Bridget Jones's Diary: Check!

A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!! I finished another book!!

So not only was this book hilarious and so so entertaining (to the point that I rarely checked to see what percent of the book I had finished), it was also the PERFECT book to read just before new years.

Bridget's diary covers a full year of her life. It starts with a list of new years resolutions, most of which fall by the wayside even though she tries to keep track of them. It then chronicles her life with her friends, parents, work, and love interests. And by the end of the year her life is not the perfect life she imagined but she did accomplish some of the things on her list of resolutions.

I think the thing about this book is that it brings out how hard it is to change yourself. Bridget struggles with her weight (although it would have been more realistic if she weighed closer to 150 than 125), her alcohol consumption, smoking, and her constant checking of England's version of Caller ID. She is insecure and hopes that overnight she will be able to quit smoking and drinking and suddenly be a size 0. She tries to quit smoking a few times throughout the book but still smokes by the end. Similarly she drinks and weighs 2 more pounds in December than she did in January. But her personality and the ability to see so many people in her is what makes her such a likable character.

I didn't really realize, although I have seen the movie many a time, that this book would be such a perfect read around New Years time. (I also failed to realize that the movie was based on a book, which is embarrassing). I am a huge fan of holidays in general, but I don't tend to enjoy New Years very much. I think people like that it's a new beginning (which leads to overcrowding of gyms for about a month) and a fresh start--the perfect time to rid themselves of bad habits, just like Bridget. For me it's TOO much pressure to change, and I start having new years like moments randomly throughout the year, suddenly deciding in July that I'm going to run a marathon some day and also learn to cook (which ironically doesn't seem terribly compatible, although this is a real life example). With each passing year I feel like I am in the same spot I was in the year before and before and before, and this year I feel no different. Another year has passed and I am still unemployed with several degrees, living at home, and single. I have no prospects on any of those fronts, and I desperately hope at this time every year, that the new year brings good things. And while I don't find myself with a dream job, a house, and an engagement ring, I do find redeeming qualities of this year, just as Bridget found that after a year she had at least solved one of her dilemmas. I haven't really solved mine in as black and white terms as Bridget did, but I think on each of the fronts I am closer to what I want eventually. And like Bridget, I need to be patient and look back after some time has passed, although it is OK to get frustrated on the way. Overall, if I can get even a little closer to my goals in 2012, I'll be content.

I read this book in 2 days. I got it from the library thinking it would be an easy read, but I didn't realize it would go so quickly (same with The Secret Garden). This brings this year's total up to 10:
* Jane Eyre
* Catcher in the Rye
* The Lovely Bones
* The Wind in the Willows
* The Little Prince
* The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
* 1984
* Little Women
* The Secret Garden
* Bridget Jones's Diary

So, while I missed my original goal of 12, I did read one more book than last year, which I am going to count as "winning" (although I did read more than 12 books this year--Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Water for Elephants, The Two Towers, The Horse and His Boy--some just weren't on the list or didn't count as one book because it's part of a series). I still have books that I haven't read yet and they're the same ones I've been listing for a year or so. My goal is to read the ones I have waiting before taking any more out of the library or purchasing any more online. Ones not on the list that I want to read include:
* The Girl Who Played With Fire
* The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest
* Treasure Island
* Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
* Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
* Beatrice and Virgil (a new book by Yann Martel)

Looking back, it's interesting that over half of my 2011 books are intended for children or young adults. Not sure where I'm going with that, but just thought it was interesting.

I think to deal with my current romantic situation, I will be trying to read more books with romantic themes. Bridget Jones was a good introduction to that. At some point this year I'm going to bite the bullet and read Pride and Prejudice. I'll be trying to find others in a similar vein (although not all Austen...ick! Not all at once, anyway). When I get annoyed with that, as I no doubt will, I'll resume with the ends of series that I've started and other non-romantic publications to get back on track.

My goal for 2012 is going to be 12 books (aka numbers to cross off the list) again, to allow for books that are long. Even though I will most likely have more free time, I don't want to be choosing books based on pages in order to meet a yearly goal. Who knows if this blog will even be still going in a year. Anyway...

Cheers and Happy 2012 to you!

The Secret Garden: Check!

In the last 24 hours or so, I have started and finished reading The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I watched the movie semi-recently, so I had an idea of the plot before I started reading. However, I really enjoyed this book so much more than the movie.

I thought it was interesting how both the garden and Mary started out figuratively and literally ugly, for lack of a better turn, and how they worked together to grow from each other and both began to flourish. I also enjoyed how Mary and the garden helped to heal Colin, who was not a cripple at all but instead a bratty little nincompoop who wanted everything his way. I am glad that it had a happy ending though. (I really wanted an epilogue where Mary and Dickon got together, though. Too bad they weren't a little older).

