Wohoo a new month. I finally finished This Side of Paradise and absolutely loved it! Of course I am a bit biased as I love Fitzgerald in general. Now I am attempting to read Swim to Me while also reading On the Road for class, and writing a paper. All while suffering through a miserable cold. I hate having a stuffy nose! And why is it that no one else ever seems to be sick whenever I get sick? The questions that life is made up of. Amory Blaine would be proud of my fever induced musings. On a completely unrelated note, I love my new microwaveable popcorn popper thing I got at Crate and Barrel. I have eaten nothing but popcorn for the whole weekend, everything else takes to much energy to make. Alright back to knitting and reading since sleep seems to be elusive when one cannot breath through the nose.

A Late October Welcome

I love the month of October, along with November and December. It is a great time of the year. I watched the movie Transylvania 6-5000 yesterday. What a funny movie, great for getting in the mood for Halloween. I have been so busy getting ready for Christmas that I have not been reading much. Can you believe that my library does not have a copy of This Side of Paradise? It's Fitzgerald, one of the great American novelist and he is missing from the local library. That is partially what is wrong with our society. Then again I know that the poor libraries are getting neglected in a huge way from government funding. Again our society and it's priorities. Deplorable! Hoping to go to Salem, Massachusetts today. I have never been before in October. I have this mental image of idyllic New England, which is exactly where I grew up, so I have no clue why I expect anything different. Ah well, the romanticism we gain from reading.

How Silly of Me, I Forgot

I forgot to mention that I finished A Highlander in Her Bed. It was ok, like I said a paranormal romance novel. The story is about a male ghost who haunts a bed he made back in the 13th century or sometime way back when. This girl comes along and falls for the bed and the ghost haunts her because she is of a clan he has a vendetta against (for good reason). This ghost can manifest "in the flesh" so to speak and that of course is where the romance comes in. There is nothing scary at all in the whole book, so I am going to assume it does not count for the R.I.P III challenge. Anyhow back to classwork reading and essays.

Insanity

If I had of known there would be so much writing in this class, I never would have signed up for it. This is crazy! Every class we have a quiz that is three essay questions, answers supported with text quotations. Then we have critical essays and other essay exams, along with all the reading. Just finished Ethan Frome. I have always disliked that book, still do. How can there be so much depression and suffering in so short a novel? Next up is A Passage to India, which is absolutely beautiful from what I have read thus far. The language is amazing, I can see why it is hailed as the greatest 20th century novel. Arguably of course. So instead of writing why Ethan Frome is a chain of cause and effects, I am blogging about nonsense. I can honestly say I am semi looking forward to a science class to have a little break next semester. Though I do not find science or math to be very easy (well if the science does not have math it is easy), I need a break from writing. I just want to be lazy and read. I am dying to read the latest Thursday Next novel by Jasper Fforde. I love those books!

Things are going to get crazy...

I am proud to say I have finally completed a reading challenge. It was ridiculously easy this time around, what with only one book to read. I'm going to move onto another book for the challenge, A Highlander in Her Bed. I am almost ashamed to admit that I will be reading this as it is a paranormal (? does that count as supernatural) romance novel. It combines my love of all things Scottish with trashy romance. Can it get any better than that? And to think that I enjoy reading the classics as well. The Turn of the Screw was a good book but the ending was a bit anticlimactic. I really enjoyed James style of writing, and the slow build up of suspense. However near the end it seemed a bit rushed. Either way it was creepy in a non-scary way, you know your imagination makes it out to be worse than it really is. I wonder if he knew people would do that. It was the Victorians, of course they would do so. Just to depress everyone Christmas is only 12 weeks away or so. The family has decided to do a handmade holiday, so I need to get crafting.

Another Beginning

The new semester has started, I love literature classes! I also broke down and joined another reading challenge. This one I can complete. It is the R.I.P III challenge, and I am reading The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. I am somewhat cheating as that is also the first book we have to read for my class, but hey it fulfills the requirements for both. I plan to try to read other books as well, but living alone is not conducive to pre-Halloween reading, if you catch my drift. Put bluntly I am a scaredy cat. The weather is starting to change along with the foliage. I love the fall, the cool weather, the leaves all falling to the ground and swirling about, the smells. Especially being here in picturesque New England. I am dying to know what goes on in my book but do not want to read it before going to bed. I also need to check out what other people are reading to get some ideas. I've already read Dracula, and multiple Stephen King novels. I want to see what other people are reading, I'm just plan nosy I guess.

I do not know why I bother to continue with this blog. Right now, I am waiting for my nails to dry and so have nothing better to do. I am in the midst of an obsession with Janet Evanovich's books featuring Stephanie Plum. I love these damn books. I am reading nothing else but them until I am finished. Then I promised my friend I would read Wicked by Gregory Maguire. We tried to read Huckleberry Finn but quite frankly I enjoyed War and Peace better than Huck's adventures. Go figure. Classes will be starting up again soon, I pray that my class does not get cancelled due to a lack of students.Admidst all of this reading, I need to start getting serious about knitting and making christmas presents. The time is coming up soon. Of course it does not help that once September hits I am the happiest person on the planet. I love fall, and always rush the holidays to come. I cannot help it, they are so much fun and enjoyable.