Friday Reads: 20 May to 26 May 2017

Currently Reading

- DragonHeart by Charles Edward Pogue (15%)
- The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky (01%)
- Caraval by Stephanie Garber (01%)
- Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco (52%)
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (14%)
- The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon (02%)
- Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (05%)
- Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (13%)
- The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (02%)
- The Witching Hour by Anne Rice (03%)
- To the Letter by Simon Garfield (24%)
- A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro (70%)
- Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (14%)
- The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (17%)
- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (71%)

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I've finished another book for the month. I still have next week (21-27) in my self-proscribed read-a-thon (not including the time I take to write in my reading journal), so maybe I can get more in? I'm pretty sure that I can finish Stalking Jack the Ripper pretty soon. I've read from page like 22 to page 170 in like three hours the other day. This would be a two sitting book if I had more discipline.

I really (really, why am I not listening to myself) REALLY need to stop adding books to my Currently Reading. I think I'm on thirteen right now? I want to get it down to six. Three physical and three digital. No more, no less. Do not add more until I finish one. Something tells me that The Witching Hour by Anne Rice (945p) and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (782p) will be on the list for quite a while.

That's ironically funny. I asked KS if she had any plays or memoirs I could borrow to complete the goal for the reading challenge. She walks in and hands me six plays. Among them, to my chagrin, is H.M.S. Pinafore by William S. Gilbert. This play was mentioned in the last novel I finished. Now then, I have only to find a graphic novel (got that, just have to actually FIND it), a memoir, and a book from my childhood. OH! I know the book from my childhood. One I had when I was like ten or so. Dorothy Return to Oz! No wait, I've changed my mind as I was walking up the stairs.....Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. LV gave it to me for my birthday back in 2001 (I would have been turning 12 at the time) and I adore horses.

Finished H.M.S. Pinafore yesterday around 10pm or so. It was uh....okay? I'm not sure how I feel about plays yet. That one was simply too short to get a good feel for them. I'll have to read more of the plays that KS left for me. 

I've been looking at my CR shelf, and I think I might put an effort into getting somewhere with the larger books. Firstly (for reasons unknown), I have picked out Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke as the first one I will attempt to finish. You'd think I'd try to go for The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas instead, as I've been reading it for three years as of 01 April, and I'm just about 350p from the end of the book (926/1276 or exactly 350 pages, lol).

I finished Stalking Jack the Ripper this morning (23 May). It took me a bit, but I did actually figure out who the Ripper was early. Not really sure how she didn't figure it out after Mr Lees told her that she had spoken to the Ripper and was upset with him. The only person she had actually spoken to at the scene had been her brother. So far as I remember she hadn't actually said anything to her father. Not until she had gotten home. Audrey Rose did however, rail at her brother. That's when I realized it was Nathaniel. He seemed to have cracked completely.

I picked up three new books today. Lookaway, Lookaway by Wilton Barnhardt, The American Mission by Matthew Palmer, and Influx by Daniel Suarez. Now I also know why that Josh Grobin song was stuck in my head on the walk home. I had subconsciously made the connection from the Barnhardt book. I'm wondering which one I want to read first. Hmm...I kind of feel the drive toward Influx, but I'm not sure. Maybe when I finish another book, I'll add that one to my list. I already put too many on.

I couldn't help it. I wanted a small mass market to take around with me, something I wouldn't mind losing or forgetting places. Of course we will not tell FP where DragonHeart came from. He would probably have a fit. He gets very upset with me if I bring a book into the house. Yet, he didn't say anything about me buying three massive hard backs from the Dollar General. Huh. Interesting.

Sort of writing and reading related, since I'll be using it to take pictures of my books....my new toy came in today. Nikon Coolpix L840 DSLR camera. I picked the color “plum” and it's such a pretty purple. SS said she wished her camera (same model) were that color. I think it's also available in black, blue, and white?