Kristen McQuillin

5 books read for LibriVox

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A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Mary Wollstonecraft non-fiction
You get a fierce, clear-minded argument that women are made dependent by bad education, not born foolish, with Wollstonecraft taking aim at fashionable “sensibility,” empty marriage, and the polite training of girls. The prose can feel dense, but her impatience and common sense still make the book feel startlingly alive.
Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Psmith in the City P. G. Wodehouse
If you've ever hated an office job, watching Psmith serenely dismantle bank life (calling everyone Comrade, politely stalking his pompous manager Bickersdyke to his own club) is deeply satisfying. Early Wodehouse, so gentler than Jeeves, with a surprising amount of cricket, but the same silliness.
Richard II William Shakespeare
Richard is unbearable while he's winning and mesmerizing once he starts to lose, talking himself into and out of kingship in some of the most musical verse Shakespeare wrote. It's all poetry and no sword fights, so come for the language or not at all.
The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde
You can read it in an afternoon and laugh out loud the whole way; Algernon inventing a sickly friend named Bunbury to dodge dinner parties, Lady Bracknell interrogating a suitor about his handbag. Nothing serious happens, which is exactly the point, and the wordplay still lands.

5 books read for LibriVox

filter sort genre era

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Mary Wollstonecraft non-fiction
You get a fierce, clear-minded argument that women are made dependent by bad education, not born foolish, with Wollstonecraft taking aim at fashionable “sensibility,” empty marriage, and the polite training of girls. The prose can feel dense, but her impatience and common sense still make the book feel startlingly alive.
Frankenstein; or, the modern prometheus Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Psmith in the City P. G. Wodehouse
If you've ever hated an office job, watching Psmith serenely dismantle bank life (calling everyone Comrade, politely stalking his pompous manager Bickersdyke to his own club) is deeply satisfying. Early Wodehouse, so gentler than Jeeves, with a surprising amount of cricket, but the same silliness.
Richard II William Shakespeare
Richard is unbearable while he's winning and mesmerizing once he starts to lose, talking himself into and out of kingship in some of the most musical verse Shakespeare wrote. It's all poetry and no sword fights, so come for the language or not at all.
The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde
You can read it in an afternoon and laugh out loud the whole way; Algernon inventing a sickly friend named Bunbury to dodge dinner parties, Lady Bracknell interrogating a suitor about his handbag. Nothing serious happens, which is exactly the point, and the wordplay still lands.