This book has made me want to read A Little Princess as well. I watched that movie a few weeks ago and it reminded me of The Secret Garden because both girls had moved from India to England. I discovered that both books were written by the same author, but that the author herself had never been to India, which is what I would have expected based on the beginning of those two books. I also would have never guessed that she spent her adult life in Tennessee of all places. Interesting.

So, that brings this year's total to 9. I'm wondering if I can squeak in another book, but chances are I won't. Ah, well...I tried. I really would like to finish Lord of the Rings, but I just don't have the patience for it. Maybe the new year will bring some renewed energy for that series. I really want to find out what happens to Frodo, I just can't deal with 100+ pages of whatever is going on with the others. If that one fails again, I'll try again with Midnight's Children, Middlemarch, Sherlock Holmes, or even venture out into some Pride and Prejudice to spice things up.

Little Women: Check!

I finished Little Women last night. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I definitely liked the beginning of the book better. I think it's because they were more carefree and less concerned with finding husbands. My favorite part was when Jo met Laurie in the curtains. I feel like everything worked out as it should have. Amy definitely got less annoying as the book went on. When she turned down Fred I could tell she no longer wanted to marry only for money. I thought this was an enjoyable book and one that could be read over and over. I got this one from the library but may look into purchasing it at some point.

Next up: probably Lord of the Rings or Midnight's Children. LOTR to finish the series and Midnight's Children because I started it and never finished. That will give me 9 books for the year!

I'll also be rereading A Christmas Carol in preparation for Christmas...except I'll be doing that when it gets cold. One can hope.

Little Women: 60%

For a while I was glued to this book! Then Meg got married and nothing interesting has happened since. Jo wrote a book and is behaving like an idiot. Amy is being annoyingly vain. Beth is so freaking frail. And the dad is back from the war, which is good, but no longer suspenseful. So...we shall see.

I really enjoyed part 1 of this book, but since getting to part 2, the "action" (if you can even call it that) has kind of died down, and the most that has happened is that Jo has insulted Aunt March (big surprise there!)

So...the reading continues. I can't wait to finish so I can watch the movie(s)!

Little Women: 30%

In spite of all the books I own and have started, I decided to go with Little Women. So far I'm 30% through it, and it's pretty enjoyable so far. Sometimes I feel like it gets a bit preachy, especially when the overly righteous mother starts teaching the girls morals, but other than that it's going well. So far not much has happened in the way of plot, but I'm sure it's setting up for things to come. Every chapter is a new story about things that happen to the 4 March girls, but not a continuation of anything except their friendship with Laurie. We'll see how that goes.

Beth bothers me a little though. She is so meek and bashful that it's almost annoying to read. She also keeps saying how stupid she is, which I don't readily accept either. Additionally, she is too good for a normal person that she doesn't seem like a believable character. Maybe I'll feel some sympathy at some point, but if not it won't be the first time I don't sympathize with the right characters.

Sad and Pathetic

So, here it is, November 8th, and I've only checked 7 books off the list. My goal for the year was 12, but at this point if I can get to 9 it'll be a miracle. I definitely read more books than 7, but many of them didn't count because they were not on the list or because they were part of a series that needs to be checked off all at once.

I spent a lot of time over the past few months NOT reading because of other things going on. Last night, though, I started experiencing a little withdrawal, so I began reading Middlemarch. This is the fifth book (at least) that I have begun and not yet finished. I have such good intentions too!

Middlemarch is about 800 pages. I'm hoping that one is good and goes quickly. I'm also at the beginning of The Return of the King (to check off #2), Midnight's Children, Sherlock Holmes, and Little Women. I also started Oliver Twist about a year ago and have yet to pick it back up. I also owe myself the third Harry Potter book. I think I have so many unread books on the shelf that it makes me overwhelmed at the thought of finishing all of them. Maybe if I get desperate I'll go on a Narnia spree and finish that number instead, even if it means reading 4 books instead of 1)

So, I'll hopefully be finishing at least one of those books this year. I'll probably also read A Christmas Carol several times before Christmas (even though that one's already checked off) on account of my super awesome illustrated book that I found last year at Hallmark. It's probably one of the nicest books I own.

So, here's to Middlemarch, or whatever other book I attempt to finish by the end of the year. Good luck to me!

Is it bad that I don't care about Merry/Pippin/Gandalf, etc.?

I have decided to finish up the LOTR series that has been bringing me down for over a year. I've read the first 5 pages so far. I know it takes a little bit to get into a book, but I think this one is different. The first half is all about the random characters that I don't really care about, and the second half is when Frodo throws the ring into the volcano. All I'm really interested in is the second half, but I can't just skip the story. I wish it was more integrated so I would keep reading in order to find out what happens to Frodo. I hope I can get through it before work and school pick up again.

