Day 6, or, Return of the Mondays

So today was a busy one. Actually, I take that back; this entire weekend was busy and it carried over into today. That's why I didn't post anything over the weekend, even though I had intended to do so.

It's probably just as well, seeing as I didn't have much to talk about, anyway.

1) The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. Progress: 164/265 pages.

If you're paying attention, you might realize that I only read 20 pages today. And that's true, although I did read the full hour. I just couldn't get into the story today for whatever reason. And that is truly weird, considering that the big scene at the end of my reading was one that I illustrated in the eighth grade, and I have fond memories of it.

Just a note: The Hobbit is a strange pick for summer reading in the eighth grade. Then again, so is being required to create a travel brochure for Middle Earth (see illustration mentioned above). I think my English teacher in middle school was just a whole lot nerdier than I gave her credit for at the time.

2) The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams. Progress: 179/309 pages.

But Victoria, you are surely saying to yourself, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe doesn't even have 179 pages, let alone 309! Also, how the heck did you read that much in an hour?

It doesn't, and I didn't.

I mentioned in the intro post to this whole big blog that I was given an omnibus of the whole trilogy a while back, and that is what I'm using for this project. And so I am listing the page I am on in the volume out of the page number where the current book ends. Did that make sense?

Not much to say about the book right now, as I'm not that far into it. However, I am looking forward to great things from this one.

3) Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Progress: 186/324 pages.

So Ender is a commander! Surprise, surprise. Also, a few more of my questions were answered. To wit, commanders are usually promoted at the age of eleven or sometimes twelve, and graduate at thirteen. That doesn't make much sense given what that one kid said to Ender at the beginning, but oh well.

Also, how are we supposed to know that Ender wasn't supposed to use the commanders' mess until he won his first game? It's fine, of course, but it was never mentioned before, unless I've forgotten something, and I don't think I have.

4) Dune by Frank Herbert. Progress: 194/762 pages.

Ta-da! I don't have much negative stuff to say today. The scene in the desert was good, both sloooowly moving the plot forward and revealing more about Duke Leto and Arrakis. Hurrah! There's something to be said for actually enjoying what I'm reading.

But that huge amount of talking about the inevitable betrayal? Well, it still hasn't happened yet. I'm still waiting. And I still say it can't live up to the hype.

Day 1

So today was the first day of my not-so-little challenge, and I came out of it alive. (At least, I'm assuming that I came out of it alive. I think my husband would have said something if I were a zombie.)

Anyhow, here's a summary of what I started reading today (the official list can be found here, if you want to look ahead and/or follow along):

1) The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkein. Technically this is a cop-out, because the Lord of the Rings trilogy was the official list-topper. However, while The Hobbit was ineligible due to being a children's book, The Lord of the Rings would never have existed without it, so I think it's worth the inclusion. Also there's the part where I love this book and its sequels bore the ever-living daylights out of me and I'm looking for a way to soften the blow.

Progress: 29/265 pages. I'm not really that slow of a reader, it's just that the introduction has runes in it and I took the time to squint and read them. Yes, I know the Elder Futhark script. I wrote my journal in runes during high school. Judge me if you wish.

2) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I'm really not sure what to say about this one that hasn't been said before. I don't know how many times I've read the first book already, but I always got distracted during the sequels so I haven't actually read any of them. However, I was given an omnibus of the whole trilogy a couple of years ago, so they're easy access.

Progress: 19/143 pages. This time the introduction had no runes for me to read. What it did have was an exceedingly convoluted story that I had to read twice to make sense of. Also it didn't help that I was interrupted more than a few times.

3) Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I've been meaning to get around to reading this since I was in, oh, sixth grade? I'm planning on reading the original quartet (Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind).

Progress: 15/324 pages. Another book, another introduction, and this one is long. Considering how fast and easy the actual book is to read, you would think that Orson Scott Card would know how to keep things concise, but no.

4) Dune by Frank Herbert. Unlike Ender's Game, I've never really wanted to read Dune. At all. And then I tried last summer and wanted to pull my own eyeballs out over it. I know it's influential and a lot of people like it maybe just a bit too much, but I don't understand why. It's the kind of thing that I wrote when I was thirteen-- too much pseudo-philosophical nonsense and too many words of gobbledy-gook with little to no explanation. Blegh. Seriously, this is the most bombastically stupid book in the world and unless it gets better quickly, I'm probably going to spend a good deal of time banging my head against a wall.

Did I mention that I'm going to be reading all six books written by Frank Herbert himself? Good grief.

Progress: 31/762 pages. No introduction, no author's note. Just oodles and oodles of self-inflated, bad, bad writing. If I keep at this pace, I'll be stuck with Dune (only one of six, mind you) for five weeks, and by then I'll be crying myself to sleep.