Here's what happened with Oliver Twist. I got it out of the library, I was making zip-o progress on it, and after 3 renewals (aka 9 weeks) of hardly reading it, I was not allowed to renew again and so I returned it. This is unfortunate. This is book #2 (second to Lord of the Rings) that I've stopped midway through. I do plan to finish the book at some point.
On the plus side, I did read A Christmas Carol. I have been looking for a nice copy of the book, preferably hard cover with some illustrations, but Amazon, Borders, AND Barnes and Noble left me disappointed. What I found were tiny books with tiny words, paperbacks with meaningless pictures on the front, or hardcover volumes containing about 10 stores several hundred pages long, and A Christmas Carol only took up about 100. So, I had given up hope. Then, while Christmas Shopping in Hallmark, I came across one of the most beautiful copies of any book I've ever seen. It was in the middle of the Dept 56 Christmas Dickens Village things. It's hardcover and has beautiful color illustrations by P.J. Lynch and is unabridged. It was a little pricey and more than I would normally pay for a book, especially of that size, but it was so nice that I couldn't resist.
So, I read it in about a day. It's December 21st and what is more Christmas-y than Dickens' classic story. I'm sure everyone knows it, so I won't summarize. Having read an abridged version out of an anthology in seventh grade (and being forced to read it and not understanding a thing) I didn't feel like I had a complete grasp on the written version. It was really a good story and not entirely as dry or drawn out as Oliver Twist was. So, that's another one off my list!
I'm hoping to be able to finish another book by the new year. (Something tells me I'll be getting some books for Christmas this year!). Which one it is is yet to be determined. Maybe I'll be able to plug away at Lord of the Rings again. Other choices include Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, The Secret Garden, or whatever appears under the tree Christmas morning!
Merry Christmas!
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