Oh what a project this is turning out to be!

30%

I just wanted to update with the statement that I have officially read 30 books from the list, which is more than double what I started out with. Before setting out on this adventure, I had read 14, and then last year I read 9 and this year so far I've read 7, so hooray for being farther along than I thought I was!

(I have actually read more than 7 books this year, and to be even more clear, some of the numbers on the list are actually several books. I'm getting very close with Lord of the Rings, and making progress in the Chronicles of Narnia. So, 7 for this year and 9 for last year are actually numbers crossed off the list and not actual books. Ergo, reading The Two Towers and The Horse and his Boy don't count until the last of the series are finished....which is a little bit of a rip off but possibly that much more satisfying when it's done)

How long until I get to 40%? We shall see, we shall see....

1984: check!

Another one crossed off my list!

So this was definitely an interesting read, and as predicted, something happened right after I posted last. And it did involve the girl and the thought police.

The ending was not quite what I was expecting, but it worked nonetheless. I definitely have more respect for Orwell after reading this book, as opposed to the misery that is Animal Farm. It is interesting how he juxtaposes Winston and Julia. They believe the same thing and have similar ideologies, but are different ages. In other words, Winston can remember times that were different from the year 1984, while Julia has grown up as a child of the party, and puts up a good front in order to disguise her true feelings.

One of the more terrifying ideas in the book was that of doublethink and altering the past. At one point, Winston noted that if O'Brien believed he was floating and Winston also believed he was floating, regardless of whether he was floating or not, he was floating. The making up of lies and forcing others to believe them was definitely an interesting concept. Bush thought we were going into Iraq to get weapons of mass destruction, and if Americans believe that, then that's what we're doing, regardless of why the war started in the first place. Orwell definitely is a strange thinker...

Additionally, the passages and chapters about Winston changing facts, deleting references to people who had disappeared, switching papers back and forth between Eurasia and Eastasia to convince the public of the truth were mind boggling too. Essentially, Winston and others work to destroy the past and make it relevant only to the present. The fact that Winston was one of the only ones who could remember the past was interesting, but vague. It could be that others could remember the past but were so brainwashed that they accepted everything Big Brother said without question, or that Winston was legitimately one of the only ones who could remember. I think the former is more likely because Winston did talk to a prole who could remember things, so it's likely that the party has brainwashed memories out of people. While I am glad I do not live like Winston, I feel there are enough eerie coincidences or foresight by Orwell to be just a little off put.

I don't feel the need to analyze everything that happened in the second half of the book, but I will leave you with some quotes I enjoyed.

"'Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.'" (p. 34)

"Perhaps a lunatic was simply a minority of one." (p. 80)

"The best books, he perceived, are those that tell you what you know already." (p. 200)

I wasn't expecting to like that book, or even have it influence me as it did. Kudos to Orwell, I guess. Next up is most likely Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Knowing me, though, I may come back with something completely different and not even something on my shelf. We'll see about reading though...school starts again on Tuesday so my free time may vanish before my very eyes.

Mid 1984

I decided to read 1984 for a few reasons:
1. My friends recommended it. Most likely they read it in high school. High school book are generally dry and analyzed to death, and therefore widely read in sparknotes versions, so for several of them to recommend this one, it had to have been pretty good.
2. My aunt gave me 3 books for Christmas last year: The Lovely Bones, The Catcher In The Rye, and 1984. I figured I should have them all read before Christmas comes around again (IN LESS THAN 4 MONTHS!!!)
3. I owned the book and it was small enough to fit in my purse to take to work and read there in the case that the kids I watch wanted to play together and not fight.

Additionally, I borrowed the audiobook from the library and listen to that when I work out. I do like music when I work out, but I also use music when I study or write papers, so in general I am pretty good at tuning it out or having it for background noise, and that doesn't work as well on a treadmill. Audiobooks, on the other hand, require concentration, which means that I am concentrating on listening if I don't want to hear the same thing 10 times over. This consequently also means that I am not focusing on how far/fast I am running or how tired I am or how heavy my 2lb weights feel.

