Bout of Books Friday Report

Much better.  Had my own mini readathon on a good day to stay inside and finished The Case is Closed.   As a bonus, in a pile of books I found a second copy of The Case is Closed.   One of these days I’ve got to get organized.    125 pages of that.   Unfortunately I knew how it was done from about page 30 because Agatha Christie had written a story with the same device in the previous decade.  Don’t know if Wentworth knew that and forgot it, never knew it, or stole it.   Still had to read to the end to make sure.

Also began Utz by Bruce Chatwin.   I bought this because it was set in Prague, then didn’t read it.   I was reminded by Susan Hill’s mention of Bruce Chatwin in Howard’s End is on the Landing.   It’s a quick read, very short.   Appropriate for the Mini Readathon I didn’t sign up for.   It’s more than half over now, so I could say I’m having a mini mini readathon – if I stop reading book bloggers and actually read some books.   It is another day good for staying inside.   Warmer, but grey and rainy.   So that was 56 pages of Utz yesterday/today.   Not sure when I crossed the midnight mark.  

Bout of Books Tuesday

Better in some ways.   Started Eugene Onegin and got about 30 pages done.   It is pretty lively and amusing, but then that’s what I thought about Ulysses at first.  Now I’m trying to slog through the Cyclops section with a nameless narrator and miles of mock epic prose some of which is amusing, but it just goes on too long.   Can’t imagine anyone reading 150 pages of this in a day and actually taking any of it in.

So then I made the mistake of opening Patricia Wentworth’s The Case is Closed.   36 pages of that done and finally 11 pages of Everybody.   Why is it so much easier to read mysteries than non-fiction?  Even though the non-fiction is well-written and interesting?   So that’s about 77 pages, but only some of which should have been read.

And now there’s a Bleak House readalong in February to tempt me.  990 pages!   Only 28 days in February.  Still, I’ve wanted to read it a long time.  That will probably set the whole 52 books thing back more than a bit.