Just Kidding!

Just kidding, everyone! I AM in fact making a little progress on Oliver Twist despite the insane amount of work I have due this week. Basically, it is a far more appealing choice than any of the reading for class that I have to do, as sad as that is. I am now 50 pages in instead of 28 or wherever I was before, and already Oliver has met the Artful Dodger (who has an actual real name that I've already forgotten, but nonetheless, I was shocked!) and Fagin and seen the dirty room where they all live. Fagin has not yet taught them how to pick a pocket (or two) but I'm sure that's coming up soon. I'm surprised how quickly the story picked up after Oliver got out of the funeral parlor. Hopefully the 20 pages I just read are not the most exciting part of the whole book. We'll have to see, I guess.

On a different topic, I tried to look for a copy of A Christmas Carol that I liked today and I couldn't find one :( Either they are paperback and super small, or paperback with a strange picture on the front, or hardcover and containing a bunch of other stories that I'm not interested in, or itty bitty hardcover for an absurd amount of money for a story that is less than 100 pages long. Half the price of Gone With The Wind, which is over 1000. What's up with that? So, I'm debating and trying to figure out which one I dislike least. Oh well...

So that's it for now! Hopefully I'll get a little farther in Oliver later

Hiatus #3

We are on hiatus once again...surprise surprise...and this time once again for grad school getting in the way of my good time. This time I have to type things that are already in books and assemble them into a binder. Oh, joy. Hopefully all this pointless work gets done asap so that I can get back to reading as well as the holiday season and be able to read A Christmas Carol in December instead of January. We can only hope...

(The hiatus would probably be much improved if Oliver Twist was at a good part, which it is not...in fact, it's at the same part as it was 2 weeks ago)

Until we meet again...

Oliver Twist

Let me start off by saying that the only things I can think about right now are quilts, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1 movie, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. However, I have been keeping true to this project and am attempting to read Oliver Twist, however dull it may be.

I chose to go with Oliver Twist next because I want to read A Christmas Carol in December to prepare for Christmas. However, I wanted to get into a Dickens mood first, so I picked a story with which I was familiar, mostly from the Broadway version "Oliver!" which is a little different so far but not much. So far we have seen Oliver born and growing up in a workhouse, asking the obvious "Please Sir, I want some more," and then getting shipped off to the funeral parlor. That's as far as I've gotten what with so many other things going on. I'm determined to get through this one and then A Christmas Carol, which I'm pretty sure I've read at least parts of before back in seventh grade...like I was able to figure out what it was saying then, HA! (Why is it English teachers always pick books that kids don't really care about and can hardly decipher anyway? says the future English teacher).

With all the homework and Thanksgiving preparations I have ahead of me in the next two weeks, I am not sure at what pace I'll be reading Oliver Twist, but I hope to make at least some progress on it. I'm currently on page 29 out of 419, so I have not even made a dent yet. I plan to get to at least 100 before I write again and make any judgments on the book. Still trying to keep an open mind...trying being the key word. Ah well. Maybe something a little more substantial and interesting next time.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I am now 66% into the last of the Harry Potter books, a mere 260 pages from the end of this extraordinarily long and complicated series. It has been extremely exciting so far, and I can't wait to finish the book, possibly tonight or tomorrow if all goes well. Harry, Ron, and Hermione have found and destroyed the locket and are trying to locate other horcruxes. They have also heard from Luna's father about the deathly hallows and have tried to figure out if it is a true story or merely a fairy tale. Additionally, they have broken into the ministry and been taken to the Malfoys' house, but are not at Bill and Fleur's cottage on the sea. So far Hedwig, Mad-eye, and Dobby (*tear*) have died. Depressing, but very involved. Their most recent plan is to break into the Lestrange's vault at Gringotts. Should be interesting...

Not many more pages to go, but still a lot of story to get through. I'm 94% done with the series at this point. This is going to be quite the accomplishment once I finish. On the other hand, there are still 78 books on the list left for me to read, including more intense and lengthy series like this one. Bring it on!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I'm now about 25% into Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, book #6. This one is going much quicker than the last one. For some reason this one seems to be more popular with Harry Potter fans.

Overall I'm getting a little Harry Potter-ed out. However, I need to make it through the seventh book before the movie comes out. Book 6, though, should go quickly since it's more exciting and thought provoking than the previous ones. Also, with the end in sight and being more than halfway done, the motivation is there. As long as I continue plugging along, all should go well.