All that being said, I am 35% done with the book, and have just finished part 1. It is surprisingly interesting for being a) Orwell, b) negative utopia, c) a little slow moving.

a) The only other Orwell I have read is Animal Farm, twice, and I did not enjoy it either time. I had to read it as summer work before 9th grade, and I didn't understand it because we had never learned about Russia, and I didn't really get what this had to do with anything else. So, while I did not expect to like Orwell for all these reasons, I am actually enjoying this book.

b) Also in 9th grade, in our unit with Animal Farm, we had to read a short story called Harrison Bergeron by Vonnegut. From what I remember, it was about a society where people are pulled down to the lowest common denominator. If one person is in a wheelchair, everyone has to be. While there are significant holes in the story (that mainly show that Vonnegut did not account for all types of diversity) I feel that Vonnegut has a point even in today's society where sometimes this happens in schools. At the end of the story, Harrison Bergeron pulls out of the chains and can fly. Ninth grade me was utterly confused and having a "question mark question mark" what the hell moment. Probably if I read it today I could figure out the ending. Anyway, Harrison Bergeron is another example of a negative utopia where people are supposed to be equal and happy in theory, but this does not work in actuality. Yes, everyone supporting Big Brother would get rid of a lot or partisan politics and political tension (our current situation in Washington comes to mind) but it's not realistic by any means. Any while in 1984 so far there are the party supporters and the proles, in a real society there would be countless other groups putting in their two cents. Though negative utopias don't exactly mirror real society (just as regular utopias don't mirror real society) I think 1984 has enough merit, issues and negligible holes in reasoning to make it valid and readable.

c) I have probably said this before, but my favorite movie is It's A Wonderful Life. And true to the title, the movie goes through the life of George Bailey: his childhood, his adult life, his marriage, his job, etc. and it doesn't get to "the good part" (disclaimer: I think the entire thing is good) aka the part with meaty plot until the last hour or so. So, in general, the movie sets itself up for over an hour and then tells a story with what it's set up. The first half of the movie is vitally important, but you can't appreciate it until you have seen what happens in the second half. I am not positive, but I have a feeling this is kind of like 1984. Having just finished part 1, I feel it is mostly setup with just a hint of plot. I've enjoyed it because I like stories about people's everyday lives. It's A Wonderful Life and Gone With The Wind are about peoples' lives and I love those two the most so far. Even Anna Karenina has its mundane parts that give away so much about the characters and lifestyle.

However, there is a distinct difference between any of those and 1984. The other books and films I've mentioned only have to set up characterization, family structures, time period, cause and effect, etc. We as readers (or viewers) can take for granted the ways in which people interact; the rules, laws, and social norms; feelings and relationships; even the things these characters might have in their houses. 1984 has to set up all of that, as well as characterization and structure and time period and cause and effect. 1984 shows a completely different world than the other works I've mentioned, so it has to start from scratch. Therefore, while I do feel it is moving slowly, it is for good reason and no more slowly than the others.

Overall, I'm excited for the rest of the book. I am hoping things will pull together at the end, and maybe an event or another character will appear to get the ball rolling. Maybe it'll be the spy girl or the super creepy thought police.



As a side note, I thought the picture on the front cover (and the little one on the spine) was a flower (or an exploding sun/space object), but my friends have informed me that it is in fact an eye. The fact that an eye is looking at me from my bookshelf creeps me out a little, so I'm going to continue to pretend it's a flower.

Water for Elephants, or straying from the list

Once again I have strayed from the list, but to my defense, the book took less than 2 days to complete AND it was a vacation book (most of which I read at home). Water for Elephants was entertaining and definitely something different from what I have been reading as of late. Sometimes I think it's good to read something more current. I didn't really like the book until about halfway in, but once I got there it was hard to leave unfinished.


My next up was going to be another stray from the list, The Girl Who Played With Fire, but seeing as that is due back to the library and not renewable, I'll pick something from my reserves. Last night I was at a party where everyone was raving about 1984 (disclaimer: This was not a party related to books, this was a birthday party where someone mentioned they were reading 1984 and everyone listening said how wonderful it was) so I'll probably start with that. I am in the middle of Midnight's Children, but losing interest and making no progress so I'll leave it for a while and try 1984 as something different. (It's probably also easier to finish by the beginning of school once again....blech!)

The Horse And His Boy: Check!

Well...I finished the third book of the Narnia series. I generally don't really enjoy these books even though I probably should. However, this one was even worse, probably because the 4 kids were not in it really and basically nothing happened the whole time. Basically I have nothing to say about it except that it's getting me slightly closer to finishing the series (although I'm not even halfway yet). I guess I'll keep trying to plug along at this one even though it's really not my favorite.

I'm also working on Water For Elephants, which I was reading as a vacation book. It's pretty good. I'm about a third of the way through it. My favorite part of it so far is the real circus pictures from the 1930's or so. I'll finish that one next even though it's not on the list. Then I'll probably start The Girl Who Played With Fire before refocusing on the list...maybe trying some Sherlock Holmes or LOTR again.

I'm too cluttered to focus on reading right now, though. I'll come back to it eventually.

The Lion, The Wtich, and The Wardrobe: Check!

I just finished The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe today. I really only had about 30 pages to go, because I listened to most of it on audiobook in the fall and forgot to finish. It was less thrilling than the movie, but I did enjoy the book and the movie, and I was glad to have some of the movie's images in my head.

