant opportunities to read and discuss great pieces of literature. I was the girl in class who had two or three ideas of what the green door could symbolize or which character in the story reminded me the most of Achilles in The Illiad. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t always right, but I loved this type of interaction with literature! Since I’ve been out of school, I’ve found that I needed this study of literature in my life. It was at this point that the idea of the blog began. I’ve always been an avid blog reader and often considered a blog of my own, but I’m just “Type A” enough that I knew I would need a theme to keep me consistent with my writing.   

This is where “the list” became a part of the plan. I’ve tried more than once to read one of the many “100 Books to Read” lists out there, but I always gave up when I got to a book I didn’t like or life got busy, as it often does. So this time I’ve combatted both of these issues. The list I’ve compiled will be called “100 Pieces of Literature to Read before You Die…..as picked by Jena Hintze.” Yes, I went there. I looked at several lists and took what I thought would cover a broad spectrum of what has been written. But, I didn’t stop there! I say “pieces of literature” because I will be including books, short stories, plays, and poems because you just can’t say you’ve covered it all without Shakespeare (plays) and Whitman (poems). So each week I will read something from “the list” and write about what I thought. It’s as simple as that. 

To avoid breaking down when things get difficult, and by difficult I mean The Count of Monte Cristo in one week difficult, I’ve put this goal of mine on the internet. And one simply cannot fail when so many people could know you failed, right?? Or is that just me? I think it is sound logic.

So that’s me and that’s Love + Literature. I don’t claim to be an expert on literature…actually I very much so do not claim to be one! But, I love literature and I love what it can bring to your life. I think J.K. Rowling said it best…

“I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book.”

-J.K. Rowling

And I couldn’t agree more. 

I hope this blog finds you happy and well! 

Thank you for reading,

Jena