Pages read today: 198 for Meredith, 0 for Ilya
So remember when I was all whiny about how none of the books I wanted to read were available yet to borrow from the library on my Nook? Well, in less than 24 hours time, 3 of those became available. And from the looks of it, a couple others may also become available any day now. So now I am facing the reverse problem and need to get back into gear with the reading, especially since I can only borrow them for 21 days.
It has seemed to work already, as I crushed the rest of The Road today, which was powerful and gripping, while discouraging, bleak and despondent. There are no chapters, just 287 pages straight of hopelessness and misery. Sounds great, right? But it is! I found it to be spectacular, personally. I know a lot of people can't stand the style it was written in (claiming it's repetitive), but I thought it was perfect for portraying the tone/mood of the world the reader is pulled into.
Luckily for me, I don't really know what the post-apocalyptic world would look like, so I wasn't sitting there trying to figure out every way in which the author got it wrong (which seems to be what a good chunk of the negative reviews out there point to). It seemed pretty gosh darned realistic to me. Definitely quite the downer, though. Especially when looking around and realizing if an asteroid or nuclear attack or whatever the heck it was that happened in the book happened right now, the Gandelmans would be completely S.O.L. as we are in no way prepared for any kind of disaster! Heck, we probably wouldn't even be able to survive a prolonged power outage. In all seriousness, though, I highly recommend The Road.
The first of the library books at my disposal that I'm choosing to delve into is Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. I loved Gone Girl, so we'll see how this one fares.
Sadly, Ilya seems to have lost interest in the duel... probably because it's not really so much of a duel anymore with how far ahead of him I am! Actually, I think he's simply choosing to focus more on his writing right now. There has definitely been far less free time for the Gandelmans lately with all the overtime happening, so he kind of has to pick and choose. And of the two, the writing is the one that he really feels like he needs to keep up with on a daily basis.
So for now, I will just be dueling with myself, and I'm ok with that as long as I continue to make good progress!
Terms of the Duel
New-Year's resolutions have a pronounced and infamous tendency to fall by the wayside by, say, the 1st of February. Perhaps, however, that is because they are resolved upon, adhered to, and discarded, by solitary individuals. Perhaps what's needed is some good old-fashioned competitive spirit.
The participants:
- Ilya Gandelman - desk jockey from 9-5:30, Monday thru Friday. Free time activities include, but are not limited to, writing, reading, watching tv/movies (very selective in this area!), eating Meredith's delicious food, playing with Gizmo, spending time with family and friends.
- Meredith Gandelman - also a desk jockey, from 9-6, Monday thru Friday. Free time activities include, but are not limited to, reading, watching tv/movies, cooking/baking for Ilya (and others), snuggling/playing with Gizmo and spending time with family and friends.
The resolutions:
- To read more books
- To watch less television
- To spend less money (by reading library books, and by making our way through unread volumes gathering dust on the shelves)
- To spend more quality time together with a shared interest
Therefore, the challenge proposed: who can read the most books in a year? On one side the wife, on the other the husband: who'll get the most volumes under her or his belt before 2015?
The rules:
- Books will be chosen independently. Any genre or subject is eligible.
- No second thoughts once starting a book. An uncompleted book is not counted, except of course as time lost. We shall have to choose carefully; and if a book seems to be disappointing, best to soldier on through to the end!
- A 300-page minimum. However, books briefer than 300 pages may be combined with others to count as one entry in the Duel.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
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