I don't pretend to be a biblical scholar, and I'm not, but I'm sure that this book is chalk full of biblical references that went right over my head. I know that Aslan is a symbol for Jesus, but only because I've heard it elsewhere...I would not have figured even that obvious piece out for myself. I enjoyed the book well enough, but surprisingly not as much as Lord of the Rings (gasp!).

Next up should be the rest of the series, but we'll see how far I get with that one. I've already read the first two chapters of the third book, The Horse and his Boy. My favorite teacher read us The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and then for some reason she bought me The Horse and His Boy to read in the summer. I tried and tried and I NEVER could finish it because I found it too dull. I think I expected Lucy, Edmond, Susan, and Peter to be in it, but they were not (or at least they are not in the beginning). But we'll see how this goes, hopefully quickly as it's a children's series.

The Little Prince: check!

This weekend I went on a road trip that took approximately 10 hours each way, and on the way back I listened to the 2 hour audiobook of The Little Prince to pass the time. What an interesting book! It was definitely shorter than I imagined, and I didn't know there would be the narrator as a character in it...I thought it would be a story of a prince from outer space who went random places and then returned home. I guess my impression of the story was not too far off.

There were a ton of great quotes in the book, but I'm a little upset that I did not mark them down because I was driving. I loved the humor in the book, and the idea of looking at things from a child's point of view. Fresh from teaching kindergarten, some of the things the little prince said made perfect sense to me.

Enjoyable. The storyline was a little bizarre, but it had a wonderful message of friendship and innocence and perspective. I thought it was a wonderful story.

Next up: Midnight's Children. I was reading it before I left and I'll be continuing. I'm only a couple of chapters in right now, but I'm enjoying it...it reminds me of the beginning of Life of Pi right now a little bit as they are both set in India. Hopefully it is excellent because it was highly recommended by the man at the bookstore.

Next up....

I finished Girl With The Dragon Tattoo this morning. It was excellent. I'm going to wait a while before jumping into the next one, though, because my head is still spinning a little bit. I have not been into crime novels in the past (mostly because they sounded creepy and thus did not give them a fair chance) but this one was very good. If you can get past some violent and sexual scenes, this book is for you! I read approximately 300 pages yesterday, which was basically all but the very end of the book.

I'm deciding what to do for my next book. I'll go back to reading from the list, but I'm not sure what to do. This choice changes daily, and I can't seem to make up my mind. Yesterday, I was leaning toward something short, which at the current time is either 1984 or The Secret Garden. Then I started thinking that Middlemarch should be my kickoff to summer book instead. However, I've been toying with the idea of Sherlock Holmes instead. While I have two volumes of Sherlock Holmes, I have found that the many of the stories are short and could easily be set aside. Also, maybe I'll keep with the mystery theme that I have going.

It's another rainy day...a good day for reading and avoiding other stuff I have to do.

A little more than halfway!

Holy Crap! That's all I have to say. I'm already more than halfway through and this book has kept me interested the whole way through.



Highly recommend!

Wow!

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo--Awesome so far!

I'm not really into crime novels, or books that are complicated, or super suspenseful. However, once in a while I get a book in my hands that I have a hard time putting down, that goes quickly, and I can find myself reading a hundred pages at a time without even noticing (The Da Vinci Code comes to mind). So, this one definitely is worth reading, and worth being slightly sidetracked for, as it's not on my original list. I'm only about 150ish pages in (644 pages total) but it's awesome so far.

I also love stories where there are two seemingly unrelated characters whose stories I know are meant to intertwine somehow. Anna Karenina has an example of this. The Two Towers did to an extent, except that there are books that start with two characters who then part, but the author tells us their stories simultaneously after their parting (i.e. The Lovely Bones, The Two Towers). However, I find the first kind more interesting because, apart from the two stories that the author begins telling, there is also the anticipation of how the characters are related enough to be in the same book.

For example, Anna and Levin are the protagonists in Anna Karenina, and they are protagonists of their own stories within the same book. The fact that Anna and Stiva are siblings and Levin is his friend is not enough. The book is titled Anna Karenina, so why even bring Stiva's friend into it at all? However, later in the book, Levin and Anna meet, giving way to an earth shattering comparrisson of the two characters, and an obvious look at each character's journey throughout the book. Anna started well-off and then began a downward spiral when she started her affair with Vronsky. Likewise, Levin started off in total despair when Kitty had turned him down, but eventually married her and began an incline. The meeting of Anna and Levin lets the reader put together the fact that Anna and Levin have stories that are mirror images of each other, which becomes more apparent as the story ends.

I'm anticipating the same to be true with Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. The fact that Lisbeth is investigating Blomkvist is not enough yet...these two must be connected in some way. After all, this book is titled after the female lead just as Anna Karenina is, but so far I have heard the most about Mikael's life on the island with Henrik. We will have to see what Lisbeth is up to soon. I also wonder what all of the facts about domestic violence against women in Sweden is about, seeing as the only thing of that nature to have happened so far is the speculation of murder of Harriet. With the attention this issue, as well as public acclaim for Salander's character, she must take on a larger role in the story as it continues.

Ok! Onward!

The Wind in the Willows: Check!

That brings the total for 2011 up to 4. Woo hoo!

Overall, I don't have that much to say about this book. I had high expectations because I used to like the Disney version. However, the book version left something to be desired. There were a lot of stories that didn't really tie into the main plot or theme, and the overarching story of Toad being reformed only showed up in a few chapters. I wish I had known that going in, but too late now. Not the best book I've read on this list by far (although probably not the worst either).

Next up: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo/The Secret Garden (probably...)

The Two Towers: Check!

After a day and a half of straight reading (thanks to some sort of illness I've no doubt picked up from school) I have finally finished The Two Towers! It ended on an interesting note, but unfortunately the next book starts with 140 pages of Pippin, Merry, and Gandalf, which means approximately another month until I get to read about Sam and Frodo again. While I liked the organization in the second book because it helped me keep the adventures of different characters straight, I wish it would be a little more interspersed in the third so that I wouldn't be so reluctant to start it.

Overall, though, I did enjoy thish book, and though I got a little lost in the battle scenes involving the Legolas/Gimli/Aragorn trio, I though the book was overall pretty enjoyable. Most of it made sense, probably because I watched the movie before starting to refresh my memory. I'll probably do that again be starting the third book.

My plan is to finish the series this summer, knocking #3 off my list for good! However, I'm not quite ready to commit to that just yet. My plan now is to finish The Wind in the Willows and then take a break from the list with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Upon finishing that, my choices are

*1984
*Midnight's Children
*Middlemarch
*The Secret Garden
*Sherlock Holmes
*War and Peace (although I'm trying to save that one for last!)

We'll see what happens when I get there, I guess, but ciao for now and I'll probably be back momentarily with a recap of Wind in the Willows.

Itching to read

Even though I'm still in the middle of The Two Towers, I have been itching to read some other books that are sitting on my shelf, untouched. A lot of them seem like springtime titles to me, so I decided to start one of them, hoping I could finish it quickly. That isn't working out to well. I am not in the middle of both The Two Towers AND The Wind in the Willows.
It's not that The Wind in the Willows isn't good; it's just that it's not what I expected. I was expecting something a little more like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride from Disneyland than a book that reads more like Winnie the Pooh. So far all we've seen Toad do is drive his carriage into a ditch and become obsessed with cars. The story is more about Mole at this point, as a new member of the riverside community.

The picture of toad hypnotized by a motercar was more what I was expecting. When I was little we had that movie and I used to watch it over and over. I guess five chapters into the book I would have expected to see toad a little more. But to be fair, we did just meet Badger.

I may do a little snooping to find out why Grahame wrote this book. For this book, I'm having a hard time believing he just decided to write a random book about some animals who live near a river. There are already several mentions of Badger hating society, and toad being obsessed with the latest greatest invention. Additionally, Mole is innocent and knows hardly anything about life on the river. There's something going on in that, I just don't know enough about the historical context of the book. I'll have to look into that a little bit.

I Love The Two Towers?

Seriously! I never thought I would, and actually judging by my enjoyment of the movies, I was preparing to like this one less than The Fellowship, but I am pleasantly surprised! I'm not sure if it's because I'm actually enjoying it, or if it's because I had such low expectations. I'm not sure which and honestly I don't really care.

So far I'm in the middle of chapter 4, in which Pippin and Merry are at the Ent's house, which I am picturing as a walking tree that took them into a cave, but I'm thinking that's not the whole story.

It's really too bad I have so much stinking work to do, because I would really just like to dedicate my time to this book. I'm thinking as spring approaches and things start to wind down for a month or two, I'll have enough time to really enjoy this one and the one that follows. Yay LOTR!! I'm so glad to be enjoying it finally, since everyone else in the world seems to love it. I'm also glad that the nice looking set of Tolkien books I bought was not a waste of money.

The Two Towers

Last night I started The Two Towers (finally)

So far I've read about 10 pages. What I was surprised by so far is the fact that the first half of the book is all about Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, and Pippin and what will happen to the five of them. The second half shows the journey of Frodo and Sam. I’m relieved at this because I was worried about keeping track of the events of 3 or more groups of characters at a time, but it looks like Tolkien has taken care of that worry for me. I was also worried about not remembering the events of the last book since I read it almost a year ago. However, I was surprised how quickly it came back to me. Even though I’ve been dreading this for a while, I’m excited to continue reading and find out what happens. Yay for finally being excited about LOTR (like a normal person, haha)!!

The Lovely Bones: CHECK!

I finished The Lovely Bones this morning. I thought it was pretty good: well written, interesting ideas, realistic (except for the bizzare happenings of the last 20 pages). I'm honestly a little surprised that so many people have read it. There were times where I thought the story was at a little bit of a stand still. At one point, I thought an elaborate plot was going to develop, especially when Lindsey sneaked into George Harvey's house and stole his drawing. Basically, I thought Lindsey and her dad would solve the mystery, but no such luck. Things just went on as usual.

Usually, I like books that go on and on without a whole lot of action or suspense. Remember, my two favorite books are Gone With The Wind and Anna Karenina. Therefore, this book of Suzie watching the earth from Heaven should be up there on my list because it was about a bunch of people dealing with a murder of a loved one. However, I was a little disappointed because my sister told me it was a "page turner." To me, this book wasn't a page turner. It was interesting, intriguing, thought provoking, and there were some exciting parts, but there was never a part that I couldn't put down. Maybe my idea of a page-turner has been tainted by The Hunger Games, which is the ultimate page turner. I'm not sure why, this book just wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be.

I'd have to say my favorite part was when the father was explaining to Buckley, who was 4 or 5 at the time, what happened to Suzie using monopoly pieces. He told him what pieces everyone used, and that Suzie was the shoe and that she was out of the game. And for a while this seemed to work, and Buckley put the shoe on his dresser until one day it disappeared.

My favorite character was Lindsey. I thought her reaction to the news was completely realistic in that she threw herself into exercise. She started with a fitness regime at home, then joined the boys soccer team. This exercise motif ended with the several mile run home in the rain after graduation. I'm not sure if this would have happened had Suzie not been murdered, and perhaps she would have been missing on that day had she not been able to run home.

The Suzie going into Ruth's body part was weird, and we'll just leave it at that.

I've been itching to finish Lord of the Rings, so I think the two towers will be my next book. Tata!

The Lovely Bones

I started the Lovely Bones a couple of days ago. I've read chapters 1 and 2, and it will probably go slowly due to class readings. However, so far it is intriguing. Chapter 1 was a little rough with the content (rape and murder) and I have a feeling it is going to be depressing, but there has to be a reason why everyone likes it so much.

So far I'm very interested in Sebold's idea of heaven. Whatever Susie desires (within reason) can appear to her if she can explain why she wants it. She and Holly ended up with a duplex because they wished for it so hard. I'm also interested in what happens to Lindsey because her reaction to her sister's murder sounds like a reaction I would have. She has not had any sort of emotional reaction yet, has remained painfully rational, and has thrown herself into exercise. From experience, though, I know that this will eventually backfire, so I'll keep an eye on her.

This book is definitely pretty good so far; interesting enough to keep me reading, but not a page turner that will keep me from other things. We'll have to see how the other 90% of the book holds up!

Catcher in the Rye: Check!

This book started out ok and got progressively worse. I don't have a lot to say about it except that Holden was driving me crazy from like chapter 8 on. Everything was "depressing" but it wasn't things that were depressing. Holden got depressed watching people walk down the street or do normal things. Question mark?

I can't say that I'm disappointed that this book is over, although I didn't hate it as much as some people I know. It wasn't as offensive as I thought it would be. The language was bothersome but what I really hated was when he would call everybody "old so-and-so," even his 10 year old sister Phoebe. That was annoying. He was just so negative about everything and thought he was entitled to everything and I'm glad that book didn't go on longer than it did.

Another thing I wasn't particularly fond of was the fact that absolutely nothing happened. I could write a book about nothing. One day, I drove home from school. On the way home I stopped at the gas station, but I didn't talk to anybody. I really didn't. It was too depressing to fill up the car and spend all my dough on gas. Then I drove past the grocery story, only I didn't stop on account of I wasn't hungry. I didn't really want to go home, but I figured I'd chew the fat with my folks, so I drove to the house and went in. Man it was depressing. Too bad I miss my roomies, But don't worry, I ended up in the loony bin so it's all good.

WOO!! I'm done with that. That brings 2011's total up to 2 already. Good thing I have a head start, because from here on out I'll be reading exclusively for class unless I get a break or get everything done ahead of time. I'll probably update if I read anything really spectacular for class, but as far as I know it's a few young adult and picture books, so it could be hit or miss. Actually, one that I have to read is The Hunger Games, which is FANTASTIC (and also awesome because I've already read it...which means I have a head start in class too). So, I'll be reading for class for a while, and if I get a spare minute, I'll probably start Sherlock Holmes since that book is basically a book of short stories of <20 pages, or longer stories of around 100, which still is not bad. That way I'll be able to get through a book without focusing on it exclusively or having to remember what has been happening before. That plan, I believe, is a good one. Elementary, my dear Watson!

This is a goddam book, it really is.

Catcher in the Rye...oh dear...

A couple of summers ago, I was a nanny for a family with several young children (we're talking 4 kids that were in kindergarten or younger) and one of them would add "it really is" or some variation thereof after every sentence that was the absolute truth. As in, "my favorite food is soup, it really is," or "I drew this for you! I really did!". This particular 3-year-old, however, had a hard time saying "r", so really it sounded like "my favo-wit food is soup, it wheely is." I can still hear her voice in my head to this day. And when I'm reading The Catcher in the Rye, this is what I am hearing every time Holden says "it really is," or any of its variations.

So far, I'm a little over a quarter through it. This seems amazing, as the rest of the books I've read have been considerably longer and thus have taking more than 52 pages to get a quarter of the way through them. Jane Eyre, for example, took 114. Gone With The Wind took 260! (which happens to be 45 pages longer than Catcher in the Rye!) So this book has been a quick read so far.

Not much has really happened, except for "goddam" every 2 or 3 words. I'm not offended or anything, it's just annoying because linguistically it's unnecessary. But I do see Salinger's point of using, which is to add to Holden's character as an angsty, skeptical teenager. So far Holden's told us a little about his life, how he got kicked out of school, went to see his professor, got in a fight in his dorm, and then left for the city. On the train he ran into someone's mom that he knew from school and gave her a load of crap about how awesome her son was. This is not the greatest book I've ever read but it's quick and easy to understand, and I have to admit I'm interested in what is going to happen to Holden. I've heard of a lot of people who REALLY REALLY WHEELY (haha) hate this book. So far I'm not sure why, but I'll keep reading and see if I can find out.

My favorite quote so far:
"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it." (p. 18)

Interesting thought, original, and sort of true. I'm not sure what I would ask the authors I particularly like, or if Salinger would count as one (I'm not sure, I haven't read the entire book yet) but I'm pretty sure I wish I were friends with Tolstoy and Suzanne Collins (of the Hunger Games...if you haven't read it, you should!) and probably J. K. Rowling too. We'll see what other interesting souls come out of this project.

Off to read more Catcher in the Rye and see what dilemmas Holden gets into next. I really am!

Jane Eyre: Check!

My first finished book of the new year!

Unfortunately Jane Eyre didn't finish before the end of 2010 but it was the first of 2011. Overall, I liked it alright...it wasn't the best I've ever read but definitely not the worst.

I liked Jane's strength even though she did not have a particular reason to be strong except her character. She was a poor orphan with no relations and could have easily given up, but didn't. Go Jane!!

So, I'm going to take Jane's conviction here and apply it to 2011. No longer will I be defeated in relation to the job search, money, housing, school, etc. In the new year, I'm taking the Jane Eyre approach!

Speaking of the new year, Here's the updated list of books I've read:

Prior to 2010: 14 Books
*Harry Potter Series
*To Kill A Mockingbird
*The Bible
*Wuthering Heights
*Shakespeare
*Anna Karenina
*Winnie the Pooh
*The Da Vinci Code
*Anne of Green Gables
*Of Mice and Men
*The Inferno
*Watership Down
*Hamlet
*Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

2010: 9 Books
*The Hobbit
*Gone with the Wind
*The Great Gatsby
*Alice in Wonderland
*Animal Farm
*Life of Pi
*The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night
*A Christmas Carol
*Charlotte's Web

2011: Obviously at least 1 so far. Others I have available (aka waiting patiently on the bookshelf) include:
*Lord of the Rings (the rest of the series)
*1984
*Catcher in the Rye
*The Time Traveler's Wife
*Middlemarch
*(War and Peace: I have this waiting but I've decided this is going to be the LAST one I read in order to go out with a bang!)
*Chronicles of Narnia
*The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe
*The Lovely Bones
*Midnight's Children
*Oliver Twist (this one's at the library but I need to finish it I believe)
*The Secret Garden
*The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

So this year's goal is 12 books, which is 3 more than 2010. However, considering that I started in March, and took a month to read Gone With The Wind, as well as a month plus some hiatus time to read Fellowship of the Ring, I think this is definitely do-able. While my course load this spring may not be conducive to pleasure reading, I think I can make up for it in the summer, over breaks, and during the fall when there will be considerably less going on.

This is a difficult decision, but I think the next book I read will be The Catcher in the Rye, as well as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which is supposedly good...we'll have to see. In closing, I have high hopes for 2011 in many respects, including this project. Happy 2011 everybody!